What changes for entrepreneurs from September 1, 2026

What Changes for Entrepreneurs from September 1, 2026: Taxes, Sole Proprietorships, ECR, Grants, Employee Reservation, Licences and Financial Monitoring

From September 1, 2026, Ukraine has no general tax increase for all Sole Proprietorships, no new mandatory VAT rate for simplified tax system taxpayers, and no new ECR/pECR rules for all businesses. The main changes are targeted: a new “Own Business” grant program has been launched, certain employee reservation rules have changed, new licensing requirements for medical practice and electronic reporting for providers of fire safety services have come into force, and the rules for exporting self-grown soybeans, creating QES, public procurement, and connecting to power grids have changed.

At the same time, in September entrepreneurs should also take into account several changes that took effect in August: new risk-based bank limits for certain Sole Proprietorships, an increased limit for payments abroad using business cards, automated information exchange between the tax and border guard authorities, and new identification rules for certain transactions at Ukrposhta. In addition, by September 15, a Sole Proprietorship must submit an application if it wants to switch to another single tax group from October 1.

Key Changes from September 1, 2026

New “Own Business” Program: Grants up to UAH 2.5 Million

From September 1, a new Procedure for providing grants to start or scale up a business came into effect. It replaced applications under the previous microgrant and veteran grant programs: applications under the old rules were accepted until August 1, 2026, while new applications are submitted under the unified Procedure.

The basic amounts are:

For a grant to scale up a business, creating at least one new job is mandatory.

The grant amount may be increased: by 5% for applicants aged 18 to 25 inclusive; by 20% for veteran-owned businesses, registered VAT payers, holders of a valid patent for an invention or utility model related to the project, certain internally displaced persons and relocated enterprises, as well as applicants who undertake to create two jobs; by 30% for businesses in the frontline regions specified by the Procedure and in Slavutych, or for the restoration of destroyed or damaged fixed assets; and by 50% for projects in priority sectors specified by the Procedure. If several grounds apply, the percentages are added together, but the overall maximum amounts of UAH 500,000 and UAH 2.5 million still apply.

The funds may be used, in particular, for equipment, production assets, commercial vehicles, repairs, raw materials and materials, financial leasing of equipment, rent of non-residential premises and land, licensed software, creation of an online store, business digitalisation, advertising, branding, packaging, and registration of intellectual property rights. Percentage limits are established for certain categories of expenses. For example, the purchase of licensed software may account for up to 25% of the grant, creation or improvement of a website or online store — up to 10%, marketing and advertising — up to 10%, and registration of a trademark, industrial design, and related services — up to 20% in total.

If an individual receives a grant, they must register a Sole Proprietorship or establish a legal entity within 20 calendar days after the decision, sign the grant agreement, and submit documents to the bank. For an already registered business entity, the deadline for signing the agreement and submitting documents to the bank is 10 business days. Failure to meet these conditions is grounds for cancellation of the grant decision.

The grant project may be implemented over two, three, or five years. The recipient must comply with the conditions specified in the agreement regarding the payment of taxes, Unified Social Contribution, and, where required, the creation and retention of jobs. If the project is terminated early or the established conditions are not fulfilled, the Procedure provides for repayment of the corresponding portion of the grant funds.

Employee Reservation: Salary Criterion Increased

From September 1, part of Cabinet of Ministers Resolution No. 692 came into force, changing the requirements for reserving employees liable for military service at critically important enterprises.

The general salary criterion in the relevant provision of the Reservation Procedure has been increased from 2.5 to 3 minimum wages. The minimum wage in 2026 is UAH 8,647, so three minimum wages equal UAH 25,941 per month.

For critically important enterprises and institutions located and actually operating in territories of possible or active hostilities or temporarily occupied territories where no end date for the relevant status has been established, a special threshold of 2.5 minimum wages applies, which equals UAH 21,617.50 in 2026, unless the enterprise falls under another exception provided by the Procedure.

