Making a list of taxpayer property for tax lien and key problematic aspects of this procedure in Ukraine

It is indicated that the key elements of the mechanism for collecting tax debts from taxpayers are tax lien as a special regime restricting the right to dispose of the debtor’s property, and the procedure for describing the taxpayer’s property under tax lien as an administrative measure for registering his assets by employees of fiscal authorities and their subsequent external supervision of the taxpayer’s current economic activities, which causes changes in the structure of his funds and other property suitable for forced alienation (sale) in order to cover tax debts. The article defines that the main stages of the procedure of making a list of the property of an indebted taxpayer a tax lien are: (1) the chief of the tax authority makes a decision to make a list of the property as a tax lien; (2) the tax manager draws up a property description act, the book value of which corresponds to the amount of the taxpayer’s tax debt (if the book value of the property is not determined - an assessment is carried out with the help of valuation experts); (3) the taxpayer signs the property inventory act (in case of refusal – the description is carried out in the presence of at least 2 eyewitnesses); (4) registration of the tax lien in the relevant state register. Additional stages of the procedure of making a list of the property of an indebted taxpayer a tax lien include preparation of an additional inventory act in the event of an increase in the amount of the tax debt, as well as in the event of the extension of the lien to property to which the taxpayer will acquire ownership in the future:(a) notification by the taxpayer of the tax authority about such property (no later than the working day following the day of acquisition of any property); (b) decision by the tax authority to include such property in the inventory act (within 3 working days from the date of receipt of the notification);(c) preparation of the corresponding inventory act, one copy of which is sent to the taxpayer. The author also substantiated the need to: (i) allow automatic encumbrance with a tax lien on all property of the taxpayer, regardless of its value, for the period until the tax manager draws up the inventory act of the taxpayer’s property in tax lien; (ii) determine the minimum period required for the tax manager to draw up an inventory act, after which the taxpayer will be exempt from the obligation to comply with the rules for reconciling transactions with property in tax lien (until the inventory act is drawn up later);(iii) allow the taxpayer to determine the property, the book value (total value) of which corresponds to the amount of his outstanding tax liability and which in this regard should be included in the inventory act.