On February 6, 2025, the Sixth Administrative Court of Appeal rendered a significant decision in the field of tax law and business protection. The court granted the appeal filed by attorney Yuri Bauman in the interests of the market leader in ventilation equipment, LLC “Pukhivsky Ventilation Plant”, and declared unlawful the tax notice-decision regarding the imposition of penalties for allegedly overdue foreign currency settlements.
The essence of the dispute lay in the fact that the State Tax Service of Ukraine imposed penalties on the taxpayer for violating the deadlines for settlements under a foreign economic contract with “Refrion S.R.L.” (Italy).
In the appellate court, the attorneys argued that, in accordance with Part 6 of Article 13 of the Law of Ukraine “On Currency and Currency Transactions”, the calculation of settlement deadlines is suspended for the duration of force majeure circumstances. The legal position was built on the premise that contractual obligations were not fulfilled on time due to force majeure circumstances caused by martial law, including hostilities in the Kyiv region, subsequent defense measures, the mining of the enterprise’s territory, and other related factors.
The complexity of the case was compounded by the fact that in the court of first instance, the taxpayer was represented by a different law firm, which failed to properly collect and present the necessary evidentiary base.
At the stage of appellate review, the taxpayer made the strategic decision to completely replace its legal advisory team.
The legal team of Bauman Kondratyuk Law Firm faced a challenging procedural task—gathering the evidentiary base. The evidentiary foundation was compiled through obtaining evidence from local government authorities, military units, conducting interviews with individuals involved in the defense measures in the Kyiv region, and submitting inquiries to Ukrainian diplomatic missions abroad.
The proceedings before the Sixth Administrative Court of Appeal lasted more than a year.
The outcome—a favorable decision for the client: the tax notice-decision was annulled.
This case underscores the critical importance of professional legal support in safeguarding business rights. Thanks to a well-structured defense strategy, the attorneys of Bauman Kondratyuk Law Firm successfully proved the unlawfulness of the STS’s actions and defended the interests of their client.
The court’s decision highlights the necessity of conducting a thorough analysis of specific circumstances during tax audits in the context of business protection.
The legal representation and defense in this case were carried out by Yuri Bauman and Maria Koshova.