• PEs who are simultaneously entrepreneurs and have a primary place of employment where the employer, when paying the salary, pays USC for them in an amount not less than the minimum USC;
• PEs, Entrepreneurs who are also self-employed (lawyers, architects, etc.) and pay USC in an amount not less than the minimum USC as self-employed individuals;
• retirees by age or individuals who have reached the age specified in Article 26 of the Law of Ukraine "On Mandatory State Pension Insurance" and receive a pension by age or a service pension in accordance with the law;
• disabled individuals who receive a pension or social assistance in accordance with the law.

If everything is more or less clear with disabled individuals, then there are many controversial points with pensioners by age. The Tax and Pension Fund believe that only pensioners who meet all the conditions for receiving an age pension are exempt: the appropriate age and the presence of an insurance period sufficient for receiving an age pension (Article 26 of the Law of Ukraine "On Mandatory State Pension Insurance").

Judicial practice is not always unequivocal.

The Supreme Court in its decision of April 15, 2014 (case No. 21-59a14) indicated that only those individual entrepreneurs who have chosen a simplified taxation system and are pensioners by age are exempt from paying the unified tax. With this decision, the Supreme Court denied the rights of pensioners, who retired due to their years of service, to be equated to pensioners by age.

But there are also other categories of pensioners.
I believe that considering the established practice of the Supreme Court and the Higher Administrative Court in 2014 and 2015, it can be concluded that the following individual entrepreneurs-pensioners by age are exempt from paying the Unified Social contribution:
- those who retired at the general age of 60 for men with a work experience of at least 25 years and 55 for women with a work experience of at least 20 years;
- those who retired due to age according to articles 13 and 14 of the "Pension Provision" law;
- pensioners who are Chernobyl victims. So, in the Determination of the Higher Administrative Court of March 24, 2015 (case No. K/800/36362/13), the court stated:
a) the Pension Fund's reference that the provision of part 4 of Article 4 of the Law of Ukraine "On the Collection and Accounting of the Unified Contribution for Compulsory State Social Insurance" cannot be applied to a Chernobyl pensioner because he has not reached the age of 60 is baseless, as this norm does not link the exemption from payment with the person reaching a certain age but provides for the exemption of all pensioners by age.
b) since part 4 of Article 4 of the Law of Ukraine "On the Collection and Accounting of the Unified Contribution for Compulsory State Social Insurance" contains no reservations about its inapplicability to persons who were granted a pension by age based on the Law of Ukraine "On the Status and Social Protection of Citizens Affected by the Chernobyl Disaster", the courts rightly concluded that from January 2011 the plaintiff should not pay the Unified Social Tax for himself.

Individual entrepreneurs, pensioners due to years of service, and recipients of a pension due to the loss of a breadwinner pay the Unified Social contribution on general terms.

But the question arises: "If a pensioner who retired for any reason before reaching the retirement age achieves the retirement age of 60/55, does he have the right not to pay the Unified Social Tax as an individual entrepreneur under the unified tax?" The Tax Service and Pension Fund will tell you: Definitely! NO. And they will not be unsettled by the absurdity of the situation that, having retired at the age of 60/55, they will have such a right, but having retired earlier before reaching 60/55, they will not enjoy such benefits.

But there is a definition by the Higher Administrative Court that if such a pensioner reaches the age of 60/55, he does not pay the Unified Social Tax.

However, judicial practice will change since the conditions for appointing a pension by age have changed. According to the new Law "On Amendments to Some Legislative Acts of Ukraine on Pension Increase" dated October 3, 2017, No. 2148-VIII

Fines and penalties can be applied regardless of the date the violations were discovered. BUT!!! Don't forget that they can check for no more than the last 3 years from the beginning of the inspection.

- A fine is imposed:
- For violations that occurred before December 31, 2014, at 10% of the unpaid amounts of the single contribution, regardless of the actual date of payment;
- For violations that occurred from 01.01.2015, a fine of 20% of the unpaid amounts of the single contribution is imposed;

Penalties are also accrued at 0.1% of the underpaid amount for each day of payment delay. (para.11 art.25 of the "On USC" Law).
Your actions if the tax authorities notified you that you need to pay a fine for the late payment of USC:

1. Until you receive a Decision from the tax authorities on the imposition of penalties, you officially do not owe anything.
2. If they jUSC called and demanded to pay the fine, say you'll check everything and if you made a mistake, you'll pay.
3. After that, check all your accounting and self-check.
4. If you paid everything correctly and on time, fines should not be applied to you.
5. If you allowed a delay, calculate the amount of the fine and penalties using the methodology mentioned above.
6. After you receive a Decision from the tax authorities on the imposition of penalties, compare it with your calculations. I'm sure the tax office has charged you more.
7. If you disagree with the Decision on the additional imposition of penalties, you can appeal it at the State Tax Administration of your region (STA of Kyiv). The appeal period is 10 calendar days from the receipt. The chance of cancellation is 1 in 10 in your favor. But it's free, and you're not pressed for time (during the appeal, the accrual of penalties and payment requirements are suspended).
8. Moreover, the Decision on the imposition of penalties can be challenged in court. If you go to court, the odds are: if you apply by yourself it's 50/50, but with a good lawyer, the chance is 90 out of 100 (I'm sure a good lawyer won't take on an absolutely losing case).

The right to fine entrepreneurs under the Code of Administrative Offences came into effect on January 1, 2015.
Art. 165-1 of the Code provides for a fine for late/incomplete payment of the Unified Social Tax (USC) ranging from 680 to 1360 UAH.
Note that the minimum penalty is 680 UAH and can be applied even for a minor underpayment.
The comforting thing is that the administrative offence protocol can be drawn up no later than 2 months from the date of the offence. In the case of incomplete/late payment of USC, the 2-month period starts from the USC payment deadline.

Moreover, a fine ranging from 2550 UAH to 5100 UAH is provided for a repeated offence. A repeated offence is considered your subsequent underpayment/non-payment of USC within a year from the imposition of the previous administrative fine on you.