PM Shmyhal: Gov’t earmarks UAH 9.6B from military tax for Defense Forces

This was emphasized by Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal, who spoke at a government meeting on Tuesday, Ukrinform reports.

"At every government meeting, we make decisions that strengthen our defenses," he noted.

The head of government noted that a record UAH 17.5 billion was recently allocated for the construction of fortifications and UAH 792 million – for the urgent needs of military units.

At the same time, he recalled that last fall, executive and legislative authorities made a joint decision to redirect the personal income tax paid by the military from community budgets to the state budget’s special fund.

"Thus, for this year we received an additional resource — plus UAH 51 billion for the development of the defense-industrial complex and more than UAH 43 billion— for the production of drones," Shmyhal said.

At the same time, it was decided that 10% of the military income tax will be sent directly to military units.

"That's why today we are handing over UAH 9.6 billion of military income tax to our defense forces for the purchase of weapons, equipment, ammunition, and protective gear," the prime minister emphasized.

At the same time, he added that in 2023, communities across Ukraine had received UAH 43.8 billion more for their budgets than in 2022.

"The financial capacity of our communities have not suffered," Shmyhal noted.

The premier also said the government allocated about UAH 184 billion in the form of transfers.

"We will continue to help communities to finance priority needs, as well as provide additional support wherever Russian aggression inflicted greatest losses," Shmyhal emphasized.

As reported earlier, in November 2023, the Verkhovna Rada adopted changes to the Budget Code providing for the redirection in 2024 of personal income tax from the income of military personnel (UAH 96.3 billion) to the special fund of the state budget.

Photo: CMU