Ukrainian sole proprietor abroad: how to work and pay taxes in 2026

You can run a Ukrainian sole proprietorship from abroad - the tax service confirms it. Here is where you are a tax resident, how to get a residency certificate, how much single tax and contribution to pay and how to close the business online.

In detail

A Ukrainian sole proprietor (FOP) can run the business from abroad. The law does not require you to be in Ukraine: the Main Tax Directorate in the Kharkiv region confirmed this on 5 August 2025. Money arrives in the business account, and taxes and the single social contribution are paid in Ukraine as before.

The key is to know where you are a tax resident and to confirm it with a document. Below is how it works in 2026.

Can you run a sole proprietorship from abroad

Yes. The tax service explains that the law does not oblige an entrepreneur to be in Ukraine. If the business is not closed and money comes into it, taxes are paid in Ukraine. In group 3 this is 5% of income (or 3% plus VAT), a 1% military levy and the single social contribution.

To keep it that way, Ukraine must continue to treat you as its tax resident: the single tax in groups 1-3 is for Ukrainian residents.

Where you are a tax resident

The Tax Code checks the criteria in order. The next one is used only if the previous one gives no answer:

1. whether you have a home in Ukraine;
2. if you have a home both here and abroad - where your centre of vital interests is: family, work, business;
3. if the centre cannot be determined - where you spent at least 183 days in the year;
4. if that does not help either - citizenship.

The Tax Code names the permanent home of your family or registration as an entrepreneur as a sufficient condition for the centre of vital interests. Registration as a sole proprietor is expressly named as sufficient grounds to treat a person as a Ukrainian resident.

183 days abroad do not change residency on their own - this is the tax service's answer in its knowledge base. Home and the centre of vital interests come first. More in the article tax residency and the 183-day rule.

If your host country also treats you as a resident

People who live abroad for more than 183 days and have official status there - temporary protection or a residence permit - may also become tax residents of that country. Then the double tax treaty between Ukraine and that country decides: it determines where you are resident, and tax paid in one country is credited in the other.

If a Ukrainian resident has income abroad, for example from their own business in Poland, that income goes into the annual return: 18% personal income tax and 5% military levy. Income tax is reduced by the Polish tax on the basis of a certificate from the Polish tax office, and the military levy is paid in full.

How to confirm Ukrainian residency

The Ukrainian tax residency certificate is ordered online:

• the application on form F1308202 is filed in the online taxpayer account;
• the certificate or a reply arrives within 10 calendar days;
• the finished certificate comes to the same account;
• you can also order it for the current year without waiting for the year to end.

If you are temporarily living away from your registered address, any tax office accepts the application. The certificate is useful for banks, foreign clients and the tax office of your host country.

Single social contribution while abroad

An entrepreneur pays the single social contribution for themselves while abroad too. The wartime relief that allowed not paying it has been suspended for 2025 and 2026. The contribution is 22% of an amount you choose yourself:

• minimum - 1,902.34 hryvnias (about $45) a month;
• maximum - 38,046.80 hryvnias (about $850) a month;
• deadline - the 20th of the month after the quarter.

If you live in Poland, the Pension Fund of Ukraine issues the UA-PL-1 certificate. It confirms that Ukrainian contribution law continues to apply to you - for up to 24 months. The request must guarantee payment of at least the minimum contribution. Similar certificates exist for Czechia, Spain, Portugal and Lithuania.

Money from a foreign client

Group 3 of the single tax suits work with foreign clients. Group 2 provides services only to single-tax payers and to the public.

• Foreign currency income is converted into hryvnias at the official National Bank rate on the day it is received.
• Settlements are in money only: cash or to an account.
• If the client pays through a foreign payment service, move the money to the business account in a Ukrainian bank - then it is business income at the single tax rate.

Money left in the payment service at the end of the period or moved to a personal account is treated by the tax service as personal income.

Rates and limits in 2026

Rates for groups 1 and 2 are set by local councils, so the table shows the maximum. The minimum wage in 2026 is 8,647 hryvnias, and the contribution and military levy are calculated from it.

If you are leaving for good

People leaving Ukraine for permanent residence abroad file a tax return no later than 60 calendar days before departure. After that there are two routes.

• Keep the business. Keep Ukrainian residency, pay the tax and contribution, and confirm your status with the certificate.
• Close the business. This is done online in Diia: the application is signed with an electronic signature, filing takes about 2 minutes and the service is free. The data goes to the register and the tax service automatically.

After closing, you file a return for the closing period within 40 days after the end of the quarter, pay the tax and contribution for the month of closing, and close the business bank account separately.

Your own business in your new country

If you have settled in another country for the long term, it is easier to run the business there. How it works is covered in self-employment in Poland, company registration in Poland and company registration in Estonia.

Taxes for individuals and entrepreneurs are on the taxes in Ukraine page. How to move money legally is in how to transfer money out of Ukraine, and a plan for a large sum is on the capital relocation page. What comes after temporary protection is covered in what happens after EU temporary protection ends.

Not sure where you are resident and how to pay taxes without extra costs? Ask us in the chat - a manager will look at your case and suggest the next step.

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