The Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine on Feb. 23 did not pass an amendment to the draft law, titled “On inheritance taxation” (No. 0940), which provided for the elimination of the existing confusion over the legitimacy of work conducted by the tax militia prior to the creation of the financial police.
“I ask you to support the amendment. We can not liquidate this tax agency. There must be a special procedure, providing for the transfer of all cases from one agency to the other,” the head of the Rada’s committee on taxation and customs policy Nina Yuzhanina said after tabling the law in parliament on Feb. 23.
Finance Minister Oleksandr Danylyuk said restoring the legal status of the tax militia would lead to a delay in creating the financial investigation service [agency].
“I think that the tax militia is a repressive organ that pressures business, which does not reduce the number of financial crimes. This legacy should be relegated to the past. Returning the authority of the tax police will lead to a delay in creating the new financial investigation service,” he said.
Some 194 MPs voted for the measure, less than the 226 simple majority of deputies required to pass the draft law.
