A Kyiv landlord in 2026 chooses between three regimes that differ fourfold in the tax due, and most choose a fourth: not paying. Below is the arithmetic of the first three on median rent, the lease that protects both sides, and how the tax office learns about a let apartment in 2026 and will learn in 2027.
Three regimes, one table
| Rent per month | Individual: 18% + 5% | FOP group 3: 5% + 1% + USC 1,902.34 | FOP group 2: 1,729.40 + USC 1,902.34 |
|---|---|---|---|
| UAH 18,000 (one-room) | 4,140 | 2,982 | 3,632 |
| UAH 26,000 (two-room) | 5,980 | 3,462 | 3,632 |
| UAH 44,200 (three-room) | 10,166 | 4,554 | 3,632 |
An individual pays 18% PIT and 5% military levy on the full amount, in advances within 40 days of each quarter, with a return by 1 May and settlement by 1 August. If the tenant is a company or a FOP, the tenant withholds the tax as agent.
A group 3 FOP pays 5% single tax and 1% military levy on turnover plus a unified social contribution of UAH 1,902.34 a month regardless of income. The line above which the FOP is cheaper than the individual is about UAH 11,200 a month; below it the contribution eats the saving. In Kyiv only Desnianskyi housing lets below that line.
A group 2 FOP pays a fixed UAH 1,729.40 single tax a month plus the contribution, UAH 3,632 in total regardless of rent. Cheaper than group 3 above UAH 28,800 of rent, but it may let only to individuals and single-tax payers: letting to a company on the general system knocks the FOP out of the group with a 15% penalty.
The limit for all single-tax payers is residential area let out of no more than 400 m²: no problem for an owner of five or six flats, a problem for an owner of a floor.
What a FOP costs beyond the tax
Registration is free through Diia in a day. Running it means a book of income, a quarterly return and quarterly contributions. Done personally that is an hour a quarter; an accountant charges UAH 1,000–2,000 a month, which for a single flat halves the saving. The reasonable threshold, in analyst Ruslan Averin's view: a FOP pays from the first apartment when self-administered and from the second with an accountant.
The hidden cost of a FOP is status: FOP rental income counts as business income, and an apartment "used in business activity" is taxed on sale under the rules for an individual's property, but the tax office periodically tries another reading. Case law sides with the owner, but it is safer to sell after closing the FOP or removing the object from the business.
Property tax: the allowance disappears
A let apartment loses the 60 m² allowance: tax is charged on its full area, in Kyiv UAH 120 per metre. For a 45 m² one-room that is UAH 5,400 a year instead of zero, for a 68 m² two-room 8,160. Against UAH 216,000 of annual rent that is 2.5–4%, but this is exactly the line on which the tax office checks whether the "only" apartment is let: a claimed allowance alongside declared rent is a contradiction that shows automatically.
The lease
A residential lease needs no notarisation or registration if shorter than three years; for three years or longer it is notarised and the right of use is registered. In practice Kyiv leases run for 11 months with renewal.
What belongs in the lease beyond price and term: meter readings and who pays utilities; the deposit and the conditions for keeping it; an inventory with photographs; the owner's visiting arrangements; early termination, usually a month's notice; liability for damage; a ban on subletting and short-term letting. A 2026-specific clause covers a strike on the building: who pays for repairs, whether rent is suspended, how the deposit is returned.
For a FOP owner the lease is the basis of income; for an individual, proof of the amount declared. For the tenant, protection from eviction without notice. A lease "by word of mouth" benefits only the party not paying tax, and only until the first inspection.
How the tax office finds out
In 2026, through four channels. Since June notaries report leases to the tax office on the day they are certified. Banks, through regular identical transfers from one person. Neighbours and building associations, through complaints. And cross-checks: an apartment with a property tax allowance claimed and a person registered at a different address.
From 2027 a fifth and main channel is added. On 9 June 2026 parliament passed Law 4903-IX on digital platforms: OLX, DIM.RIA, Airbnb and the rest become tax agents for income from letting housing to other individuals, above EUR 2,000 a year at a rate of 5% PIT plus 5% levy, 10% instead of 23%. At the same time a landlord under that regime loses the 60 m² allowance. As of 12 September 2026 the law is unsigned by the president: the dispute is over unrelated amendments on financial monitoring, and until signature the current 23% or the FOP route applies.
If the law enters into force, the individual regime becomes cheaper than a group 2 FOP from rent of UAH 24,000, and above all the platforms will report every listing. Undeclared rent stops being invisible.
The price of not paying
The penalty for undeclared income is 25% of the tax if deliberate and 10% otherwise, plus interest, plus UAH 340 for an unfiled return, plus the tax for three years back. On a one-room flat at UAH 18,000, three years unpaid as an individual comes to UAH 149,000 of tax, 37,000 of penalty and interest. The same owner through a FOP would have paid UAH 107,000 over three years and slept soundly. The gap between "pay as a FOP" and "don't pay and get caught" is UAH 79,000 against the latter.
How to read it
For a Kyiv landlord in 2026 the choice of regime comes down to one number: a group 3 FOP from the first apartment at rent above UAH 11,200, group 2 with three or more flats above 28,800. A lease for 11 months with an inventory and a strike clause. And watch the signature on Law 4903-IX: it will either make legal letting cheaper at 10% or fail to enter force, but either way the platforms will start seeing in 2027 what the tax office today looks for by hand.
Related: which apartment to buy to let, every tax a property owner pays, property tax 2026.