Counter-arguments against 50% profit tax for banks in 2026 far-fetched – Hetmantsev
The proposed increase in the bank profit tax rate to 50% in 2026 is justified by the sector's super-profitability during the war. The successful implementation of a similar tax increase from 2023 to 2024 refutes the National Bank of Ukraine's and Ukrainian banks' arguments against the decision, said Danylo Hetmantsev, head of the Rada Committee on Finance, Taxation and Customs Policy.
"The counter-arguments are far-fetched. They are an attempt by people who do not want to pay more to explain 'why not.' I understand the intention, but I cannot agree with it," he said in an interview with Interfax-Ukraine.
Hetmantsev emphasized that the banking sector earns a significant portion of its income from risk-free transactions with government bonds and certificates of deposit from the National Bank of Ukraine (NBU) rather than from lending to the economy. This is due to record liquidity in wartime conditions.
According to data he provided, the average daily balance of certificates of deposit, for example, increased from UAH 145 billion in 2021 to UAH 506 billion in the first nine months of 2025. Additionally, the volume of banks' investments in government bonds increased from UAH 530 billion at the beginning of the war to approximately UAH 890 billion this year.
"If, due to certain anomalies, the state gives banks the opportunity to earn on such transactions, it has the right to direct part of this profit to financing the army," Hetmantsev said, commenting on bill No. 14097, which the Verkhovna Rada adopted last week at the first reading by 262 votes, surpassing the required minimum of 226.
The committee chairman also noted that, unlike previous tax rate increases, this one is not planned to be retroactive.
As reported, the banking community – united by the National Association of Banks of Ukraine, the European Business Association (EBA), and the Forum for Leading International Financial Institutions – appealed to the Verkhovna Rada to reject the draft law. According to the EBA, the document could complicate the formation of capital buffers, restrict lending, and jeopardize the implementation of individual banks' recapitalization plans.
According to estimates from the National Bank, to which the EBA refers, nine banks, including two state-owned ones, may face a capital deficit if the draft law is adopted, and eight of them will be unable to implement their recapitalization plans.
Last week, the Governor of the National Bank of Ukraine, Andriy Pyshnyy, also spoke out against raising the tax rate on bank profits to 50%. He recalled that banks and financial companies already pay tax at an increased rate of 25%, while the rest of the economy pays 18%.