PRAGMATICS OF FISCAL DECENTRALIZATION IN THE CONTEXT OF FORMING LOCAL BUDGET REVENUES IN UKRAINE
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.37332/Keywords:
fiscal decentralization, fiscal federalism, fiscal policy, local budgets, taxes, tax revenues, interbudgetary transfers, territorial communities, personal income taxAbstract
Valihura V.A., Odaiskyi O.B., Vakulich I.P., Soroka M.V. PRAGMATICS OF FISCAL DECENTRALIZATION IN THE CONTEXT OF FORMING LOCAL BUDGET REVENUES IN UKRAINE
Purpose. The aim of the article is to identify the prerequisites for the reform of fiscal decentralization in Ukraine, highlight individual stages of its implementation and assess the impact on the formation of local budget revenues.
Methodology of research. The research process involved the use of general scientific and special methods of cognition, in particular analysis and synthesis, induction and deduction, systemic, structural and functional approaches. To assess the fiscal effects of the reform, comparative and dynamic analysis methods were used, as well as statistical methods for processing official data from the Ministry of Finance of Ukraine and the state budget web portal for citizens. The phasing of fiscal decentralization was substantiate using an institutional approach and elements of the concept of fiscal federalism.
Findings. The article proves that fiscal decentralization reform in Ukraine had an uneven fiscal effect in the short term, but in the long term contributed to the growth of financial independence of local budgets. It has been established that in 2011–2014, the revenue base of local budgets was characterized by high dependence on interbudgetary transfers and the limited role of local taxes. The introduction of the reform in 2015 was accompanied by a temporary decrease in the share of own revenues due to the revision of personal income tax (PIT) crediting standards, but in 2016–2019, there was a gradual strengthening of the tax capacity of communities. It has been substantiated that the sharp reduction in official transfers in 2020 and 2022 was due to the completion of the administrative and territorial reform, the COVID-19 pandemic and the transition of the budget system to functioning under martial law.
Originality. A comprehensive analysis of fiscal decentralization was conducted from the perspective of its pragmatic impact on the formation of local budget revenues in the long term. The author proposes an approach to the periodization of fiscal decentralization reform in Ukraine, taking into account institutional changes and crisis factors, and substantiates the relationship between the transformation of interbudgetary relations and the dynamics of tax revenues at the subnational level.
Practical value. The obtained results can be used by state authorities and local self-government bodies in the formation of tax and budget policy, the improvement of interbudgetary equalization mechanisms and the development of a post-war strategy for the development of fiscal decentralization.
Key words: fiscal decentralization, fiscal federalism, fiscal policy, local budgets, taxes, tax revenues, interbudgetary transfers, territorial communities, personal income tax.
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