How to Claim a Tax Credit for Charitable Contributions

If you are officially employed, pay personal income tax, and have made donations to nonprofit organizations, the government will refund you 18% of the total amount of your donations (up to 4% of your annual income). To do this, file an annual declaration of assets and income along with supporting documents. You can do this at any time during the following year. Below is a step-by-step guide, including the required documents and deadlines.

Who is eligible for a tax credit for donations?

Let’s break it down simply. A tax credit is a mechanism whereby the government refunds a portion of the personal income tax you’ve already paid, because you donated a portion of your income to charity.

To take advantage of it, you must simultaneously:

• be a resident of Ukraine and have a taxpayer identification number (TIN)—subparagraph 166.4.1 of the Tax Code of Ukraine;
• receive income in the form of wages from which personal income tax has been withheld. The credit is calculated based on your wage base, not on dividends or the sale of property;
• make a contribution to a nonprofit organization during the reporting year.

This is the main restriction for sole proprietors. Income from entrepreneurial activities (the single tax under the simplified system or other business income) is not eligible for the deduction—this is explicitly stated in Article 166 of the Tax Code of Ukraine. However, if the same entrepreneur also works under an employment contract and receives a salary subject to personal income tax (PIT), they can claim the deduction specifically against that salary. If you’re a sole proprietor and want to figure out your specific situation—we have a separate article for sole proprietors, so we won’t repeat the calculation here.

And one more important point: the tax credit refunds a portion of the personal income tax already withheld from your salary. No salary means no personal income tax to refund. Financial allowances for military personnel aren’t considered equivalent to a salary, so soldiers who are donors, unfortunately, don’t have this right—but that’s not relevant to our readers today.

How much money will actually be refunded, and how do you calculate it?

The mechanics are simple when you break it down with numbers.

You get an 18% refund—this is the personal income tax rate applied to your salary (para. 167.1 of the Tax Code of Ukraine). However, the 18% is calculated not on the total amount of donations, but only on the portion that falls within the limit.

The limit is 4% of your total taxable income for the reporting year (subparagraph 166.3.2 of the Tax Code of Ukraine).

For the tax deduction, it doesn’t matter whether the donation is a one-time contribution or a recurring subscription: the total amount of your contributions for the year is what counts.

Let’s look at a real-life example:

• annual salary—300,000 ₴;
• 4% of that is 12,000 ₴. This is the maximum amount of contributions that will be taken into account;
• you donated 15,000 ₴ over the year → only 12,000 ₴ will be counted;
• Refund: 12,000 × 18% = 2,160 ₴.

If you donated less than 4%, the full amount of your donation is counted. If you donated more, the “excess” amount over the limit is simply not counted and is not carried over to the next year.

And one more cap: the total amount of the deduction cannot exceed your annual salary (subparagraph 166.4.2 of the Tax Code of Ukraine). Simply put, the budget will not refund more personal income tax than you paid into it.

A quick note for the future: During wartime, tax regulations are updated, and temporary higher limits have been in effect for certain periods. Therefore, before filing your tax return, you should check the State Tax Service portal to see which limit applies to your tax year—but the standard, current rate for regular tax filing is currently 4%.

To whom should the contribution be made for the deduction to apply?

This is the condition that most often causes donations to be disallowed during tax filing.

The law (subparagraph 166.3.2 of the Tax Code of Ukraine) allows contributions to nonprofit organizations to be taken into account if, as of the date of the transfer, those organizations met the nonprofit status requirements under paragraph 133.4 of Article 133 of the Tax Code of Ukraine. And these conditions, among other things, explicitly require that the organization be listed in the Register of Nonprofit Institutions and Organizations.

What this means in practice:

• it is not enough for an organization to be “charitable” in name—there must be an active entry in the Registry;
• the status must be valid specifically on the date of your contribution, and not later;
• The followingdo not qualify: transfers to volunteers’ personal cards, fundraising campaigns such as UNITED24, special accounts with the National Bank of Ukraine (NBU), or anonymous cash deposited in a donation box. It’s not that these are “bad” ways to help—they simply don’t establish the necessary tax link between “nonprofit organization ↔ your payment.”

How to check in 2 minutes. Open the public section of the Register of Non-Profit Organizations in the State Tax Service’s Electronic Cabinet (cabinet.tax.gov.ua), enter the fund’s name or EDRPOU code—no login or password is required. The registry will display the non-profit status and the date it was granted. You can even save a screenshot of the page showing the date—just in case.

Please note: the form of the contribution does not matter. Both cash transfers and donated equipment or goods qualify—the law refers to “the amount of funds or the value of property.” However, for property, the value must be documented.

