Common questions about the use of registrars of calculated (settlement) operations

1.In rural areas, there is a problem with transfer of data to the STS with unstable communication, particularly Internet.

According to Paragraph 1.2 Paragraph 1 of the Procedure for the transfer of electronic copies of settlement documents and fiscal reporting checks of registrars of calculated (settlement) operations, its software version by wired or wireless communication channels to bodies of the State Tax Service of Ukraine, approved by Order of the Ministry of Finance of Ukraine dated 08.10.2012 № 1057, registered at the Ministry of Justice of Ukraine on 17.10.2012 № 1744/22056 (hereinafter – the Procedure № 1057), an information acquirer is a legal entity authorized by the Payment Organization to provide business entities with technical support and information services for the transfer of data of registrars of calculated operations (hereinafter – the RCO) to the data accounting system RCO STS (hereinafter – the DAS RCO) by the National Bank of Ukraine.

It should be noted that information from RCO of business entities to the STS is transferred in the form of data packets.

According to Paragraph 3.1 of the Procedure № 105, information acquirers as components of the RCO data storage and collection system, particularly ensure:

organization of primary interaction with RCO – resolving issues in detection problem cases of RCO connection to the RCO data storage and collection system, implementation of measures to resolve technical issues of RCO’s data transfer that business entities face;

organization of communication session with RCO and functions of the information processing server: initial verification of the authenticity and registration of RCO in the RCO data storage and collection system, verification of integrity of protected data packets incoming from the RCO;

temporary storage of protected data packets received from RCO at any time (including during the “peak” loads and in the absence of communication with the DAS RCO or failures in its work) in the information acquirer’s database.

According to Paragraph 9.2 of the Procedure № 1057in case of the operation’s failure (violation of integrity of the data set during transfer, inability to store information in the database, etc.) – the information acquirer returns the error code to RCO. Depending on the error code, the RCO repeats transferring attempt immediately or after a certain time according to RCO’s configuration.

It should be noted that according to Sub-paragraph 3.2.1 Paragraph 3.2 of Requirements for creation of control tape in the electronic form in registrars of calculated operations, software registrars of calculated operations and modems for data transfer, approved by Order of the Ministry of Finance of Ukraine dated 08.10.2012 № 1057, registered at the Ministry of Justice of Ukraine on 17.10.2012 № 174/22055 (hereinafter – Requirements № 1057), the RCO with a modem must particularly provide:

automatic transfer of control and reporting information to the information processing server according to the information transfer protocol with frequency specified by the information processing server;

retransfer of control and reporting information if a message received from the server will contain such requirement;

accumulation of control and reporting information in case of impossibility to transfer it due to communication failure with information processing server for any reason and automatic transfer of  accumulated information to the information processing server after reconnection;

indication of good and bad condition of the modem and information transferring channel.

Given the above mentioned information, in case of problems with the transfer of RCO data to the State Tax Service, and the impossibility of restoring communication automatically, to solve this technical problem, we suggest to contact the RCO service center, which has a contract to resolve issues involving the information acquirer and / or mobile operators or regional Internet service providers.

As for the problems of data transfer by software RCO, in the absence of communication, the software RCO uses numbers reserved for settlement documents transferred to the State Tax Service after the reconnection.

As follows, according to Paragraph 1 – 3 of the “Procedure for registration, maintenance of register and use of software registrars of calculated (settlement) operations”, approved by Order of the Ministry of Finance of Ukraine dated 23.06.2020 № 317, registered at the Ministry of Justice of Ukraine on 07.07.2020 for № 635/34918 (hereinafter – the Procedure № 317), for the period of absence of communication between the software RCO and the fiscal server, business entity’s settlement operations are carried out offline, which may last not more than 36 hours and not more than 168 hours during a calendar month, with creation of electronic settlement documents assigned with fiscal numbers from the range of fiscal numbers generated by the fiscal server according to the Procedure for determining range, issuance, reservation, use of fiscal numbers assigned to electronic settlement documents during the operation of software registrar of calculated operations offline, approved according to Article 5 of the Law (hereinafter – the Range).

Software RCO should be automatically switched from offline to online exchange with the fiscal server at the time of communication between the software RCO and the fiscal server.

Software solution of the software RCO during offline operation should provide constant control over connection of the software RCO with the fiscal server and check presence of such connection before the formation of each settlement document offline, compliance with the deadlines for application of the offline mode, inform the person performing settlement operation about the remaining time during which the offline mode may last and stop conducting settlement operations offline if one of the deadlines is reached (36 consecutive hours or 168 hours during a calendar month).

