IMEI Declaration for Imported Phones to be Introduced in Ukraine
During the import of mobile phones into Ukraine, the unique IMEI code of each device will be mandatory in customs declarations. The Bureau of Economic Security estimates that this rule could bring the state budget over 5 billion UAH in additional revenue annually.
This was reported by BES Director Oleksandr Tsyvinskyi.
According to him, the Bureau's initiative was preliminarily discussed with the Ministry of Finance, the State Customs Service, and representatives of the largest legal electronics retail chains.
Tsyvinskyi stated that the Ministry of Finance has already signed the corresponding order, and the Ministry of Justice has completed its state registration. However, the document's details, publication date, and effective date were not specified in the announcement.
How IMEI Declaration Will Work
IMEI is a unique international mobile equipment identifier. After the new rule is introduced, the code of each imported phone must be linked to the customs declaration.
According to the BES head, until now, phone IMEIs were not listed during customs clearance. This made it difficult to track the origin of devices and gave illegal suppliers an advantage over companies that officially import electronics and pay taxes.
The new mechanism is expected to allow tracking the legality of each phone's import and complicate the sale of devices that entered Ukraine outside official channels.
Tsyvinskyi emphasized that this is not about introducing a new tax, but about combating gray imports and electronics smuggling.
IMEI to be Added to Fiscal Receipts
The next stage is to make IMEI mandatory in fiscal receipts during phone sales.
The BES, together with the Ministry of Finance and the State Tax Service, is already working out an algorithm for implementing this provision. Combining data from the customs declaration and the fiscal receipt is expected to trace the path of a device from its import into Ukraine to its sale to the buyer.
Source: Oleksandr Tsyvinskyi