Another indicator of trustworthiness in the recipient is whether they openly disclose what should be included in the fund’s report after the fundraiser: documents, photos, certificates, and financial statements.

What documents should you gather for the declaration?

Gather the documents in advance—this will make the filing process faster.

1. Declaration of Assets and Income. This is the primary document: without it, the tax deduction will not be granted, and it will not be automatically calculated.

2. Payment and settlement documents (subparagraph 166.2.1 of the Tax Code of Ukraine)—receipts, bank statements, payment instructions, fiscal or sales receipts, and cash receipt orders. The main requirement: the document must identify both parties —you (payer’s full name) and the foundation (name + EDRPOU number)—and must include the amount and date. Therefore, an anonymous transfer “from an unknown sender” will not be accepted. It is best if the payment description explicitly states “charitable contribution / donation for statutory activities.”

3. A statement from your employer regarding your annual salary and the personal income tax withheld—this shows how much tax was actually paid.

4. IBAN details for the account to which the funds will be refunded—these are specified in the tax return.

5. A copy of the agreement—if it is a donation. Here, the State Tax Service makes a distinction: for a donation (under Article 729 of the Civil Code, with a specific purpose), one of the supporting documents is a copy of the agreement; for a regular charitable contribution, a separate written agreement is not required—a payment document specifying the purpose is sufficient. For transferred property, you’ll need a contract specifying the value and a transfer and acceptance certificate.

An important detail regarding copies and originals (subparagraph 166.2.2 of the Tax Code of Ukraine): you submit copies with the tax return; you do not send the originals to the tax authority, but you must retain them for the statute of limitations period— 1,095 days. For electronic payment documents, it is sufficient to list their details in the declaration.

If you have made a donation to our foundation, we will provide the necessary documents: a bank receipt or a donation certificate with full details, and for property—the contract and the deed. Just contact us.

Where and how do I file the tax return?

Choose the method that’s most convenient for you.

• In person —either by yourself or through an authorized representative—at the State Tax Service office corresponding to your tax address.
• By mail —via certified mail with a list of enclosed items and a return receipt, no later than 5 days before the deadline.
• Online —through the Taxpayer’s Electronic Account (cabinet.tax.gov.ua) or the “My Tax” app. A qualified electronic signature is required (or Diya.Signature for authorization). Some of the data on income and withheld personal income tax will be automatically retrieved from the State Tax Service databases—all that remains is to verify it, select the type of expense (charity), upload scans of supporting documents, and provide your IBAN.

One important note to avoid confusion: Online filing of the asset and income declaration for an employee’s tax deduction is done exclusively through the State Tax Service’s Electronic Cabinet or the “My Tax” app. The “Diya” app is used to file the single-tax payer (sole proprietor) return online—this is a different return and a different channel. So, if you’re an employee, use the E-Cabinet or “My Tax.”

What is the deadline for filing, and when will the refund be issued?

Here are three dates to remember.

December 31 is your deadline. To claim a tax credit, you must file your return by December 31, inclusive, of the year following the reporting year (subparagraph 166.1.2 of the Tax Code of Ukraine). For donations made in 2025, the deadline is December 31, 2026. Don’t confuse this with May 1: that deadline applies to those required to report income. For the voluntary tax credit, you have the entire following year—there’s no need to rush, but dragging your feet is risky.

60 days—and the money is yours. The refundable amount is credited to the account specified in the return within 60 calendar days after the tax return is received by the tax authority (Section 179.8 of the Tax Code of Ukraine). The 60-day period begins on the date of filing, not on the end date of the tax filing season.

This right is valid for exactly one year. If you haven’t used the deduction by the end of the year following the reporting year, it cannot be carried forward to future years (subparagraph 166.4.3 of the Tax Code of Ukraine). If you miss the December 31, 2026, deadline for 2025 donations, you won’t be able to claim the credit for 2025 at all. Donations for each year are calculated separately and have their own filing window.

Hence, here’s a simple tip: don’t put it off until the last week of December. Once you’ve gathered the documents for the previous year, file them.

What should you do next?

Here’s a quick summary so you don’t get lost:

1. Verify the recipient in the Register of Non-Profit Organizations as of the donation date. 2. Gather the documents: payment slips with your full name and the foundation’s details, a salary statement and personal income tax (PIT) form, and your IBAN. 3. Calculate the refund amount: eligible contributions × 18%, within the 4% limit. 4. File your tax return by December 31 of the following year—and expect your refund within 60 days.

If you’re a sole proprietor, your situation is covered in a separate article for sole proprietors, and a broader overview of all options can be found in the article on tax benefits for donors.

And most importantly: this tax credit is not a “privilege for the select few,” but your legal right to recover a portion of the tax you’ve already paid for something you did anyway out of the goodness of your heart.