The rules for counting persons liable for military service who already have a deferment on other grounds and part-time employees have also changed: they are included in the total number of persons liable for military service only at one place of employment in accordance with the rules of the Procedure.

Exceeding the established maximum reservation volume by an enterprise has also been added to the grounds for losing critically important status in the cases provided for by the resolution. Therefore, an enterprise must control not only salaries but also the total number of persons liable for military service and the number of employees actually reserved.

Who Had to Reconfirm Critically Important Status

Transitional rules applied to enterprises whose critically important status decision had been adopted before June 2, 2026. Diia officially reported that if an enterprise did not reconfirm its status, the ability to reserve employees under such a decision was restricted from September 1. If critically important status was confirmed under the simplified procedure or on the basis of a full set of documents, it does not need to be reissued solely because September 1 has arrived.

Therefore, an employer using the reservation mechanism should check in Diia not only the deferments of specific employees but also the validity period of the critically important status decision itself.

New Licensing Rules for Private Medical Practice

From September 1, Cabinet of Ministers Resolution No. 813 fully came into force, amending the Licensing Conditions for conducting medical practice. It applies to medical institutions and Sole Proprietorships engaged in medical practice.

The key change concerns staff qualifications. Doctors, professionals and specialists in healthcare, and pharmacists must comply with approved professional standards. If there is no professional standard for a specific profession yet, the qualification requirements of the Ministry of Health apply.

The licensee must have at least one employee for each declared medical, pharmaceutical, or other specialty covered by the licence. This may also be a part-time employee.

Medical positions that are not included in the list of healthcare professions and positions approved by the Ministry of Health may not be arbitrarily added to the staff structure.

If an employee was declared when obtaining or extending a licence, the licensee must, in the cases provided for by the new rules, enter into an employment contract with that employee no later than one month after the licensing authority’s decision. If it is impossible to employ the declared specialist, the licensing authority must be notified in accordance with the Licensing Conditions.

A Sole Proprietorship holding a medical licence may employ doctors, other professionals, specialists, and pharmacists, but they must meet the established professional or qualification requirements.

The new rules do not mean that all existing licensees must obtain a new licence on September 1. However, they should check their actual staffing, job titles, specialties, and employees’ compliance with qualification requirements. Failure to comply with the Licensing Conditions constitutes a violation of licensing legislation, and specific consequences are applied in accordance with the Law of Ukraine “On Licensing of Types of Economic Activity”.

Fire Safety Work: New Electronic Reporting to the State Emergency Service

From September 1, another special requirement came into effect for Sole Proprietorships and companies licensed to provide fire safety services and perform fire safety work.

By the 5th day of the month following the reporting period, the licensee must submit information on work performed and services provided during the previous six months through the State Emergency Service administrative services information system. The data are submitted electronically using the log forms set out in Annexes 5–10 to the Licensing Conditions.

The work log itself may be kept in paper or electronic form. Data are entered into it after the work or services have been completed within the time limits specified by the Licensing Conditions.

Resolution No. 1184 also gave previously licensed entities nine months to bring their activities into compliance with the new Licensing Conditions. Therefore, by September, an existing licensee should already have checked its material and technical resources, personnel, documents, measuring instruments, and maintenance of the required logs.

Soybean Exports: Duty Exemption Will Not Apply Without Verification

From September 1, a verification mechanism for exports of self-grown soybeans under Ukrainian Classification of Foreign Economic Activity code 1201 came into effect. It is required for agricultural producers and cooperatives that want to benefit from the export duty exemption provided by law.

For soybeans, the marketing year is defined as the period from September 1 of the current year to August 31 of the following year.

An application for verification must be submitted through the personal electronic account in the State Agrarian Register. For soybeans, applications are accepted from September 1 to June 1 of the following calendar year.

Verification is carried out automatically on the basis of data from the State Agrarian Register and interagency information. The verified volume of products that may be exported using the exemption is transmitted electronically to the State Customs Service.

