Financial Resilience of Territorial Communities During War: The Role of Tax Revenues

Introduction. External aggression has become the backdrop against which the resilience of the local self-government system has manifested as an element of crisis management within the vertical system of public administration. The war has exacerbated territorial disparities and differentiated the challenges for local self-government bodies in various regions due to their distance from combat zones and occupation, leading to the emergence of new functions not typical for local self-government bodies. Problem Statement. These circumstances have precipitated a change in the conditions for the formation of tax revenues for the budgets of territorial communities. Firstly, there has been a transformation in the state's approach to budgetary and tax policy formation, reflected in amendments to budgetary and tax legislation. Secondly, hostilities have resulted in a shift in the spatial concentration of businesses and increased unevenness in population density as a consequence of forced displacement to safe areas. These factors have influenced the process of budgetary revenue accumulation at the local level and, consequently, the financial resilience of territorial communities and their capacity to fulfill their functions. Purpose. To analyze the accumulation of tax revenues for the budgets of territorial communities as a factor in ensuring/preserving their financial resilience. Methods. General scientific and specialized methods were employed, including analysis, synthesis, grouping, description, comparison, theoretical generalization, and abstract-logical reasoning. Results. Based on five indicators (tax capacity of budgets, tax sufficiency, tax autonomy, local taxes and fees, taxes on economic activity), an analysis of the formation of tax revenues for the budgets of territorial communities in the context of maintaining their financial resilience during the war against Ukraine has been conducted. An increase in disparities in the tax capacity of territorial communities and an increase in the number of administrative-territorial formations in a crisis state have been identified. The impact of two factors on the resilience stability of communities in wartime has been established: distance from combat zones and available economic potential. It has been demonstrated that communities with a high level of economic potential are characterized by higher financial resilience even in conditions of close proximity to the front line, as well as the significant role of large cities in maintaining financial and economic resilience in the region. Conclusions. It is argued that the system of tax revenue formation for territorial communities has become one of the main factors in preserving/ensuring financial resilience of territorial communities during wartime. The influence of high adaptability of economic actors in territorial communities on stabilizing the economy of communities in the second year of the war has been noted.