Donations to a jar: what it means for taxes

In short. The common belief that "transfers between people aren't taxed" is legally wrong. A transfer is taxed, just at a reduced rate, and only if it really is a gift. As soon as the person gets something for the donation (entry, merch, a service), it's a payment, and the reduced rate doesn't apply.

For an organizer, the conclusion is simple: a donation for an event isn't charity and isn't a gift. Regular collections need a FOP.

What a jar is legally

A jar is an ordinary account of an individual. It doesn't create any special tax status and doesn't change any rules.

When a donation is a gift and when it's a payment

This is the main fork, and one rule settles it: an agreement that obliges the recipient to do something for the giver isn't a gift.

• A donation for which the person gets nothing is a gift, taxed at 5% personal income tax (from unrelated people)
• A donation for which the person gets entry, merch, a discount or a service is a payment, and no reduced rates apply

Calling it "entry by donation" doesn't help. If people aren't let in without a transfer, it's the ticket price, whatever you call it.

Why the "25% of the minimum wage" exemption doesn't work for money

People often cite the rule about tax-free gifts within 25% of the minimum wage (2,161.75 UAH for 2026). But the rule itself has a caveat: "except for cash payments of any amount".

So this exemption doesn't cover money at all, under any conditions. It's one of the most common mistakes in popular explanations.

Rates if the tax authority treats it as income

• A gift from a resident individual: 5% personal income tax (0% from close relatives, 18% if the giver is a non-resident)
• Non-repayable financial aid or income: 18% personal income tax + 5% military levy
• From a legal entity: 18% + the military levy, and the legal entity withholds the tax itself as a tax agent

The tax code gives no clear criterion for treating a jar donation as a gift rather than financial aid: it's a gray area. That's one more argument against building a regular model on a jar.

At what amounts questions come up

There are a few common myths worth clearing up.

• The 150 thousand UAH monthly limit was cancelled in April 2025. Instead, there's a memorandum among banks: without confirmed income, roughly 100 thousand UAH a month; with confirmed income, no limits
• The 400 thousand UAH financial monitoring threshold isn't about taxes. It's a report to the State Financial Monitoring Service, and it's triggered only with additional signs (a transfer abroad, cash, a politically exposed person and so on). An ordinary domestic transfer, even of a large amount, isn't a threshold transaction
• Banks don't report individuals' transfers to the tax authority. Data is passed on automatically only for FOP and legal entity accounts. An ordinary individual's transactions only with a court decision

But that doesn't mean you won't be found. In its 2025 campaign, the tax authority looked at more than 3,000 people and 162.7 million UAH in transfers, and it used cash register data and open sources for this, not bank reports. The trigger was regularity, not a one-off amount. The largest case was 413 thousand UAH across 40 transfers.

What a person who collects regularly risks

• Unregistered business activity: a fine of 17,000-34,000 UAH, up to 85,000 UAH with confiscation for a repeat
• Unpaid taxes: additional personal income tax and military levy, a 10% fine (25% if intentional), and late-payment interest
• A tax return not filed: a 340 UAH fine, and most importantly, the statute of limitations doesn't apply at all. A return filed with errors is closed after three years, one never filed is never closed

Criminal liability starts with unpaid taxes of about 4.99 million UAH or more, which is out of reach for a typical organizer. The real risk is administrative and tax-related.

And if it's charity

There are two common misunderstandings here.

The volunteer exemption works only for defense. The tax exemption applies to volunteers entered in the Register of Volunteers, and only for aid for military needs. It doesn't cover events, culture or creative work at all. Without registration, it's 18% + 5%.

An individual can do charity work, but not "on their own". The law provides for collecting funds in your own name under a contract with a charity or an agreement with the beneficiary. You don't have to register your own organization, but you do need that contractual link.

What an organizer should do

The recommendation is simple: if you collect regularly, register a FOP. It removes all the risks described here at once.

• FOP, group 3: 5% single tax + 1% military levy. Compare that with 18% + 5% and a fine for unregistered activity
• A donation received by a FOP is included in income: that's normal and legal
• The KVED codes are the same as for events: 93.29, 82.30, 90.01-90.04

A practical tip: since the tax burden is the same, it's cleaner to set up a donation as a voluntary top-up to the ticket rather than a "free transfer". That removes the ambiguity in how it's classified and makes the paperwork simpler.

A non-obvious receipt trap

How the money arrives changes the fiscal receipt requirements:

• a transfer straight to the FOP account (IBAN) doesn't need a receipt
• the same donation by card through acquiring does: the tax authority requires a fiscal receipt

A mistake here costs the organizer a fine, so it's worth settling this before your first collection.

Rules of thumb

• One-off collections with nothing given in return, occasionally: an individual's jar plus declaring the income, low risk
• Regular collections at events of any size: a FOP right away. The risk here isn't the amount but the regularity
• Ongoing charity of about 1 million UAH a year or more: a charitable organization

This article is for information only and doesn't replace advice from an accountant. Rates are as of 2026.