The procedure is available to producers who meet the criteria established by the Procedure, including conducting the relevant agricultural activities. Entities against which bankruptcy proceedings have been initiated or which are undergoing liquidation cannot pass verification.

QES Switches to “Kupyna”: Existing Keys Do Not Need to Be Reissued

From September 1, new qualified electronic signatures are created using updated cryptographic standards, including DSTU 7564:2014. This change is often referred to as the transition of QES to “Kupyna”.

The main point for entrepreneurs is that an existing QES does not need to be urgently reissued.

Certificates issued earlier remain valid until their expiration date. Documents and agreements signed with an existing QES remain valid. Information systems must support verification of both old and new signatures.

In practice, it is advisable to update accounting, cash register, banking, and other software used to apply or verify a QES. This is especially important for proprietary corporate systems and software integrated with government services.

New Public Procurement Rules: Important for Government Suppliers

From September 1, the main part of Cabinet of Ministers Resolution No. 957 came into force, amending the special rules for public and defence procurement. This is important for private entrepreneurs if they sell goods, perform work, or provide services to state, municipal, or other customers within the public procurement system.

Until December 31, 2026, for customers defined in paragraphs 1–3 of part one of Article 2 of the Law “On Public Procurement”, procurement procedures apply, in particular, to goods and services from UAH 200,000 and to works from UAH 1.5 million.

For certain customers operating in specific sectors of economic activity and falling under paragraph 4 of part one of Article 2 of the Law, the thresholds are UAH 1 million for goods and services and UAH 5 million for works.

The resolution also provides for the use of open bidding, electronic catalogues, and negotiated procedures in established cases. For certain special procurements, including those related to the protection and restoration of energy and critical infrastructure, separate grounds for concluding contracts without the standard procurement procedure are provided until the end of 2026.

Procurements initiated before Resolution No. 957 entered into force are completed under the rules that applied when they were initiated.

For suppliers, this means that from September they should carefully review not only the tender documentation but also the type of procedure: after unsuccessful open bidding, in cases provided for by the resolution, the customer may switch to another procurement mechanism.

New Rules for Connecting Business Facilities to Power Grids

From September 1, the National Energy and Utilities Regulatory Commission introduced updated mechanisms for connecting electrical installations to power grids. This is relevant for entrepreneurs opening a store, warehouse, production facility, service station, charging station, installing generation or energy storage systems, or increasing the capacity of an existing facility.

A flexible connection mechanism has been introduced, taking into account the actually available capacity of the power grid.

Permitted capacity may also now be determined separately as the capacity for consumption of electricity from the grid and the capacity for injection of electricity into the grid. This is particularly important for facilities with their own generation or energy storage systems.

For entrepreneurs who have already entered into connection agreements, the specific type of connection and the stage of agreement implementation are important. Therefore, an existing agreement does not need to be automatically amended because of September 1 — whether its terms must be brought into compliance depends on the specific circumstances and the provisions of the relevant Code.

Taxes for Sole Proprietorships: Rates Did Not Increase from September 1

There is no separate general increase in the single tax, military levy, or Unified Social Contribution specifically from September 1.

In 2026, the indicators established at the beginning of the year continue to apply:

The maximum single tax rate for Group 1 is UAH 332.80 per month, and for Group 2 — UAH 1,729.40; the actual rate within these maximum amounts is established by the relevant local council. For Group 3, the rates are 5% of income without VAT or 3% of income with VAT.

By September 15 — Application to Change the Single Tax Group from Q4

If a Sole Proprietorship wants to voluntarily switch to another single tax group from October 1, 2026, the application must be submitted no later than September 15.

This follows from subparagraph 298.1.5 of the Tax Code: switching between groups is carried out on the basis of an application submitted no later than 15 calendar days before the beginning of the next quarter. The State Tax Service separately listed September 15 in its official tax calendar.

