Taxes on paid research and survey income in Ukraine: how to declare it

Why this counts as foreign income

The State Tax Service explains that a resident is taxed on income from Ukraine and on foreign income, meaning income from sources outside Ukraine. The Tax Code defines foreign income as any income from activity outside Ukraine’s customs territory, including income from work or services under civil-law contracts.

Research platforms are foreign companies, and they say plainly that they do not withhold tax. UserTesting does not withhold taxes and says participants are responsible for reporting income in their country. Prolific says participants are not employees but independent contractors who decide whether they need to report the income. So there is no tax agent paying the tax on your behalf.

How much to pay: 18% and 5%

Foreign income is added to your total annual taxable income and taxed at the 18% personal income tax rate plus the military levy. According to the tax service, the military levy rate for most personal income is 5%. Together that is 23% of the income.

An example with an assumed exchange rate. Suppose you received $300 over the year in several payouts, and the average NBU rate on the payout dates was 41 hryvnias per dollar. Use the real rate for the date of each payout.

Which exchange rate to use

Income received in foreign currency is converted into hryvnias at the NBU rate in force when the income is accrued or received. Each payout has its own rate, so it is easiest to log payouts as they arrive: date, amount in dollars or pounds, that day’s NBU rate, amount in hryvnias.

Prolific pays in dollars or pounds, UserTesting and Respondent in dollars. If PayPal later converts the money into hryvnias at its own rate, the tax rule does not change: the base is the income converted at the NBU rate.

How to keep track of payouts during the year

The simplest method is a table you update every time a payout arrives, so in April you do not have to rebuild the year from memory. Below is an example with made-up amounts and rates, just to show the format.

Deadlines: 1 May and 1 August

The annual property and income return for a calendar year is due by 1 May of the following year. "By 1 May" means the last day is 30 April; for example, the tax service in Kharkiv region gave 30 April 2026 as the deadline for the 2025 return. The tax shown on the return is paid by 1 August.

• income earned in 2026 is declared between 1 January and 30 April 2027
• tax and levy are paid by 1 August 2027
• income tax from the annual return goes to budget code 11010500, the military levy to 11011001
• the tax service publishes account details for your community in the budget accounts section of its portal

Which records to keep

For the return you need the amount and date of each payout, and platforms let you export them. Prolific lets you download your full study and reward history from the Submissions page specifically for tax purposes. UserTesting shows your test and payment history in your dashboard. Respondent advises using the full advertised incentive for tax purposes rather than the amount after its 5% fee.

Also keep your PayPal statement for the year, which shows the date each payment arrived. Together these documents back up your income figure if the tax service asks.

How to file the return

The simplest route is to file online through the taxpayer’s Electronic Cabinet on the tax service portal. Foreign income is entered on the return, and the tax and levy are calculated from it.

• collect the amounts of all payouts for the year and convert each into hryvnias at the NBU rate on its date
• add them up: that is your foreign income for the year
• file the return by 30 April of the following year
• pay the 18% and 5% by 1 August to your community’s accounts
• keep the payment receipts together with your payout history

Where to get an answer for your case

If your situation is unusual, for example a large income, part of the year spent abroad, or payouts to a foreign account, the most reliable step is to ask the tax service directly. It runs a contact centre and the "Moya Podatkova" mobile app, which give you answers and access to its online services.

The explanations we cite are published by regional tax offices. They are general and do not take your circumstances into account, so for complex cases it is better to get an answer to your specific question or to consult an accountant.

Registering as a sole trader: when it makes sense

Some people with regular income from foreign clients register as a group 3 sole trader (FOP): a 5% single tax on revenue, since 2025 an additional 1% military levy on revenue, and a monthly social contribution from which only certain categories are exempt. The annual revenue cap for group 3 is 1,167 minimum wages.

There is an important condition the tax service points out: money from a non-resident must arrive in the sole trader’s account at a Ukrainian bank. If it lands in a foreign bank account or a service such as Wise, it is not counted as sole trader revenue and is taxed under the ordinary rules for individuals. For small, occasional PayPal payouts, a sole trader registration usually adds more hassle than it saves. Whether it suits you is best decided with an accountant.

Common mistakes

A few things people most often get wrong.

• "Money in PayPal is not income yet." For a resident, income arises when it is accrued or received, not when you withdraw it to your card
• "A gift card is not money." Platforms such as Respondent pay with Tremendous cards, but that is still payment for taking part in a study
• "The platform already paid the tax." No: UserTesting and Prolific say explicitly that they do not withhold tax
• "I can file later." The filing deadline is 1 May and the payment deadline 1 August, and they are not worth putting off

Ukrainians living abroad

Everything above applies to Ukrainian tax residents. If you live permanently in another country, it most likely treats you as its own tax resident, and different rules apply there. We have separate articles on Poland and Germany.

If you are a Ukrainian tax resident and also paid tax on the same income abroad, the Tax Code allows foreign tax to be credited under certain conditions, but only with supporting documents prepared according to the Code. With income from foreign research platforms this usually does not arise, since they withhold no tax.