Military Tax in Ukraine as a Tool for Finansing the Needs of the Security and Defense Sector
Abstract
Purpose. Comprehensive assessment of the institutional, fiscal, and socio-economic effectiveness of military tax in Ukraine in 2014–2025 and scientific basis for the optimal scenario for its reform based on a multi-criteria analysis of alternatives.
Method. The study employs historical-legal and comparative-normative analysis to systematize legislative changes in 2014–2025, statistical analysis of budget indicators and reports of the Accounting Chamber, and an expert survey with consistency verification using Kendall’s coefficient of concordance. Alternative reform scenarios are evaluated using the TOPSIS multi-criteria decision-making method, including the construction of a decision matrix, determination of weight coefficients, and calculation of the closeness index to the ideal solution. The robustness of results is tested through sensitivity analysis, scenario modelling, and Monte Carlo simulation.
Findings. The study identified contradictions between the legal status of the levy and its actual tax nature. Legislative changes in 2024–2025 strengthened its fiscal role, turning it into an important source of domestic resource mobilization. Multi-criteria modelling using the TOPSIS method showed that the most balanced reform scenario is A5 (progressive scale and a special defence fund). Kendall’s concordance coefficient (W = 0.735) confirmed the consistency of expert assessments, while sensitivity analysis and Monte Carlo simulation (5,000 iterations) demonstrated the robustness of the results.
Practical implications. The findings provide an analytically grounded basis for improving Ukraine’s defence taxation policy under wartime conditions. The proposed reform framework ensures a balance between fiscal mobilisation capacity, social justice, legal certainty, and transparency of public finance management. The applied multi-criteria evaluation methodology may be used by policymakers in designing amendments to tax legislation and in shaping strategic decisions regarding sustainable defence financing.
Paper type. Theoretical article.
Downloads
References
Accounting Chamber of Ukraine. (2023). Report on the audit of the effectiveness of management and control over the completeness of accrual and timeliness of military levy payments to the state budget. https://rp.gov.ua/PressCenter/News/?id=1528
Artiushenko, O. (2023). Application of the multi-criteria optimisation method for decision-making in the field of financial support for military units. Bulletin of Taras Shevchenko National University of Kyiv. Military-Special Sciences, 2(54), 36–40. https://doi.org/10.17721/1728-2217.2023.54.36-40
Artiushenko, O., Asrorov, F., Tereshchenko, Yu., Tymoshenko, D., & Koval, O. (2025). Modelling the vulnerability of the Russian Federation’s military potential using TOPSIS. Socio-Economic Problems and the State, 33(2), 166–180. https://doi.org/10.33108/sepd2025.02.166
Atamanchuk, N. V., & Kasianenko, L. V. (2024). Reforming the military in Ukraine under martial law: Analysis of legislative initiatives. New Ukrainian Law, (1), 65–72.
Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine. (2025, June 10). Military levy: Revenues for five months amounted to UAH 61.6 billion. https://www.kmu.gov.ua/news/viiskovyi-zbir-nadkhodzhennia-za-5-misiatsiv-sklaly-616-mlrd-hrn
Hwang, C. L. (2014). A new car selection in the market using the TOPSIS technique. International Journal of Engineering Research and General Science, (4), 177–181.
Kendall, M. G., & Moran, P. A. P. (1973). Rank correlation methods. International Statistical Review, 41(3), 399. https://doi.org/10.2307/1402637
Kireiev, V. I. (2022). Military levy: Legal nature and fiscal efficiency. Finances of Ukraine, (7), 23–31.
Law of Ukraine No. 4015-IX. (2024, October 10). On amendments to the Tax Code of Ukraine and other laws of Ukraine regarding strengthening the financial security of the state’s security and defence sector. https://zakon.rada.gov.ua/laws/show/4015-20
Markova, L. I., & Alieksieieva, R. V. (2023). Military tax: Theoretical aspect. Economy and State, (12), 102–107.
Ministry of Finance of Ukraine. (2025a). Official website. https://minfin.com.ua
Ministry of Finance of Ukraine. (2025b). Statistical collection “Taxes of Ukraine”. https://mof.gov.ua/uk/statistichnij-zbirnik
Mirrlees, J. A. (1971). An exploration in the theory of optimum income taxation. Review of Economic Studies, 38(2), 175–208.
Mohyla, I.-L. A. (2025). Progressive model of taxation of military personnel: A new approach to the formation of Ukraine’s tax policy in the context of post-war recovery. Journal of Strategic Economic Research, (3), 25–35.
Romanchenko, I., Potomkin, M., & Syrskyi, O. (2019). The method of tri-criteria Euclidean ranking and its application for multi-criteria comparison of alternatives. Modern Information Technologies in the Sphere of Security and Defence, 34(1), 59–63. https://doi.org/10.33099/2311-7249/2019-34-1-59-63
Saaty, T. L. (1987). The analytic hierarchy process—What it is and how it is used. Mathematical Modelling, 9(3–5), 161–176. https://doi.org/10.1016/0270-0255(87)90473-8
Shubin, V. M. (2022). Military levy and military bonds as components of budget policy during martial law. Financial System of Ukraine, 3(67), 88–97.
Tax Code of Ukraine No. 2755-VI. (2010, December 2). https://zakon.rada.gov.ua/laws/show/2755-17
Tkach, M., Tkach, I., Yasenko, S., Brychenko, I., & Loshontsi, P. (2022). Methodological approaches to assessing a country’s military and economic capabilities. Social Development and Security, 12(3), 81–97. https://doi.org/10.33445/sds.2022.12.3.8
Yasenko, S., & Tkach, I. (2023). Review of selected analytical models for management in capability-based systems. Social Development and Security, 13(1), 111–127. https://doi.org/10.33445/sds.2023.13.1.10
Yildirim, J., Sezgin, S., & Öcal, N. (2005). Military expenditure and economic growth in Middle Eastern countries: A dynamic panel data analysis. Defence and Peace Economics, 16(4), 283–295. https://doi.org/10.1080/10242690500114751
Zavadskas, E. K., Mardani, A., Turskis, Z., Jusoh, A., & Nor, K. M. (2016). Development of the TOPSIS method for solving complex decision-making problems: A review of developments from 2000 to 2015. International Journal of Information Technology and Decision Making, 15(3), 645–682. https://doi.org/10.1142/S0219622016300019
Abstract views: 67 PDF Downloads: 40
Copyright (c) 2026 Олександр Артюшенко, Павло Бєлік, Вадим Пахольчук, Петро Копаниця
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
The authors agree with the following conditions:
1. Authors retain copyright and grant the journal right of first publication (Download agreement) with the work simultaneously licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution License that allows others to share the work with an acknowledgment of the work's authorship and initial publication in this journal.
2. Authors have the right to complete individual additional agreements for the non-exclusive spreading of the journal’s published version of the work (for example, to post work in the electronic repository of the institution or to publish it as part of a monograph), with the reference to the first publication of the work in this journal.
3. Journal’s politics allows and encourages the placement on the Internet (for example, in the repositories of institutions, personal websites, SSRN, ResearchGate, MPRA, SSOAR, etc.) manuscript of the work by the authors, before and during the process of viewing it by this journal, because it can lead to a productive research discussion and positively affect the efficiency and dynamics of citing the published work (see The Effect of Open Access).