A Sole Proprietorship may switch to a lower group only if it meets the criteria for that group. If the entrepreneur exceeded the limit and was required to switch to another group, the rules for returning must be determined specifically in accordance with paragraphs 293.8 and 298 of the Tax Code and the entrepreneur’s actual income. The Tax Code does not formulate a universal rule stating that “after any limit is exceeded, a full calendar year must necessarily be spent in a higher group”.

VAT for Simplified Taxpayers Is Not Being Introduced from September 1

There is no separate obligation for Sole Proprietorships under the simplified tax system to register as VAT payers after reaching turnover of UAH 4 million from September 1, 2026.

The current Tax Code does not establish such a new September threshold for single tax payers.

The issue of expanding mandatory VAT registration for simplified tax system taxpayers is indeed being discussed as part of tax reform. However, this is not yet an effective rule. In the latest IMF report from July 2026, the deadline for adopting the relevant legislation was postponed until the end of April 2027, while the proposed start date of the reform is January 1, 2028. The final threshold, exemptions, and procedure will apply only after the law is adopted.

Therefore, there is no legal basis for artificially limiting turnover in 2026 to UAH 4 million solely because of concerns about automatic VAT registration.

ECR and pECR: No New Rules from September 1, but Full Penalties Apply

From September 1, no new general obligation to use ECR/pECR is introduced for business categories that were legally exempt from using them before that date.

For entrepreneurs covered by Law No. 265, the basic requirements remain in force: settlement transactions must be processed through a registered ECR or pECR, the transaction must be processed for the full amount, and the customer must be provided with a proper paper or electronic settlement document.

Financial penalties for the main violations already apply in full:

Such violations include, in particular, failure to process a transaction through an ECR/pECR, processing it for an incomplete amount, or failure to issue a proper settlement document.

Inventory Accounting Is Not Cancelled Either

Sole Proprietorships that, in accordance with Law No. 265 and Ministry of Finance Order No. 496, are required to maintain inventory records must have primary documents for the receipt of goods and record the movement of goods in the prescribed form.

This obligation does not automatically apply to every Sole Proprietorship without exception — it depends on the entrepreneur’s status, product range, and the applicable ECR and inventory accounting rules.

Electronic Excise Stamp Did Not Start on September 1

Entrepreneurs selling alcohol, tobacco products, or liquids for electronic cigarettes should not rely on the old transition schedule.

The Cabinet of Ministers postponed certain stages of introducing electronic traceability and new excise marking until November 1, 2026. At the same time, the date on which part of the previous marking rules would cease to apply, previously linked to September 1, 2026, was postponed until May 1, 2027.

Therefore, September 1 did not become the date of a complete transition of retail alcohol and tobacco sales to electronic excise stamps.

At the same time, the existing licensing, excise, and cash register rules for excisable products remain in force.

Bank Financial Monitoring: Risk-Based Limits Already Apply in September

This change began not on September 1 but in mid-August, although in September it already directly affects some Sole Proprietorships.

Banks that joined the updated Memorandum on Transparency of the Payment Services Market apply risk-based restrictions to certain newly established or previously inactive Sole Proprietorships and other higher-risk clients.

Importantly, this is not a general statutory limit imposed by the National Bank of Ukraine on all entrepreneurs. The Memorandum itself is a voluntary market standard. For example, Oschadbank explicitly states that the new rules should not affect transparent businesses and are primarily applied to newly established, “dormant” Sole Proprietorships and certain higher-risk companies.

For Oschadbank, the transitional stage has applied since August 15:

From November 14, 2026, the next stage is expected: UAH 400,000 for Group 1 Sole Proprietorships and UAH 1 million for Group 2–3 Sole Proprietorships.

If the actual business turnover is higher, the bank may revise or remove the individual limit after receiving documents explaining the origin of funds and the economic substance of the transactions.

In practice, entrepreneurs should keep contracts, invoices, acceptance certificates, delivery notes, and other documents explaining significant payments readily available.

