Ukraine / Australia · Proposed legislation
Ukraine passes Australia tax treaty ratification law
On 12 November 2026, Ukraine’s Verkhovna Rada adopted Bill No. 0382 approving ratification of the country’s first income-tax treaty with Australia; the law was still awaiting signature on 13 November and the treaty is not yet in force.
- Official document:
- Ukrainian Bill No. 0382; Australia–Ukraine Convention and Protocol signed 16 October 2025
- Development date:
- 2026-11-12
Australia and Ukraine signed the Convention and its Protocol in Washington on 16 October 2025. Once operative, the treaty will generally reserve business profits to the enterprise’s residence state unless it carries on business through a permanent establishment in the other state. A building, construction or installation project becomes a permanent establishment when it lasts more than six months, subject to aggregation rules for connected activities.[3]
Proposed withholding caps
Article 10 caps source-state tax on dividends at 5% where the beneficial owner is a company holding directly at least 10% of the payer’s voting power throughout a 365-day period that includes the payment date; otherwise the cap is 15%. Article 11 sets a 5% interest cap for an unrelated financial institution dealing wholly independently with the payer, provided the payment is not part of a back-to-back-loan arrangement, and 10% in other cases. Article 12 caps tax on royalties at 10%. Targeted exemptions apply to qualifying government, central-bank and pension-fund dividends and interest.[3]
Treaty access will not follow from residence alone. The payment recipient must satisfy the relevant beneficial-ownership and article-specific conditions, and Article 26 denies a benefit where obtaining it was one of an arrangement’s principal purposes unless granting it accords with the provision’s object and purpose.[3]
The vote does not start the treaty
Article 27 requires both states to notify each other through diplomatic channels that their domestic requirements are complete; entry into force occurs on the last notification. Australia will then apply the treaty to non-resident withholding from the following 1 January, fringe benefits from the following 1 April and other income years beginning from the following 1 July. Ukraine will apply it to withholding and other taxes from the following 1 January.[3][4]
Australian and Ukrainian groups should continue using domestic law pending entry into force, identify bilateral dividends, interest, royalties, projects and permanent establishments, and monitor the remaining Ukrainian signatures, Australian domestic completion and diplomatic notifications. The vote creates no current reduced rate, refund entitlement or filing deadline.[1][2][3][4]
Official sources
- [1] Verkhovna Rada adopted the law on ratification of the Australia–Ukraine tax convention
Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine · Document date: 2026-11-12
Dated 12 November 2026; paragraphs stating adoption of Bill 0382 and the treaty’s double-tax, information-exchange and mutual-agreement purposes.
- [2] Bill Card No. 0382
Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine · Document date: 2026-11-13
Bill title and registration; international-treaty text link; progression showing law adopted on 12 November and transmitted for the Speaker’s signature on 13 November 2026.
- [3] Convention and Protocol between Australia and Ukraine for the elimination of double taxation
Australian Treasury · Document date: 2025-10-16
Articles 5(3) and 5(5) on PE and aggregation; 7 business profits; 10 dividends; 11 interest; 12 royalties; 26 principal-purpose test; 27 entry into force and application dates.
- [4] Ukraine Ministry of Finance statement on parliamentary ratification passage
Ministry of Finance of Ukraine · Document date: 2026-11-12
Dated statement on passage, treaty rates and conditions, and the remaining Australian procedures and diplomatic notifications before entry into force.