Минулого року Українська альтернатива виступила з Економічною програмою.

Ми самі її зробили, на особистій ініціативі та ентузіазмі – без залучення коштів та будь-якких ресурсів ззовні. Залучалися лише експерти з окремих питань, за участь кожного спасибі! Власне, й наші інвестиції були мінімальні – час, зусилля, приміщення для обговорення, кошти на безнзин для поїздок, під час яких відбувалася популяризація Програми. Виборча кампанія до Верховної ради також використовувалася для поширення наших ідей.

В середовищі активістів та експертів ведеться постійна дискусія щодо самої доцільності написання програм. Дехто каже, що все вже написано. Воно ніби й багато написано, але не все – змінюється час, обставини, ідейне тло, мотивація тих, хито пише і тих, хто читає та втілює.  Якщо прийняти за даність те, що “маємо те, що маємо”, що українська політика застигла і спроби пошуку нового “підривають основи”, тоді дійсно нічого не залишається, як ротація білякоритна. Ми хочемо бачити більш шляхетні ротації – навіть якщо доведеться деякі з основ підважити. І не хочеться як закостеніння, так і біганини по колу.

Дехто каже, що не важливо, що написано у програмах, а важить те, хто і як буде їх виконувати. Так, не менш важливим за зміст програми є склад команди, яка буде її запроваджувати. Попри знецінювання слів, ідей та програм, вони повинні бути. Вони відображають наш світогляд і погляд на вирішення актуальних для багатьох проблем. Це те, що у що ми віримо і що готові відстоювати.

Хтось каже, що Програма занадто вузько спрямована – переважно на інтереси малого і середнього бізнесу. А хтось – що вона завелика: однієї тези про дерегуляцію бізнесу, вивільнення ділової енергії досить для початку. Запитують, чому цифри такі, а не інкаші. Кажуть, що спершу має йти політика, інституції і часто – разом з національною ідентичністю. Ми готові це все обговорювати. Важливо щоб було що обговорювати і щоб була добра мотивація робити.

Часто запитують, хто та коли буде буде цю Програму запроваджувати.  Ми віримо, що ступор українського політичного життя та хаос громадянської активності не вічні. Усьому свій час – буде інший час, інші можливості та інші люди. Тим часом ми готуємося зустріти цей час у повній громадянській та професійній готовності. Ідеї живуть і повинні мати хід.

Ми готові ділитися ними з усіма людьми доброї волі, які готові зі своїми компетенціями докластися до просування ідеї свободи, у даному випадку – свободи економічної. Буде економічна свобода, буде й все інше – ділова активність, податки та відрахування, соціальні програми. Буде конкурентноспроможна економічна система і можливість досягати добробуту в ній.

Україномовний тект Економічної програми на сайті УА тут.

ВОЛОДИМИР КУХАР,

голова ГО “Українська альтернатива”

