How payroll works in Ukraine: taxes, contributions, reporting and the wartime rules

Rules checked on 14 September 2026. Amounts that are reset every year are not quoted — each section says where to check them.

Ukrainian payroll is simpler than German payroll in its structure and stricter in its timing. There are two deductions from the employee's salary and one contribution on top, but tax is paid at the moment salary is paid, and salary has to be paid twice a month. Here is what a foreign company needs to know.

1. From gross salary to employer cost

	Rate	Who bears it
Personal income tax	18% of gross salary	Employee — withheld by the employer
Military levy	5% of gross salary	Employee — withheld by the employer
Single social contribution (SSC)	22% of gross salary	Employer — on top of gross

For a salary within the contribution limits, that means: for every 100 of gross salary the employee receives 77, and the company pays 122 in total.

• Income tax is set by Article 167 of the Tax Code.
• The military levy was raised from 1.5% to 5% on 1 December 2024. A law of 7 April 2026 fixed when it falls back to 1.5%: only from 1 January after the third full calendar year following the end of martial law.
• The social contribution is paid only by the employer; employees pay no social contribution of their own. For an employee's main job it is due at least on the minimum wage, even if the salary is lower. It is not due above a maximum base, which the annual budget law sets as a multiple of the minimum wage.

The minimum wage is set each year in the State Budget law. It drives more than the lowest salary: the minimum and maximum contribution base, sick-pay limits and most labour fines are expressed as multiples of it.

Check the current figures: Tax Code, SSC law, and the current State Budget law on zakon.rada.gov.ua.

2. Before the first working day

A person may not start work until the employment contract is signed, the hiring order is issued and the tax authority has been notified of the hiring (Labour Code, Article 24). The notice is filed electronically. Starting work before the notice is filed counts as undeclared employment.

3. Paying salary

• Twice a month, with no more than 16 calendar days between payments, and no later than seven days after the end of the period being paid (Labour Code, Article 115). If payday falls on a weekend or public holiday, pay the day before.
• In hryvnia. Salary for work in Ukraine is paid in the national currency (Law “On Remuneration”, Article 23).
• Tax travels with the salary. Banks accept a salary transfer only together with the payment of income tax and military levy. The social contribution is due at the same time, and no later than the 20th of the following month.
• Vacation pay is paid before the leave starts, unless the contract says otherwise.
• On dismissal, all money owed is paid on the last working day. Paying late costs the employee's average earnings for every day of delay, for up to six months.

Fines under Article 265 of the Labour Code are multiples of the minimum wage in force when the breach is found:

Breach	Fine
Salary more than a month late, or paid short	3 × minimum wage
Employing someone without a registered employment contract	10 × minimum wage per person; 30 × for a repeat within two years
Not meeting the minimum pay guarantees	2 × minimum wage per person
Other labour-law breaches	1 × minimum wage; 2 × for a repeat within a year

Paying half of a fine within ten banking days settles it. During martial law, a fine is not imposed if the order issued after an unscheduled inspection is carried out in full and on time. If hostilities make paying salary on time impossible, the employer is not fined for the delay — but the salary is still owed.

Check: Labour Code, State Labour Service.

4. Reporting

• Companies file one combined tax report on income tax, military levy and social contribution every month, within 20 calendar days after the month ends, electronically.
• Individual entrepreneurs who employ staff have filed the same report quarterly since January 2026, with a monthly breakdown.
• A revised form of the report and a new filing procedure, approved by Ministry of Finance orders No. 243 of 7 May 2026 and No. 284 of 26 May 2026, entered into force on 17 July 2026 and apply from 1 August 2026. Companies first used the new form for July 2026.

Check the current form and calendar: tax.gov.ua.

5. Leave and benefits

• Annual leave is at least 24 calendar days (Law “On Leave”, Article 6). Under martial law an employer may limit annual leave to 24 days; a Constitutional Court decision of 19 May 2026 excludes minors and people with disabilities from that limit.
• Sick leave for the employee's own illness or a non-work-related injury: the employer pays the first five calendar days; from the sixth day the benefit is financed by the Pension Fund of Ukraine. The employer still runs the process: once the electronic sick note shows “ready for payment”, it calculates the benefit and applies to the Pension Fund, which finances the amount paid out through payroll. The benefit depends on the employee's insurance record — 50% of average earnings with less than three years, 60% with three to five, 70% with five to eight, and 100% with more than eight years — and is capped.
• Caring for a sick child or family member is financed by the Pension Fund from the first day. Work accidents and occupational diseases follow separate rules.
• Maternity leave is paid at 100% of average earnings regardless of insurance record, for 70 days before and 56 days after birth (70 after a complicated or multiple birth), financed by the Pension Fund from the first day.

Check: Law on compulsory state social insurance, Pension Fund of Ukraine.

6. What martial law changes in payroll

• Mobilised employees keep their jobs, but since July 2022 employers no longer pay them average earnings during service. Where average earnings paid to a mobilised employee are compensated from the state budget, no social contribution is due on them.
• Suspended employment contracts mean no salary is due for the suspension period; a suspension imposed by one side is limited to 90 days in total. See our briefing on employing people under martial law.
• Tax audits: the general moratorium ended in August 2023. Documentary audits remain suspended only for taxpayers registered in occupied or combat territories, and audits take place only where it is safe.

Check: Law No. 2136-IX, Tax Code.

A payroll checklist for foreign employers

1. File the hiring notice with the tax authority before anyone starts work.
2. Set two paydays a month, no more than 16 days apart, and a rule for weekends and holidays.
3. Budget employer cost at gross plus 22%, and check the contribution limits each January.
4. Pay income tax and military levy with every salary transfer, and the contribution by the 20th.
5. File the combined report monthly, within 20 calendar days after the month ends, on the current form.
6. Keep vacation pay, final pay on dismissal, sick-pay days one to five and the Pension Fund applications from day six in your process.
7. Re-check the minimum wage every January — fines, limits and floors move with it.

How ClarusApex can help

We run Ukrainian payroll and HR administration on software built for Ukrainian law: checked entries, HR documents generated automatically, and links to SAP, 1C and your bank. If your people are employed by APEX AV LLC, we are the employer and handle payroll, taxes and reporting for them. Marina Korytnyuk, our HR Director, answers payroll questions within one business day.

This briefing is general information, not tax or legal advice for your case.