Also, according to Sub-paragraph 3.4 Paragraph 3 of Requirements № 1057, the software RCO provides constant control over the renewal and availability of software RCO connection with the fiscal server of the controlling body for transfer of data packet of the established format and content, transfer of such data packet after renewal of communication between software RCO and the fiscal server of the controlling body from the offline mode.

Therefore, if the software RCO informs about the lack of communication with the fiscal server, it is advisable to contact the mobile operator and / or regional Internet service providers.

2.Which medical services (which codes of services of Ukrainian classification of the FEA goods) require mandatory use of the RCO?

Article 3 of the Law of Ukraine dated 19.11.1992 № 2801-XII “Fundamentals of Ukrainian legislation on the health care” with changes and amendments determines that service of the medical care (medical service) is a service provided to a patient by a health care institution or an individual – entrepreneur who is registered and received a license to conduct business in medical practice in the manner prescribed by the law and is paid for by the customer. Customer of medical services may be the state, relevant local governments, legal entities and individuals, including the patient.

The Law of Ukraine dated 06.07.1995 № 265/95-VR “On the use of registrars of calculated (settlement) operations in trade, catering and services” (hereinafter – the Law № 265) determines the legal basis for the use of registrars of calculations operations (hereinafter – the RCO) and software RCO in trade, catering and services. The Law № 265 is applicable to all business entities, their business units and representatives (authorized individuals) of business entities that carry out settlement operations in cash and / or non-cash form.

As follows, the Law № 265 does not define restrictions on the types of economic activity of business entities and the Tax Code of Ukraine regulates the scope of RCO and / or software RCO according to certain types of economic activity.

3.Does activity of veterinary pharmacies and clinics that provide veterinary services require the use of RCO?

According to Paragraph 61 Sub-section XX “Transitional provisions” of the Tax Code of Ukraine from 01.01.2021 to 01.01.2022 the RCO and / or software RCO are not applied by single tax payers Group II – IV (individuals - entrepreneurs), whose income during the calendar year does not exceed amount of income that not exceeds 220 times of the minimum wage established by the Law on January 1 of the tax (reporting) year, regardless of the chosen type of activity, excepting those who carry out:

sale of technically complex household appliances subject to warranty repair;

sale of medicines, medical devices and paid services in the health care;

sale of jewelry and household products made of precious metals, precious stones, precious stones of organogenic formation and semi-precious stones.

According to Article 1 of the Law of Ukraine as of 25.06.1992 № 2498-XII “On veterinary medicine” veterinary pharmacy is institution of veterinary medicine – pharmacy, pharmacy unit, pharmacy kiosk that circulate veterinary drugs and provide advice on their use;

veterinary medicine institution is institution, enterprise, organization where at least one veterinary doctor works and is founded by a legal or individual – entrepreneur (business entity), who has the qualification of a veterinary doctor and carries out veterinary activities, including veterinary practice, production of veterinary drugs, retail sale, wholesale of veterinary drugs, disinfection, disinsection and deratization works;

veterinary medicine is a branch of science and practical knowledge about the physiology and diseases of animals, their prevention, diagnosis and treatment, determining the safety of animal products, and in agri-food markets and plant origin; activities aimed at maintaining the health and productivity of animals, preventing their diseases and protecting humans from zoonoses and prion diseases.

As follows, veterinary pharmacies and veterinary institutions (clinics) do not carry out activities in the human health sphere, so requirements for the use of RCO from 01.01.2021 to 01.01.2022 are not applicable to them.

4.Will it be considered a non-cash form of payment for the entity to receive funds from the buyer to bank account on the basis of contract and / or account and should the RCO be used?

Under what conditions does the receipt of funds on the business entity’s current account require registration of settlement operation using the RCO?

Is it considered as non-cash payments and does not require the use of RCO / software RCO to credit payment on the key card to the current account of individuals – entrepreneur?

Article 2 of the Law of Ukraine № 265 determines that a settlement document is a document of the established form and content (cash receipt, commodity check, expense check, settlement receipt, travel document, etc.) which confirms the fact of sale (return) of goods (products), provision of services, cash disbursement operations to electronic payment holders, receipt (return) of funds, trade in currency values in cash, created in a paper and / or electronic form (electronic settlement document) in the cases provided by this Law by duly registered RCO or software RCO or filled in manually.