Business Cards Can Be Used Abroad Within a Limit of UAH 400,000 per Month

Since August, the National Bank of Ukraine has expanded the possibilities for payments using corporate payment cards.

Payments for goods, works, and services using a corporate, i.e. business, electronic payment instrument from a hryvnia account are allowed within the equivalent of UAH 400,000 per calendar month from all of the client’s hryvnia accounts at one bank.

If a business has foreign currency accounts, the National Bank of Ukraine resolution separately provides for the possibility of paying for goods, works, and services using electronic payment instruments from such accounts without a general amount limit, except for specifically defined categories of transactions.

Formally, the UAH 400,000 limit is determined with respect to the client’s accounts at a particular bank. However, opening accounts with several banks does not eliminate financial monitoring and currency control. Therefore, several business cards should not be viewed as a guaranteed way to bypass restrictions — the bank has the right to check documents and the economic purpose of transactions.

Tax and Border Guard Services Have Automated Data Exchange

In August, the State Tax Service and the State Border Guard Service introduced faster automated electronic information exchange. This is also not a new rule specifically from September 1, but the system is already operating in September.

The State Tax Service officially explained that automation does not create new grounds for inspections and does not grant the tax authorities new powers. It accelerates access to data within the powers already established by law.

Among the purposes of this exchange, the State Tax Service identifies checking risks of fictitious transactions, “grey” imports and exports, tax evasion schemes, and more accurate determination of tax residency.

The fact that a Sole Proprietorship owner or company director is abroad does not prohibit them from running a business or remotely signing electronic documents using a QES.

Similarly, it is not automatically a violation if the owner of a Sole Proprietorship is abroad while a store in Ukraine continues operating and issuing fiscal receipts. What matters is that actual transactions are carried out by properly employed and authorised employees and that the data in the documents correspond to the actual circumstances.

Ukrposhta Prints the Taxpayer Registration Number for Cash-on-Delivery Transactions, but This Does Not Mean Automatic Reporting of Every Parcel to the State Tax Service

From August 1, Ukrposhta began indicating the payer’s taxpayer registration number on paper payment documents for certain transactions, including when receiving cash-on-delivery shipments.

Later, Ukrposhta announced simplified identification for certain payments of up to UAH 5,000 following technical and legal improvements to its systems. However, cash-on-delivery payments were not listed among the general exceptions in that announcement.

At the same time, Ukrposhta’s official statements do not confirm claims that the company automatically provides the State Tax Service with information about every cash-on-delivery payment or about every parcel.

For sellers, the main risk is different: systematic sale of goods for profit must be carried out with properly registered business status, tax accounting, and compliance with settlement requirements.

KVED Codes Do Not Need to Be Changed in September

The transition to the new NACE 2.1-UA classification does not begin on September 1.

The State Statistics Service approved the new classification by Order No. 191, but it comes into effect from January 1, 2027. The preparatory stage continues until the end of 2026.

Therefore, Sole Proprietorships do not need to urgently submit applications in September to change all of their KVED codes.

The State Statistics Service is already publishing correspondence tables between KVED-2010 and NACE 2.1-UA, so entrepreneurs can check in advance which codes will correspond to their activities from 2027.

ECR/pECR, Inventory Accounting and Sales Control in Torgsoft

Torgsoft can be used to organise retail operations where compliance with cash register rules and control over the movement of goods are particularly important.

The software supports operation with a software pECR: processing sales and returns through pECR, generating fiscal receipts, working with X and Z reports, as well as the receipt reversal operations provided by the system. Torgsoft Help separately describes the possibility of printing a fiscal receipt in the permitted offline mode and the subsequent operation of pECR according to its status.

For entrepreneurs required to maintain inventory records, Torgsoft provides an additional “Inventory Record Form” function. It generates records based on primary goods transactions, including receipts, sales, and write-offs, and allows the opening balances to be calculated for a specified date.

