Before you start

A valid residence permit if you want to register at your local tax inspection rather than the regional office
Your passport, and a certified Ukrainian translation of its data page
A legal stay — a foreigner who has overstayed the 90-in-180 short-stay limit will NOT be issued a РНОКПП
Form 1ДР, the account card, completed with your name, date and place of birth, address in Ukraine, citizenship and home-country tax number if you have one

Step-by-step

1
Apply for the РНОКПП
Foreigners and stateless persons submit to the regional bodies of the State Tax Service; those holding a temporary or permanent residence permit may register at the state tax inspection for the district or city matching the address shown on the permit. Bring the passport, the certified Ukrainian translation and the completed Form 1ДР. If you cannot attend in person from abroad, the card and a clear copy of the identity document can be sent by post with signatures certified in the manner the law requires.
In personWho: You, at ДПСTypically a few working daysFree
2
Understand what the employer withholds
On a Ukrainian employment contract the employer withholds 18% personal income tax and 5% military levy from your gross salary and pays the unified social contribution on top as an employer cost. There is no separate annual return for a straightforward employee — the withholding is final — but foreign-source income, rental income and capital gains do have to be declared.
Via employerWho: Your employerMonthly payroll23% of gross in combined PIT and levy
3
Decide whether ФОП or Diia City applies to you
Ukraine's simplified regime for individual entrepreneurs (ФОП) taxes qualifying turnover at a low single-tax rate and is what a large share of Kyiv's IT contractors use instead of employment. Diia City, created by Law No. 1667-IX in 2021, is a separate legal and tax regime for registered IT companies and the specialists engaged by them. Both are legitimate and both have conditions and anti-abuse rules; this is the point at which to pay for a Ukrainian accountant rather than copy what a colleague did.
In personWho: You, with an accountantA consultation before you sign a contract, not afterAccountancy fees; far cheaper than restructuring later
4
Check your home country's rules before you assume they stop mattering
Ukraine has a wide treaty network, but tax residence is determined by facts — days present, centre of vital interests, permanent home — and not by which permit you hold. US citizens in particular remain filing-liable wherever they live. Decide your position before your first Ukrainian payslip.
OnlineWho: You, with an adviser in both countriesBefore you start work

Documents you’ll need

Passport plus a certified Ukrainian translation of the data page
Residence permit, if registering at a local tax inspection
Form 1ДР (the taxpayer account card)
Proof of address in Ukraine — the register extract, or the permit itself

Things most newcomers don’t know

The military levy went from 1.5% to 5% on 1 December 2024, and a great deal of published material still says 1.5%.

It is a 3.5-point change in take-home pay on every hryvnia of salary. Anyone budgeting a Kyiv offer from a guide written before December 2024 is over-estimating their net by a meaningful margin, and any employer quoting 19.5% total deduction is quoting stale law.

Source: ДПС / Law of Ukraine No. 4015-IX of 10 October 2024

Overstay the short-stay limit and you will not get a tax number at all.

A 2023 Cabinet resolution ties the issue of the РНОКПП to lawful presence — a foreigner who has exceeded 90 days in 180 on visa-free entry will be refused. Because the tax number then gates the bank account, the licence exchange and the doctor's declaration, one immigration slip cascades into everything else.

Source: ДПС

The tax number is the real unlock, not the permit.

The permit makes you lawful; the РНОКПП makes you functional. Bank account, driving-licence exchange, family-doctor declaration and most contracts all ask for it. Get it in the first week after the permit, not the first month.

Source: ДПС / ГСЦ МВС / НСЗУ document lists

ФОП is not a loophole an employer can simply hand you.

Structuring what is really employment as a contractor relationship is a well-known risk area, and the consequences fall on both sides. It is genuinely common and genuinely policed; get Ukrainian advice on your specific contract.

Source: community-reported, confirmed as a standard Ukrainian tax-practice concern

Common mistakes to avoid

Quoting or budgeting the 1.5% military levy. It has been 5% since 1 December 2024.
Leaving the tax number until you need it — it gates the bank, the licence and the doctor.
Letting a visa-free stay run past 90 days in 180 and losing access to the tax number as a result.
Copying a colleague's ФОП setup without advice. The conditions are individual and the anti-abuse rules are real.
Assuming a Ukrainian residence permit ends your home-country filing obligations. It does not.

Some of this may be out of date. Spotted something inaccurate? Help us keep it right for the next newcomer.