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The Tax Code may come into force on January 1, 2011 so that entrepreneurs get a chance to work at reduced tax rates as soon as possible The Tax Code may come into force on January 1, 2011 so that entrepreneurs get a chance to work at reduced tax rates as soon as possible, Prime Minister Mykola Azarov has said.

"All of my colleagues, government members and members of our faction [the parliament's largest faction, that of the Regions Party], will insistently persuade lawmakers of the need to consider and adopt the code as soon as possible and as carefully as possible, and then draft the state budget [for 2011] using a new tax base so that the new stimulating principles of the tax system take effect from January 1, 2011," he said, while introducing the draft Tax Code in Kyiv on Friday.

Azarov said that there was a conflict while drafting the budget for 2011, because the Budget Code demands that it be drafted under the current tax base, while the parliament ordered the drafting of the state budget on the basis of the draft Tax Code.

He said that the parliament would have the wisdom to resolve this problem.

The Budget Code foresees that amendments to tax legislation should be made at least six months before the new fiscal year. The government wanted the Tax Code to be adopted by parliament within a specified period, but the document was submitted for revision due to there being a large number of additional proposals for it.