Torgsoft also allows businesses to print their own barcodes and labels when receiving goods or directly from the warehouse. Such marking is convenient for internal accounting, inventory checks, and goods control. At the same time, an internal Torgsoft label does not replace state excise marking or any other special mandatory marking required by law for specific products.

What Entrepreneurs Should Check in September 2026

Official Sources

1. Resolution of the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine dated 15.05.2026 No. 616 — the new Procedure for grants to start or scale up a business; key provisions 4, 6, 7, 22 and the terms of the grant agreement. Resolution No. 616 on the website of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine

2. Resolution of the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine dated 30.05.2026 No. 692 — amendments to the Reservation Procedure, including paragraph 8 concerning the salary criterion. Resolution No. 692 on the website of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine

3. Resolution of the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine dated 01.07.2026 No. 862 — transitional rules concerning critically important enterprises and employee reservation. Resolution No. 862 on the website of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine

4. Resolution of the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine dated 24.06.2026 No. 813 — amendments to the Licensing Conditions for medical practice, including paragraphs 24, 32–34. Resolution No. 813 on the website of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine

5. Resolution of the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine dated 25.09.2025 No. 1184 — new Licensing Conditions for fire safety work; paragraph 9 concerning electronic semi-annual reporting. Resolution No. 1184 on the website of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine

6. Resolution of the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine dated 27.05.2026 No. 675 — verification of producers and cooperatives for exports of soybeans and rapeseed; paragraphs 3–19 of the Procedure. Resolution No. 675 on the website of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine

7. Resolution of the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine dated 15.07.2026 No. 920 — requirements for providers of electronic trust services and new cryptographic QES standards; paragraphs 2–4 of the amendments. Resolution No. 920 on the website of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine

8. Resolution of the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine dated 15.07.2026 No. 957 — amendments to the special rules for public and defence procurement; including paragraphs 9-2, 10–13 of the Special Rules. Resolution No. 957 on the website of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine

9. National Energy and Utilities Regulatory Commission — amendments to the rules for connecting electrical installations to power grids, applicable from September 1, 2026. Official clarification from the National Energy and Utilities Regulatory Commission

10. Tax Code of Ukraine No. 2755-VI — Articles 181, 291–298, including subparagraph 298.1.5 concerning changing the single tax group. Tax Code of Ukraine

11. Law of Ukraine dated 06.07.1995 No. 265/95-VR “On the Use of Registrars of Settlement Operations…” — Articles 3 and 17. Law No. 265/95-VR

12. Resolution of the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine dated 26.12.2025 No. 1756 — postponement of the implementation dates for electronic traceability and marking of excisable products. Resolution No. 1756 on the website of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine

13. Resolution of the Board of the National Bank of Ukraine dated 24.02.2022 No. 18, paragraph 14 in the current version — foreign exchange transactions and the UAH 400,000 limit for business cards from hryvnia accounts. NBU Resolution No. 18 on the website of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine

14. Order of the State Statistics Service of Ukraine dated 28.10.2025 No. 191 — introduction of NACE 2.1-UA from January 1, 2027. Order No. 191 on the State Statistics Service website

15. State Tax Service — Tax Calendar for September 2026 — September 15 deadline for submitting an application to switch to another single tax group and other September reporting and payment deadlines. State Tax Service Tax Calendar for September 2026

16. State Tax Service and State Border Guard Service — automated electronic information exchange, official State Tax Service announcement dated August 3, 2026. State Tax Service announcement

17. Ukrposhta — taxpayer registration number in payment documents, official announcements from August 2026. Official Ukrposhta news

18. Oschadbank — implementation of the Memorandum on Transparency of the Payment Services Market, announcement dated August 14, 2026. Official Oschadbank announcement

19. International Monetary Fund, Ukraine: 2026 Article IV Consultation and First Review of the EFF, July 2026 — current schedule for the proposed VAT reform for the simplified tax system; adoption of legislation is planned by the end of April 2027, with the proposed effective date being January 1, 2028. Official IMF report