Ukrainian Alternative

The Economic Program

1. Reducing the tax burden
• The tax system should not be a means for the government to put pressure on business. Focus will be not on the government imposing taxes, but on business paying them.
• The tax burden in Ukraine measured as the taxes collected as percentage in the GDP is close to the EU average level. It’s too much for a country that desires the above-average economic growth.
• We will cancel the VAT and replace it with the sales tax. VAT is one of the most complicated taxes and the largest source of corruption. Sales tax, which will actually be a tax on sales revenue, set at the level about 4%, is much more transparent and much simpler in administering.
• Since Ukraine is integrated into the world economy and 135 countries use VAT, which is reimbursed on export, in order to put Ukrainian exporters on the same ground the sales tax won’t be levied on exports revenue and will be levies on the imports instead.
• Corporate income tax will be 20%, and it will be levied only on the corporations (defined as legal entities that provide limited liability to owners).
• We will quit all privileges set for the corporate income tax, and at the same time will quit any limitations on tax deductibility of actual expenses.
• Accelerated depreciation methods will be allowed.
• Personal income tax will be 15% flat rate, regardless to the source of income. The same rate will be used to the income of non-residents.
• Personal income tax will be imposed on the amount of income exceeding the minimal wage.
• In case of selling personal property the income will be calculated as the difference between the selling and the buying price, and the negative income will be used as the tax credit to reduce income tax on the other sources of income.
• Social tax on labor income will replace all taxes and duties (pension, unemployment insurance, etc.) and its rate will be 20%. As the pension reform advances to the stage when non-government pension funds will take larger share, the social tax rate will be decreased.
• Excise tax will be imposed only on the socially dangerous goods such as alcohol, gasoline, tobacco, etc.
• All other taxes will be cancelled. It will be prohibited to disguise taxes by using other names such as duties, fees, etc.
2. Simplifying the tax administering
• In 2011 Ukraine was ranked 181 of 183 inDoing Business rating on the simplicity of paying taxes. We find it unacceptable and see ascending to the 50^th place as our goal.
• Tax payments will become less frequent. Corporate income tax will be paid quarterly, and small business will pay it annually.
• Complicated forms of tax reporting will be simplified. Tax declaration will contain only those fields that are really necessary to calculate the taxable amount and the tax payable. They should never have more than 2-3 pages.
• After finishing the reform, further changes to tax laws, reporting forms, accounts for paying taxes and so on will have to be published at least 6 months before they come into effect.
• Firms and individuals will have the right, but not the obligation, to report in electronic form.
• Tax officials will be deprived the right to fine. Any disagreements regarding the amount of taxes paid should be resolved by negotiations first, and only if they are unsuccessful the tax official can start a lawsuit. Only the court can issue an enforcing act.
• Fines will be cancelled at all. If the court finds the underpayment of taxes, a firm or a person will have to pay the amount underpaid and interest on it based on the current interest rates.
• Tax officials won’t have the right to seize property, including documents, or block the normal business operations in any other way.
• Tax police will be disbanded.
• Tax officials who start groundless lawsuits or appeals will have to reimburse their costs out of their own salary.
3. Simplifying the customs procedures
• There will be only four customs duty rates — 1%, 2%, 5%, and 10%.
• At least 80% of goods will be imported without a customs duty.
• Protective customs duty rates (5% and 10%) will be used for goods that account for no more that 2% of the total imports.
• Exhaustive list of all documents required for customs clearance will be set by the law, customs officials will have no right to demand any other documents for clearance.
• Customs clearance will take no more than 2 hours if all the documents are provided. If the clearance takes more time, the customs official will have to issue a written document indicating reasons for the delay.
• Using prices for similar goods for setting the duty will be cancelled. The duty will be levied based on the invoice or contractual prices. We will rely on honesty of the business, but the customs will retain the right to get in touch with customs of other countries to check the prices indicated in the documents.
• If the customs clearance is delayed for any reasons besides missing documents, storage of the goods will be free of charge for the business and the costs will be deducted from the salary of the customs officials who delayed the clearance.
4. Cancelling the mandatory standardization and certification
• We believe that standardization and certification are good as long as they are demanded by the market, not by the government.
• Certification will be voluntary for the business. Mandatory certification will be retained only for food and medicines.
• If a product was certified is more developed countries (such as OECD members), additional certification in Ukraine will not be required.
• We will support the idea that standards should be developed and approved not by the government and its agencies, but by industrial associations, and the government should not intervene into the process. Standardization should be internal affair of the business, and the business should take the responsibility.
5. Reducing regulation of business
• Exhausting list of all government bodies with authority to regulate legal entities in general will be listed in a single act. All other bodies will be prohibited from regulating business in general.
• Tax service authority will be limited to collecting and checking tax payments.
• Customs service authority will be limited to collecting and checking customs duties and preventing counterfeit products from passing the customs border.
• Antimonopoly committee will only ensure that no market participant is using its monopoly position to diminish free competition or form a cartel structure.
• Ecology service will check that business doesn’t harm natural resources.
• Stock market commission will check public securities issues and exchange and regulate public reporting of the issuers.
• Bank and credit institutions commission will check credit-deposit institutions (banks, credit unions, etc.) and regulate their activities. These authorities will be transferred to this governmental agency from the National bank.
• National bank will no longer be a regulatory or control body; it will only retain functions of the monetary policy center and the lender of last resort.
• Consumer rights protection commission will check that consumer rights aren’t violated.
• No control or regulatory body will have the right to fine. In case any violation is found and it can’t be resolved through negotiations, the lawsuit will be started and the fine can only be charged by the court.
• No control or regulatory bode will have the right to seize any property, including documents, or in other way block the normal course of business, except when it puts life or health of people to danger or threatens to cause a major accident.
6. De-monopolization and privatization
• Monopoly isn’t dangerous by itself, but rather it’s dangerous when it’s using its market power to diminish free competition. Thus, the Anti-monopoly committee will not fight the monopolies but will focus on protecting competition.
• Anti-monopoly committee will use quantitative indicators such as the Herfindahl-Hirschman index to make decisions.
• Anti-monopoly committee will not control prices or try to engage into controlling the economy in any way, but will be monitoring the market for cartel structures and other ways of diminishing free competition.
