The Presence of a CCI Certificate Is Not an Unconditional Ground for Release from Liability

The State Tax Service (STS) and the Ukrainian Chamber of Commerce and Industry (CCI) have agreed on approaches to certifying force majeure in foreign economic activities. The presence of a CCI certificate is not, in itself, an unconditional basis for exemption from liability for violations of settlement deadlines in such activities, the CCI of Ukraine has stated.

"The parties have agreed that the presence of a CCI force majeure certificate is not an unconditional ground for releasing the taxpayer from liability," the statement reads.

During inspections, the Tax Service assesses:

• the reality, extraordinariness, and inevitability of the circumstances;
• the actual impact of these circumstances on the ability to fulfill specific contractual obligations;
• the correlation between the duration of the force majeure and the settlement deadlines established by the National Bank of Ukraine (NBU).

The CCI also noted that a general reference to martial law is not sufficient. The certificate must clearly specify how exactly these circumstances affected the impossibility of fulfilling a specific contract and within what timeframe. Without this, the document may be considered insufficient evidence.