Assessment of tax impact and role of taxes in the ukraine economy

Taxes are an exclusive tool of state administration that determines the financial potential of fulfilling its main functions and tasks. The role of taxes is manifested through filling state and local budgets, as well as creating conditions for business development through the appropriate tax burden. The article analyzes the overall tax burden on Ukraine’s economy. As the studies have shown, the actual level of the tax burden in Ukraine is characterized by a relatively unstable downward trend, and in 2024, it will equal 30.6%. At the same time, the growth rate of tax revenues to the budget exceeds the growth rate of real GDP. It is determined that the ratio between these indicators does not contribute to reducing (optimizing) the level of the tax burden in the short term. The role of taxes in the formation of consolidated budget revenues is studied, and an analysis of the state of the budget and its ratio to the volume of tax revenues is conducted. It is revealed that at the present stage, taxes and mandatory payments in Ukraine are gradually losing their fiscal potential. Their share in forming the country’s consolidated budget revenues decreased from 77.8% in 2015 to 58.2% in 2024. The decrease in the role of taxes in filling the country’s budget led to an increase in the size of its deficit, which amounted to 17.6%. The nature of the impact of the amount of taxes on the state of Ukraine’s external financial debt is revealed. The results showed that the reduction in tax revenues leads to a differentiation of the structure of government revenues due to an increase in external financial borrowing. As a result, external debt to GDP was 90.4%. In this regard, the article outlines the main long-term risks that the country’s high external state financial debt could pose. Specific directions for reducing (optimizing) the size of Ukraine’s external debt under the conditions of the end of the military conflict are recommended. Keywords: taxes, tax burden, national economy, debt, security, risks.