• Natural monopolies will be vertically split (production – delivery – distribution), and the majority of segments will operate in a competitive environment. Other a limited number of firms will act as a monopoly (gas/oil pipelines, railway, and power lines).
• Remaining natural monopolies will subject to rate regulations and be required to provide an single rules for accessing their services for all customers provided the technical requirements are met. Any price discrimination or artificial access constraints will not be tolerated.
• Any other parts of natural monopolies owned by the state will be privatized.
• Any other state owned enterprises will be privatized, except those supporting the public service operations.
• Privatization will be done through the transparent public auctions, all terms and course of which will be published on the Internet.
7. Simplifying registration, closure and doing business
• We will establish “single window” principle: persons use the single window to submit all papers to the public service, and all the paperwork between different public service agencies should be done internally and persons should never care for it.
• Any business enterprise will have a single registration number to be used in all public service bodies instead of multitude of codes and number used now.
• Closure of the business will occur automatically after 6 months after notice issued by the owner in case third parties have no unresolved claims to the business. Owner will not have to gather many different certificated from the public service agencies.
• It will not be the owner’s obligation to prove the business owe nothing to the government, but the public service will have to prove there’re motivated claims to the business and resolve them in the court.
• Bankruptcy procedure will be changed as it’s done in Georgia: the judge will oversee the procedure, but the decisions in the matter of revitalizing or liquidating the business will be subject of negotiation between the owner and the creditors.
• Mandatory usage of stamps will be cancelled. It will be a decision of each enterprise whether to use stamps or to do without them.
• Practice of government enforced forms of internal business documentation (such an orders, reports, etc.) will be cancelled. All matters of the internal paperwork will be internal affair of the business, and the government will not engage into it.
• All the remaining forms of government intervention into internal affairs of the business will be abolished, such as cash limits or limits of business trips compensation.
8. Liberalization of international trade and investments
• Exchange rate of Ukrainian hryvna to other currencies will be determined by the supply and demand. No official rate set by the government will exist.
• Practice of government control of cash flows from abroad will be eliminated. All persons and businesses will be able to freely buy, sell, store, transfer any currency to any accounts.
• Prohibition to open accounts in foreign banks and other institutions will be abolished.
• All limits to bring cash in or out of Ukraine will be cancelled.
• We will put an end to all artificial barriers and privileges to investments in Ukraine. All investors, both domestic and foreign, will have the same rights.
• There will be no difference in trading domestically or internationally, all trade and business rules will be the same.
• All mandatory reporting forms will have captions in Ukrainian and English. All legal and regulatory acts will be gradually translated into English, and newly accepted acts will have to be translated and publish in the Internet.
• Stock exchanges and other agents of the public stock market will have autonomy in creating financial instruments (futures, options, etc.), however some regulation by the Stock market commission will be retained.
9. Reforming the labor relations
• We will eliminate the Soviet times heritage in bureaucratization of labor relations and cancel false promised implied in the labor law.
• All “labor books” and government-enforced labor paperwork will be abolished. There will no longer be the practice when only one party (the employer) makes the decision and the employee will submit to it.
• Labor relations will be two-sided and governed by an individual labor contract between the employer and the employee.
• Employer and employee will have equal rights in negotiating the terms of the contract. While model contracts may exist both at the employer and at the union of employees, each contract will be individual and the parties won’t have to follow any model contract.
• The government will regulate only some aspects of labor for people younger than 18 years or disabled persons.
• While some recommendations will be set in the labor laws, such as normal working day duration, vacations, termination notification period, etc., those will not be mandatory. The terms of an individual contract will have priority.
• Trade unions will have no monopoly on representing interests of the employees. Trade unions will have the same rights as any other unions of citizens.
• All conflicts between employers and employees will be a particular case of the civil dispute between two parties, and will be resolved just like any other dispute – by negotiations or by the court.
10. Introducing the general register of property rights
• Property rights to shares (except for the public corporations which are working through registrars), other corporate property rights, property rights to real estate and selected movables will be tracked in the centralized property rights register.
• Persons will be allowed to enter information about property rights to other movables into the register, even if the movables don’t require mandatory tracking of the rights.
• Property rights will not appear or disappear because of the records in the register, the register will only be used for checking the rights in a quick way.
• Any changed to the register should be done in no more than 15 minutes if all the supporting documents are presented.
• All the changed to the register will be covered by the full personal liability of the public servants authorized to maintain the register.
• The register will track property rights information for shares of private corporations and stakes in the partnerships. When a private company goes public, it will have an option to transfer share record-keeping to a registrar according to the acting law.
11. Modernization of business organization forms
• Instead of archaic organization forms developed in post-Soviet era there will be introduced three forms, private enterprises, partnerships and corporations.
• There will be no difference in working as a sole proprietor of the private enterprise, a self-employed person or an individual working on a contract. All the income will be taxed as personal income of the individual.
• Partnerships will have an option to working without creating a separate legal entity. In this case their income will be taxed as personal income of their partners.
• There will be no longer to distinct types of corporations, public and private. Both will legally be the same organization form, but their public status will be determined by the fact of public listing of the shares.
• Share issues by private corporations will not have to be registered in the Stock market commission. Their registration will only be done in the property rights register as for any other private property rights.
• Limited liability companies, which now are de-facto private corporations, will be changed to private corporations.
• Requirements for the minimal capital stock will be abolished.
• Artificial requirements imposed by the government on the shareholders of public corporations will be eliminated. The shareholders will decide on the authority of the shareholder meeting, the board of directors and the management themselves. They will also be able to make any decisions on dividend policy and share repurchases.
• Some best practices of corporate governance will be legally enforced for public corporations, such as cumulative voting, majority of independent board members, independent budget, compensation and nomination committees, independent internal audit, etc.