What sole proprietors will need PTRs in 2022 and what one needs to know about it

From January 1, 2022, sole proprietors of 2—4 groups will be required to use payment transactions recorders (PTRs). Despite the protests of the entrepreneurs, the Verkhovna Rada did not pass the bill No. 6376, that proposed to postpone the introduction of cash registers for sole proprietors to January 1, 2023, so the sole proprietors of certain groups need to prepare for the new rules of working.

editors have figured out what a PTR is, who needs them, how the PTR differs from the SPTR, how to use them, and what fines will await those who break the law.

Starting from January 1, all sole proprietors of the 2—4 groups who work on the simplified taxation system and receive payment in cash or by credit card must switch to the PTRs from January 1. This includes the entire restaurant business, hotels, beauty salons, service stations, travel agencies, and retail, including online stores.

But those who receive non-cash payments (to a business account or a legal entity's account by bank transfer or through a bank counter) will be able to continue working in the same old way. That is, for example, programmers, designers, and copywriters registered as sole proprietors will not need to use PTRs. Also, the sole proprietors of the 1st group that includes entrepreneurs who do not use the labor of the hired persons and who exclusively retail goods or provide household services to the population may not use the PTRs even from January 1.

Consequently, if payment from the clients comes only through bank transfer according to the details, one can work without fiscalization. And if the clients pay by credit card or cash—the PTRs will be required.

The software PTRs are applications that can be installed on any computer equipment: smartphone, tablet, and laptop. They will turn these devices into cash registers. The software cash register, depending on the capabilities of the software you have chosen, can draw a check directly from your smartphone using a QR code, a special application, or send it via a chat bot or to the client's email address. If you have 1C or your own CRM system, the software cash register can be integrated there. They are both free and paid (up to 150 UAH per month).

For example, the State Tax Service of Ukraine has developed special free software. There are also online solutions from the payment system of the Fondy payment platform, from the Poster company, from Dmytro Dubilet and his Checkbox service and many others. Each business can choose a solution for its own terms and needs.

In the tax office distinguishes four types of software recorders:

• stationary SPTR—it is installed on a particular entity and used at the registered address. It is intended for a business operating in stationary prеmіsеs. For example, coffee shops or stands;
• portable SPTR—it is registered for a particular entity (for example, a car), but can be used on it throughout the territory of Ukraine. It is intended for businesses that draw checks in different addresses: for example, restaurants that only work for delivery;
• "Self-checkoutt"—it is installed at a particular entity and is used at the registered address, while it can be used without a cashier (for example, a payment terminal). Commonly used in supermarkets and fast food restaurants;
• Internet trading—it is installed for a particular business entity and is used at a registered address, one can involve a cashier for its use. It is intended for the companies that take orders via the site, such as online stores.

Olha Pushko, an accountant of the Poster cloud automation system, explains that in case of purchasing a cash register or fiscal recorder it is necessary to obtain a supply agreement and an invoice (check) confirming the fact of the purchase. After that, the device must be registered at a convenient service center (SC) and the corresponding agreement must be signed.

Then you need to submit an application for the PTR registration in the taxpayer's account. It can also be submitted in paper form (form No. 1-PPO) to the tax office at the place of registration. The PTR registration documents are usually processed in one working day. If there are no reasons for refusal to register it, the STS issues a certificate No. 2-PPO on the assignment of a PTR fiscal number. The certificate is valid for 3 days.

You need to return to the SC with it and with the device itself—there the PTR will be put into operation and sealed. Further, the CS sends electronic data on sealing to the tax office. After that, a ready-made registration certificate will appear in the taxpayer's account. The fiscal equipment is configured and installed by a SC employee. He will connect the device to the Internet at the freight outlet and configure it to print fiscal receipts and reports.

To register a software cash register, you first need to obtain an electronic signature. Then you need to install the software on any convenient device available. It can be a computer, smartphone, or tablet.

Since the work of the SPTRs is carried out using electronic signatures or seals, you need to fill out the form "Report on providing information on a qualified public key certificate" in the user’s account. The successful provision of information is confirmed by the receipt obtained.

After that, you must submit a registration application (form No. 1-ПРРО). You can draw up and submit it through the user’s account. The proof of the fact of registration is proved by obtaining the receipt with the fiscal number. The next step is entering items of goods into the SPTR. Then you can register settlement transactions and send electronic checks.

Tetiana Chernonok, an accountant and author of the Telegram channel Your Accountant, tells that the tax reporting of the sole proprietors itself after PTR/SPTR will not change from January 1.

