The time limit for filing a claim challenging tax assessment notices after completion of the administrative appeal procedure is one month - SC GC

When applying to the court with a claim for the invalidation and cancellation of tax assessment notices after the administrative appeal procedure, the one-month period established by clause 56.19 of Article 56 of the Tax Code of Ukraine as a special rule applies, and not the three-month period provided for in part 4 of Article 122 of the Code of Administrative Procedure of Ukraine.

This conclusion was reached by the Grand Chamber of the Supreme Court in the case of a claim filed by an individual entrepreneur against the State Tax Service of Ukraine to declare unlawful and cancel tax assessment notices.

Under the circumstances of the case, the defendant conducted a documentary unscheduled on-site inspection of the sole proprietorship, which revealed a number of violations and resulted in the issuance of tax notices on the accrual of a monetary obligation.

The plaintiff appealed these tax notices to the STS, but the STS upheld the decisions on the results of the complaints.

The courts of previous instances dismissed the claim on the grounds that the one-month period for filing a claim to cancel a tax assessment notice after its administrative appeal under clause 56.19 of Article 56 of the Tax Code had expired.

When filing the cassation appeal, the plaintiff argued that the reason for her missing the deadline was a conflict of legal provisions of the Code of Administrative Procedure of Ukraine and the Tax Code of Ukraine, since when she filed a lawsuit against the public authority, she used the time limits set out in part 4 of Art. 122 of the CAP of Ukraine, which provides for a longer (three-month) period than the one specified in clause 56.19 of Article 56 of the TC of Ukraine for applying to the court from the moment of receiving the decision on the results of pre-trial appeal (one month), since the longer period provided for by the CAP of Ukraine is interpreted in her favour as a taxpayer.

Based on the results of the case consideration, the Grand Chamber of the Supreme Court noted that according to the established case law, which is mandatory for consideration, the deadline for filing a claim to the court to cancel a tax assessment notice or other decision of the controlling authority on the accrual of a monetary obligation, subject to the preliminary use of the pre-trial procedure, is one month following the day of the end of the administrative appeal procedure.

The provision of clause 56.19 of Article 56 of the TC of Ukraine is special in relation to the provision of part 4 of Article 122 of the CAP of Ukraine, and therefore has an advantage in application in tax disputes and regulates the appeal in court against tax assessment notices and other decisions of controlling authorities on the accrual of monetary liabilities, provided that the plaintiff has previously used the pre-trial dispute resolution procedure. It establishes a deadline for their appeal within one month following the day of the end of the administrative appeal procedure in accordance with clause 56.17 of Article 56 of the Tax Code.

These two legal norms (general and special) do not give rise to a conflict, the special norm provided by the Tax Code of Ukraine has priority in regulating disputed legal relations.

The Grand Chamber of the Supreme Court took into account that prior to filing the claim with the court in April 2024, the plaintiff appealed the tax assessment notices to the State Tax Service of Ukraine in November 2023, i.e. the administrative appeal procedure against the tax assessment notices was underway, which ended in January 2024, on the day the plaintiff received the decisions of the State Tax Service of Ukraine on the results of consideration of her appeal.

Therefore, the Grand Chamber of the Supreme Court agreed with the conclusions of the courts of first instance and appeal that the plaintiff's appeal to the court was filed with a one-month delay in filing a lawsuit. At the same time, the plaintiff did not provide any objective reasons why she could not apply to the court within the one-month period.

Resolution of the Grand Chamber of the Supreme Court of 16 July 2025 in case No. 500/2276/24 - https://reyestr.court.gov.ua/Review/128993275.

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