TRANSFORMATION OF THE CONCEPT OF “PERSONAL INCOME” IN THE TAX LEGISLATION OF UKRAINE

Abstract

The article examines the transformation of the concept of “personal income” in the tax legislation of Ukraine. It is substantiated that the category of “income” is a complex economic concept and, accordingly, has certain specifics. The complexity and multidimensionality of the category “income” and the lack of unity in the doctrinal approaches to its definition have a negative impact on the definition of the term “income” in tax legislation for the purposes of tax regulation. Based on the analysis of Ukrainian tax legislation, the author proves that the definition of “personal income” has come a long way. At first, there was the wording “...individual income received by Soviet citizens from personal plots, as a result of individual labor, etc...” . Then came the period of formation from 1992 to 2003, when the legal field of Ukraine had a curious situation in which, according to the tax legislation of Ukraine, certain types of income were not taxed, but international treaties that Ukraine concluded with other countries provided for a mechanism to avoid double taxation. It was only with the adoption of the Law of Ukraine No. 889-IV “On Personal Income Taxation” dated 22.05.2003 that various types of income received by individuals were specified as objects of personal income taxation, which generally reflected the realities of the new socio-economic relations that had developed in Ukraine at that time. Starting from 2014, the legislator moved away from the general definition of the concept of “income” in the tax legislation of Ukraine. The author determines the way to consolidate two concepts of income in the Tax Code of Ukraine – “income with the source of its origin in Ukraine” and “income received from sources outside Ukraine”. The author summarizes that the category of “personal income” as a category of national tax legislation has undergone a significant evolution. The Ukrainian legislator has refused to provide a general definition of the concept of “income” in the tax legislation and has used an approach, which lists and regulates various types of income that individuals may receive, taking into account the territorial principle (source of origin).