For instance, sole proprietors who will begin to apply PTR/SPTR will have a new type of PTR reporting. However, these are automatic reports that are generated using the PTR/SPTR and are transferred to the tax office online. There is no need to fill out and submit any new reports to the tax office—everything happens in the course of work with the PTR/SPTR cash account.

What are these reports?

• X-report—a daily report without closing a shift (for cash account reconciliation);
• Z-report—a day’s fiscal report closing the cash account change.

There are also work-related operations:

• work-related withdrawals—withdrawal of cash from the cash register;
• work-related lodgements—cash lodgements to the cash register (small cash).

That is, it is important for the sole proprietor to learn how to work with PTR/SPTR, and the reporting should be generated automatically.

Algorithm for working with SPTR:

• Opening a shift (button in the SPTR program).
• Sale—check fiscalization—the check is automatically sent to the STS server.
• Returns—check fiscalization—automatic sending to the STS server.
• Work-related operations if required.\
• Closing changes—Z-report—closes the change and is automatically sent to the STS server (after closing the change, save it to the memory of your computer or smartphone).

Cash shifts should not last more than 24 hours. Chernonok stresses that it is advisable not to open the change if the sole proprietor does not plan to work and receive funds this day, since providing zero Z-reports is a reason for a tax audit. The sole proprietor does not have a limit on the cash account, one may not deposit proceeds to the bank, but take them from the cash account as the entrepreneur's income.

Only those entrepreneurs who can accept non-cash payments (to an entrepreneur account or a legal entity's account by bank transfer or through a bank counter) can avoid using the cash register. Of course, this option is not appropriate for retail, however, for example, warehouses or contractors will be able to take advantage of this workaround.

Also on December 24, the Cabinet of Ministers decided to allow entrepreneurs engaged in retail trade in rural areas not to use payment transactions recorders.

The sanctions to sole proprietors who violate these requirements can be applied after an audit establishing that operations are carried out without a PTR. For each transaction without fiscalization, the business must pay a fine. The amount of the fine depends on the number of illegal cash and settlement transactions:

• 100% of the cost of goods (works or services) for the first violation;
• 150% of the cost of goods (works or services) for each repeated violation.

Read also: Sole proprietors’ lot in Ukraine is providing services, production does not come easy for them

The authors of the law on the use of cash registers by the small and mid-sized businesses are of the view that many entrepreneurs who do not use the PTRs underreport their turnover. This allows them to meet the requirements necessary to keep using the simplified taxation system. This way, they can pay less taxes than a business operating in the same industry but on a common system.

Therefore, Danylo Hetmantsev, People's Deputy and the head of the Verkhovna Rada Committee on Finance, Tax and Customs Policy, who is the author of the law, believes that the main purpose of introducing cash registers for the sole proprietors is separation of the sole proprietors from the big business that is abusing the simplified taxation system.

The People's Deputy emphasizes that the PTRs are not introduced in order to "catch some seller in the market who trades in something and evades taxes"

"Actually, this seller is not interesting for fiscal purposes. We will spend more on bringing them to justice than the budget will earn on the fines that they will pay. We want to separate a big business that conventionally sells electronics through the sole proprietorship on Khreshchatyk from a small business. It is impossible to distinguish between them without PTRs," Hetmantsev explains.

The opponents of the decision, in particular the public organization Save FOP (FOP is a Ukrainian abbreviation for sole proprietors), call the additional difficulties and costs that entrepreneurs bear as a key disadvantage. Movement activists argue that compulsory PTRs are putting pressure on small businesses. They call not only to abolish the law on the compulsory cash registers for businesses with a turnover of more than 1.32 million UAH but also to make impossible any changes in the simplified taxation system.

In turn, Hetmantsev states that all these are myths and in fact the introduction of the PTRs will simplify the sole proprietors’ work. According to the People's Deputy, the decision on mandatory fiscalization is accompanied by such large-scale protests due to the fact that "any innovation is perceived as hostile because everyone is used to the old."

Oleh Onyshchenko, a lawyer at the dispute resolution practice Juscutum, explains in a comment to that the introduction of the PTRs, despite the current opposition, will have a positive impact on business.

"For some entrepreneurs, these costs may turn out to be unaffordable, however, in my opinion, the introduction of mandatory cash registers will not result in a significant financial burden on small and mid-sized businesses. And, as world experience shows, both consumers and businesses basically benefit from "cash discipline," Onyshchenko says.

Consequently, the rules for the mandatory use of the PTRs can help in unshadowing the economy of Ukraine and facilitate increasing revenues to the state budget, strengthening consumer protection, and creating an equal and civilized business environment, the European Business Association believes