VAT and invoicing in Ukraine (2026): rates, ERPN, deadlines

VAT in Ukraine is called податок на додану вартість (ПДВ, PDV) and is administered by the State Tax Service of Ukraine (Державна податкова служба, ДПС or STS). Ukraine's VAT invoices are already fully electronic: a tax invoice only counts once it is registered in the state's Unified Register of Tax Invoices (Єдиний реєстр податкових накладних, ЄРПН or ERPN). This guide covers the rates, registration, returns, invoices, the martial-law registration deadlines, a worked example in hryvnias and the most common mistakes. Rules are as of October 2026.

VAT in Ukraine at a glance

Services supplied to non-residents are not automatically zero-rated: depending on the place of supply they are taxed at 20% or fall outside Ukrainian VAT.

Who must register for VAT

• Compulsory registration: once your taxable supplies exceed UAH 1 million, excluding VAT, over the last 12 calendar months (Article 181 of the Tax Code). The 12 months are a rolling period, not the calendar year.
• Single-tax payers (groups 1 to 3) on the simplified system are outside the compulsory rule; a group 3 single-tax payer may choose to register.
• Voluntary registration: any business below the threshold may register. You file the application (form No. 1-ПДВ) at least 10 calendar days before the first day of the month from which you want to be a VAT payer.
• When it starts: you are a VAT payer from the date you are entered in the register of VAT payers. Before that date you may not charge VAT or issue tax invoices.
• Non-residents supplying electronic services to Ukrainian consumers register under a simplified procedure once those supplies exceed UAH 1 million in the previous calendar year.

What is planned for sole proprietors (FOPs)

Under its commitments to the EU and international donors, the government has announced that sole proprietors on the simplified system will have to register for VAT above a turnover threshold. Figures between UAH 1 million and the equivalent of EUR 85,000 have been discussed, and business associations are asking for more. As of October 2026 this is not law: no threshold or start date has been adopted, so nothing changes for FOPs until the Verkhovna Rada passes it.

VAT returns and payment

• Frequency: monthly, filed electronically.
• Filing deadline: within 20 calendar days after the end of the month.
• Payment deadline: within 10 calendar days after the filing deadline, so in practice by the end of the following month.
• Refunds: where you are entitled to a refund, the STS has 26 calendar days after the return deadline to pay it (longer if it orders a field audit).

Tax invoices (podatkova nakladna) and how corrections work

In Ukraine the VAT document is the tax invoice (податкова накладна). You draw it up on the date of the first event: the supply or the prepayment, whichever comes first. Its mandatory details are listed in Article 201.1 of the Tax Code, including:

1. 1The serial number and the date of the tax invoice
2. 2The full or short name of the seller (or the name of an individual VAT payer)
3. 3The tax numbers of the seller and of the buyer
4. 4The full or short name of the buyer
5. 5A description of the goods or services and their quantity
6. 6The price of the supply excluding VAT
7. 7The VAT rate and the VAT amount
8. 8The total including VAT
9. 9For imported goods, the number and date of the customs declaration; for exports, the date and number of the contract

The tax invoice is signed with a qualified electronic signature and sent to the ERPN. Your customer can only include the VAT in its tax credit once the invoice is registered, so late registration costs your customer money and costs you a fine.

• Corrections: you do not edit a registered tax invoice. Changes in price or quantity, returns and errors are made with an adjustment calculation (розрахунок коригування) that refers to the original invoice and is registered in the ERPN in the same way.
• Sales to consumers: when you sell to the public, you can draw up a consolidated tax invoice for the day's sales instead of one per receipt. The cash or card payment itself is recorded with a fiscal receipt from a registered cash register (РРО) or software cash register (ПРРО).
• Retention: the Tax Code requires you to keep the documents behind your returns for at least 1,095 days (three years) after the return is filed, and some categories longer. Under martial law, limitation periods are suspended, so the retention period effectively runs longer; keep everything until your accountant confirms it can go.

The ERPN: Ukraine's e-invoicing system

Registration deadlines in 2026

Ordinary deadlines in Article 201.10 of the Tax Code are temporarily replaced by martial-law deadlines. They apply during martial law and for six months after the month in which it ends:

On the deadline day you can register around the clock, from 00:00 to 24:00.

SMKOR: when registration is blocked

The STS runs an automated risk-monitoring system (СМКОР) that can suspend registration of a tax invoice it considers risky. Your customer cannot claim the VAT until the block is lifted, so react quickly: submit the explanations and documents the STS asks for, and keep contracts, delivery notes and payment records ready for every sale.

SAF-T UA

Large taxpayers already submit accounting data in the SAF-T UA format. An extension to all VAT payers from 2027 was planned, but in September 2026 the bill behind it had been withdrawn, so the date is uncertain.

Registering tax invoices requires a qualified electronic signature and the STS electronic cabinet or accredited reporting software. Clientlly does not register invoices in the ERPN, so you need one of those for that step.

Worked example in hryvnias

A small furniture workshop registered for VAT has this month:

• Sales: UAH 400,000 net. Output VAT at 20%: 400,000 × 0.20 = UAH 80,000. Customers pay UAH 480,000.
• Purchases: timber and materials for UAH 250,000 plus UAH 50,000 VAT, from suppliers whose tax invoices are registered in the ERPN. Input VAT (tax credit): UAH 50,000.
• VAT due: 80,000 − 50,000 = UAH 30,000, declared within 20 days after the month and paid within the next 10 days.

To find the VAT inside a price at 20%: UAH 12,000 × 20 ÷ 120 = UAH 2,000. At 7%: UAH 1,070 × 7 ÷ 107 = UAH 70.

Late payment by customers

Under Article 625 of the Civil Code, a debtor who pays late owes the debt adjusted for inflation for the whole period of delay plus 3% a year on the overdue amount, unless the contract or the law sets a different rate. The Supreme Court treats the 3% as a minimum that the courts cannot reduce. A contractual penalty (пеня) can be agreed on top. For a practical approach to collections, see our guide to getting paid faster.

Common mistakes

1. 1Missing the ERPN deadline, which costs your customer its tax credit and you a fine.
2. 2Counting the UAH 1 million on the calendar year instead of the last 12 months.
3. 3Drawing up the tax invoice on the wrong date. It is the first event: the supply or the prepayment.
4. 4Correcting an invoice by issuing a new one instead of an adjustment calculation.
5. 5Ignoring an SMKOR block until the customer complains.
6. 6Assuming the FOP VAT reform is already in force. It has been announced, not adopted.

How Clientlly helps

Clientlly numbers your invoices sequentially in each series, applies your country's VAT rates on every invoice and links credit notes to the original invoice. It keeps sales and purchase VAT books per rate, including exports and reverse charge, reads the VAT from scanned purchase receipts, and prepares tax reports for you and your accountant with Excel and PDF exports. You can import clients, suppliers, products and opening balances from Excel or CSV, invoice in multiple currencies, and let automatic reminders go out 3, 14 and 30 days after the due date. See the accounting module and the reporting module.

Registering tax invoices in the ERPN, fiscal receipts from an RRO or PRRO, and filing the return itself still go through the STS systems and certified software.