Kyiv Post

Last week, President Yushchenko signed into law legislation that would reinstate the simplified tax regime. In March, the furor over the cancellation of that regime – under which employees, through legally dubious means, paid only Hr 200 in income taxes, and employers paid nothing – led Yushchenko to promise businessmen that its elimination would be reconsidered.

At the time, while we were glad to see the government fight to clear up Ukraine’s ineffective tax system, we were also dismayed at the way the government went about enacting a new system. The administration moved far too quickly, didn’t bother to warn entrepreneurs or consult them, and the result seemed arbitrary.

So we’re glad to hear the government is changing its mind before the cancellation even comes into effect. Now, hopefully, everyone will have some room to breath, and can sit down and discuss a plan that will be mutually beneficial both to entrepreneurs, who deserve a fair and transparent tax regime, and to the government, which desperately needs tax revenue.

Let’s hope clear heads reign whenever those discussions take place. The new government has already done enough to confuse would-be investors – the last thing it should do is pass another random, arbitrary tax law.