Rada raises tax on bank profits in 2026 from 25% to 50%

Ukrainian banks in 2026 will pay tax on profits at a doubled rate – 50%.

The Verkhovna Rada on Wednesday passed the relevant law (No. 14097) amending the Tax Code of Ukraine regarding specific features of bank profit taxation in 2026, with 272 votes in favor, surpassing the required minimum of 226, Interfax-Ukraine reported.

According to Yaroslav Zhelezniak, First Deputy Chairman of the parliamentary financial committee, banks will pay the tax at this rate quarterly next year and in the first quarter of 2027. This is expected to bring an additional UAH 15-23 billion to the budget in 2026 and about UAH 5 billion in 2027.

This is the third time since the start of Russia’s full-scale invasion that the bank profit tax has been raised to 50%. However, the first two increases in 2023 and 2024 were passed retroactively in the autumn.

At its October 30 meeting, the Financial Stability Council (FSC) highlighted the systemic risks that the introduction of a 50% bank profit tax rate from 2026 could create.

"Raising the bank profit tax rate to 50% creates risks of limiting credit to the economy and weakening financial stability during wartime," the FSC emphasized.

Council members also noted that the expected fiscal effect of the 50% rate increase may turn out to be significantly lower than the publicly communicated estimates.

The National Bank also noted that banks and financial companies already have a higher level of income taxation compared to the rest of the economy - 25% versus 18%. According to the NBU, Ukrainian banks received UAH 131.7 billion in net profit in 10 months of 2025, which is 4.9% more compared to the same period in 2024, and paid 2.1% more income tax - UAH 34.7 billion.