Article 3 of the Law of Ukraine № 265 determines that business entities that carry out settlement operations in cash and / or non-cash form (using electronic means of payment, payment checks, tokens, etc.) when selling goods, products (services) in the trade sphere, catering and services, as well as operations with acceptance of cash for its further transfer must:

carry out settlement operations for the full amount of purchase (provision of services) through registered, sealed in the prescribed manner and transferred to the fiscal mode of RCO or through the RCO registered by the fiscal server of the controlling body with creation in a paper and / or electronic form of relevant settlement documents confirming performance of settlement operations, or in cases provided by this Law, with use of settlement books registered according to the established procedure;

provide a person who receives or returns goods (products), receives a service or refuses it, including those whose order or payment is made using the Internet, upon the receipt of goods (services) must be a settlement document of the prescribed form and content for the full amount of conducted operation, created in a paper and / or electronic form (including, but not limited to, reproduction on the RCO’s display or display of the device on which software RCO’s QR-code is installed, which allows a person to read and identify it with a settlement document by the data structure, contained therein, and / or by sending electronic payment document to the subscriber number or e-mail address provided by such person).

According to clarification of the National Bank of Ukraine (Letter № 57-0009 / 53844 dated 28.09.2020), the non-cash payment is a transfer of a certain amount of funds from the payer’s accounts to the accounts of recipients of funds, as well as bank’s transfer (on behalf of enterprises and individuals) of funds deposited by them in cash at the bank’s cash desk, to the accounts of recipients of funds. These settlements are made by banks on the basis of settlement documents in paper or electronic form.

At the same time, it is necessary to distinguish how funds were transferred to the business entity’s account.

The Law of Ukraine as of 03.09 .2015 № 675-VIII “On electronic commerce” (hereinafter – the Law № 675) defines principles of the e-commerce, establishes procedure for electronic transactions using information and telecommunications systems and defines rights and responsibilities of participants relations in the e-commerce sphere.

According to Sub-paragraph 61 15 Paragraph 1 Article 3 of the Law № 675, the e-commerce entity is a business entity of any organizational and legal form that sells goods, performs work, provides services using information and telecommunications systems or a person who purchases, orders, uses these goods, works, services by making an electronic transaction.

According to the Second paragraph of Paragraph 1 Article 13 of the Law № 675, settlements in the e-commerce sphere may be made using payment instruments, electronic money, transfer of funds or cash payments in compliance with the law on the cash and non-cash payments, as well as in other ways provided by Ukrainian legislation.

The seller, payment system operator or other person who received payment for goods, work, service according to terms of the electronic contract must provide the buyer (customer, consumer) with an electronic document, receipt, commodity or cash receipt, ticket, coupon or other document that confirms the fact of receipt of funds, indicating the date of settlement (Paragraph 3 Article 13 of the Law № 675).

Herewith, according to clarification of the National Bank of Ukraine (Letter № 57-0007 / 62082 dated 28.11.2019), the receipt received during settlement using electronic payment device is not a settlement document within the meaning of the Law № 265 and does not confirm the fact of sale of goods (receipt of services) but only confirms the initiation transfer of funds from the account of holder of electronic payment device.

Therefore, if the product or service is purchased using electronic payment device, funds on the trader’s account will come from the acquirer and not from the holder of electronic payment device. In this case, the acquirer independently determines the registration order of traders with whom it has concluded agreements.

Thus, settlement operations with the use of electronic payment device are not accompanied by settlement documents of the established form and content, confirming the fact of sale of goods and / or provision of services, unlike statements of banking institutions on payments through the online bank payment system.

This position was confirmed by the State Tax Service and the National Bank of Ukraine (Letter № 57-0009 / 20338 dated 24.04.2020) where noted that only transactions carried out by transferring funds from the payer’s account, without the use of electronic payment means to the payee’s account, do not belong to settlement operations according to the Law № 265.

In this case, the business entity must conduct a settlement operation through the RCO on the basis of statement of the financial institution and send a settlement document of the prescribed form for the full purchase amount to the buyer with ordered goods.

However, the RCO is not used in case of paying for purchased goods by a non-cash transfer of funds from the payer’s account to the payee’s account.

5.Question regarding the need to use RCO and / or software RCO in the absence of physical contact between the seller of goods (provider of service) and the consumer, ie absence of a place of settlement operations.

Whether condition regarding the non-use of RCO providing services via the Internet is also applicable to the sale of goods ordered via the Internet and payments are made exclusively using electronic means of payment and payment systems?

Question regarding the need to use RCO and / or software RCO in the remote provision of services with the help and conduction of settlements for such services exclusively through remote banking systems and / or money transfer services.

Legislative amendments on the use of RCO came into force on 10.12.2020, namely Paragraph 14 Article 9 of the Law № 265, which stipulates that the RCO are not used for settlement payments for services, in case of conduction of such settlement payment only through remote banking systems and / or money transfer services.

At the same time, when selling goods via the Internet, the business entity must use RCO, excepting payment for purchased goods made by depositing cash in a bank branch or software and hardware self-service complex of the banking institution.

