The judicial appeal of a blocked tax invoice scares many farmers – it seems that it is impossible to do without a lawyer here. But the experts of the All-Ukrainian Congress of Farmers, who conducted a webinar in partnership with Mercy Corps, are convinced: an accountant or a farm manager are fully capable of preparing a lawsuit independently.
The main argument in favor of this is that by the time of filing the lawsuit, the taxpayer already has a ready-made evidence base. All explanations that he wrote for the regional commission, a complaint to the State Tax Service of Ukraine, responses to additional requests – this is the backbone of the lawsuit. It only remains to give them the correct form.
Where to file
A lawsuit in cases of unblocking tax invoices is filed to the commercial administrative court of the first instance at the location of the enterprise. This is an administrative case – not civil or criminal. Each region has its own court.
The most convenient way to file is through the electronic court system. To do this, you need to register in the system using an electronic signature – the same one used to sign tax documents. The farm manager or company director is registered.
Structure of the lawsuit
The lawsuit consists of several mandatory elements.
The header indicates: the court name, the plaintiff's name (your farm), the respondent's name. The respondent is one – the Main Directorate of the State Tax Service of your region, if you have not filed a complaint to the central office. If you have – there are two respondents: the Main Directorate of the State Tax Service and the State Tax Service of Ukraine.
Next – the statement of circumstances of the case. Here you need to sequentially describe: what farm, what activity, which invoice was blocked and when, what was submitted, what response was received, why you consider the decision unlawful. Chronology is your best tool.
At the end – a request to the court: to cancel the commission's decision and obligate the State Tax Service to register the tax invoice.
What to attach to the application
The lawsuit is accompanied by: the blocked invoices with receipts for suspension, all previously submitted explanations and documents, the decision of the regional commission, a complaint to the State Tax Service and the decision on it (if submitted), a receipt for payment of the court fee.
Since all these materials have already been scanned and saved in PDF format at the beginning of the unblocking procedure, preparing for court does not require significant additional efforts. Everything is submitted through the electronic court – without printouts, stamps, and trips to the office.
What to expect
The consideration of the case in the first instance can take from three to twenty months. After a decision in favor of the taxpayer, the tax authority usually appeals – but the appellate court mostly supports the position of the first instance. The registration of invoices takes place after the decision of the cassation court.
Experts emphasize: about 90% of such cases end in favor of the taxpayer. Therefore, if the amount of VAT in the blocked invoice is significant, the judicial path is justified even without involving a lawyer.
The material was prepared based on the results of a webinar organized by the All-Ukrainian Congress of Farmers in partnership with Mercy Corps within the program of advisory support for farmers.
