During the year, detectives of the Economic Security Bureau of Ukraine secured the recovery of over UAH 55.5 million in losses caused to the state budget by sellers of household appliances. The investigations were carried out in criminal proceedings related mainly to tax evasion during the sale of gadgets.

In addition, detectives investigated cases of smuggling of equipment and illegal use of a trademarks, trade names, qualified indication of the origin of goods. As part of the pre-trial investigations, mobile phones, tablets, batteries, charging stations, etc. were seized. Their total estimated value is UAH 47 million.

For example, detectives of the Territorial Office of the ESBU in Kyiv exposed a company that sells equipment from world-renowned manufacturers for tax evasion on a particularly large scale. The pre-trial investigation established that since 2022, the company has been selling phones, headphones, watches, computers and accessories through its own network of stores. The company uses the details of controlled individual entrepreneurs to settle accounts with customers, thus evading income tax. Another well-known chain of home appliance stores evaded taxes by artificially understating VAT on the sale of household appliances and electronics.

In fiscal receipts, cashiers reduced the cost of goods subject to taxation and at the same time added e-books, services for smartphones, tablets, laptops, etc. to the receipt. According to the Tax Code of Ukraine, these are not subject to taxation. The total amount of the cheque remained unchanged. As a result, the company underpaid more than UAH 57 million in taxes. In turn, the detectives of the Territorial Office of the ESBU in Lviv region identified a group of people who set up a scheme for the illegal movement of wholesale consignments of equipment from well-known manufacturers, as well as accessories to them. Among the goods illegally smuggled into Ukraine were Amazon liquidation lots, which are usually purchased from third parties in the European Union, the USA and China. Detectives of the Main Detective Unit of the ESBU also exposed a group of people who illegally used the trademarks of an international company that manufactures mobile phones, tablets, laptops and accessories.