According to Paragraph 14 Article 9 of the Law of Ukraine as of 06.07.1995 № 265/95-VR “On the use of registrars of calculated (settlement) operations in trade sphere, catering and services” the RCO and / or software RCO and settlement books are not used when making payments for services in case when such payments are made exclusively through remote banking systems and / or money transfer services.

As follows, RCO and / or software RCO can be not used when making payments for services in the case of their implementation exclusively with the help of banking systems of remote service and / or services of transfer of funds.

6.Non-provision to individuals-entrepreneurs of primary documents for the goods by suppliers – individuals-entrepreneurs who pay single tax of Group I, trading in the markets.

According to Paragraph 6 Article 3 of the Law of Ukraine as of 06.07.1995 № 265/95-VR “On the use of registrars of calculated (settlement) operations in trade sphere, catering and services” the RCO and / or software RCO and settlement books are not used when selling goods (providing services) by single tax payers (individuals-entrepreneurs) who do not use the RCO and / or software RCO according to the Tax Code of Ukraine (hereinafter – the Code).

According to Paragraph 296.10 Article 295 of the Code, the RCO and / or software RCO are not applied by single tax payers of Group I.

At the same time, according to Paragraph 15 Article 3 of the Law № 265, business entities that carry out settlement operations in cash and / or non-cash form (using electronic payment means, payment checks, tokens, etc.) when selling goods (services) in the trade sphere, catering and services, as well as cash acceptance operations for its further transfer are obliged to provide in a paper and / or electronic form to the buyer of goods (services) at his request a check, invoice or other settlement document certifying the transfer of ownership from seller to buyer in order to compliance with requirements of the Law of Ukraine “On consumer protection”. Violation of this rule entails liability under this Law, but may not be grounds for application of administrative or financial sanctions prescribed by the tax legislation to the violator.

7.Will it be considered a violation to use the pre-programming mode if audit reveals that similar products are encoded in product groups and the number of such products is not programmed in the RCO?

According to Paragraph 11 Article 3 of the Law of Ukraine as of 06.07.1995 № 265/95-VR “On the use of registrars of calculated (settlement) operations in trade sphere, catering and services”, business entities that carry out settlement operations in cash and / or non-cash form (using electronic payment means, payment checks, tokens, etc.) when selling goods (services) in the trade sphere, catering and services, as well as operations with acceptance of cash for its further transfer are obliged to carry out settlement operations through RCO and / or software RCO for excisable goods using the programming mode indicating the product code subcategory according to Ukrainian classification of the FEA goods, title of goods, prices and accounting for their quantity.

According to Sub-paragraph 1 and 2 Section II of Regulations on the form and content of settlement documents, approved by Order of the Ministry of Finance of Ukraine dated 21.01.2016 № 13, registered at the Ministry of Justice of Ukraine on 11.02.2016 № 220/28350, the fiscal cash receipt for goods (services) (hereinafter – the fiscal check) is a settlement document / electronic settlement document created in a paper and / or electronic form (electronic settlement document), or created by RCO or its software version when making payments for sold goods (provided services).

The fiscal check must contain the following mandatory details:

quantity, cost of the unit of measurement of the purchased goods (received service) if quantity of purchased goods (volume of received service) is not equal to the unit of measurement;

product subcategory code according to Ukrainian classification of the FEA goods (indicated in cases provided by applicable legislation);

digital value of the bar code of goods (indicated in cases provided by current legislation and in unpredicted case – at the payer’s request);

title of goods (services), cost, letter designation of the VAT rate.

Therefore, if the business entity’s RCO is coded in a way that the fiscal cash receipt of the RCO goods are indicated without specifying their title, quantity and value of the unit of measurement, it will be a violation of the programming mode.

8.Postponement until the end of current year of the application of penalties for violation of requirements for the application of RCO to risk categories of individuals –  entrepreneurs to single tax payers who must apply RCO / software RCO from 01.01.2021.

Business entities’ liabilities for carrying out settlement operations with violation of requirements of the Law of Ukraine as of 06.07.1995 № 265/95-VR “On the use of registrars of calculated (settlement) operations in trade sphere, catering and services” (hereinafter - Law № 265) are determined by relevant Articles of the Law № 265.

Also, according to Paragraph 11 Section II of the “Final Provisions” of the Law № 265 temporarily, until 01.01.2022, sanctions specified in Paragraph 1 Article 17 of this Law are applied in the following amounts:

10 percent of the value of goods (works, services) sold with violations established by this Paragraph for violation committed for the first time;

50 percent of the value of goods (works, services) sold with violations established by this Paragraph for each subsequent violation.