To the question: "It is no 'secret that a certain portion of Ukrainian citizens evade full or timely payment of established taxes. Why do you think these people try to avoid paying taxes?" the majority of respondents answered: "Because government officials use taxes not for the needs of the Ukrainian people, but to provide themselves with comfortable premises, prestigious automobiles, high salaries, etc." Such an opinion is characteristic of 47.4% of Ukrainians.
41.3% of respondents believe that citizens do not pay taxes because "the existing tax system is unfair to those who honestly earn their money." The third reason - because in the existing tax system it is not visible what exactly the taxes of Ukrainian citizens are spent on (37.3%).
They also evade taxation because existing taxes are too high and do not give people the opportunity to live with dignity (29.3%) and because all taxes are paid only by people who do not know how to partially or fully avoid paying taxes (13.8%). Finally, some respondents believe that people evade taxes because paying all taxes on received incomes can lead to the loss of the sources of these incomes (9.4%) and because it is customary in our country not to pay all taxes (6.1%).
"A significant portion of the Ukrainian population has a negative attitude not toward the taxation system itself, but toward how the funds received from taxation are subsequently used," summarized the director of "Center," Volodymyr Leonov.
The study was conducted in late August – early September; 702 Ukrainian citizens were surveyed in ten regions of Ukraine. The sample is representative by sex, age, and type of settlement (city-village). The margin of error of the study is 4%. The survey method was questionnaire-based.