Property tax is the only tax an apartment owner in Ukraine pays every year without selling or letting anything. It is small in rate and large in the number of mistakes made about it: half of owners do not know they pay only for the "extra" metres, the other half do not know that the rate is set not by Kyiv but by Kyiv City Council, and that in Odesa it is fifteen times lower. Below is the full mechanics of Article 266 of the Tax Code for 2026, with Kyiv calculations.
Which metres are taxed
The Code exempts the first 60 m² of an apartment, the first 120 m² of a house and the first 180 m² combined if the owner has both. The tax is charged only on the area above the allowance, and the allowance applies once to all of the owner's property, not to each object.
Three consequences are most often misunderstood:
- the owner of a single 58 m² apartment pays nothing; the owner of a 75 m² apartment pays for 15 m²;
- the owner of two 45 m² apartments pays for 30 m²: the 60 m² allowance applies to the 90 m² total, not to each flat;
- the allowance is lost if the property is let or used in business; then the whole area is taxed.
In addition, an apartment above 300 m² or a house above 500 m² adds UAH 25,000 a year to the tax for each such object.
What a metre costs
The local council sets the rate up to 1.5% of the minimum wage on 1 January of the reporting year per 1 m² a year. The tax is paid for the previous year: in 2026 for 2025, base UAH 8,000, ceiling UAH 120 per m². For 2026, payable in 2027, the base is already UAH 8,647, ceiling UAH 129.71.
| City | Rate for apartments | UAH per m² (payable in 2026) |
|---|---|---|
| Kyiv | 1.5% | 120 |
| Dnipro | 1.5% | 120 |
| Lviv | 0.25–1% by zone | 20–80 |
| Odesa | 0.1% | 8 |
| Kharkiv | 0% | 0 |
Kyiv holds the maximum rate for housing and 0.4% for garages (UAH 32 per m²). For a Kyiv apartment the formula is simple: (area − 60) × 120.
Three Kyiv calculations
A 75 m² apartment, the only one. 15 m² × 120 = UAH 1,800 a year.
A 120 m² apartment in Pechersk. 60 m² × 120 = UAH 7,200. With such an apartment priced around $330,000, the tax is about 0.05% of value a year, 20 to 40 times below Germany or the United States.
Two apartments, 45 m² and 68 m², one let out. The let apartment loses the allowance entirely: 68 m² × 120 = 8,160. The second 45 m² apartment fits within the allowance: 0. Total UAH 8,160. Had both apartments been used by the family, the tax would be (113 − 60) × 120 = 6,360.
For comparison with rent: UAH 8,160 a year is less than half of one month's median rent on a one-room apartment in Kyiv. The tax does not change the economics of letting, but not paying it changes the relationship with the tax service.
How and when to pay
The tax service calculates the tax, not the owner. By 1 July it sends a tax notice-decision to the registered address or to the Electronic Cabinet. From receipt there are 60 days to pay. If no notice arrives nothing is due, but the tax service may assess three prior years, so checking the Electronic Cabinet (the "Status of settlements with the budget" section) is cheaper than waiting.
For late payment: 5% of the amount if up to 30 days late, 10% beyond 30 days, and from the 91st day interest at 120% of the NBU policy rate per annum for each day. At a 15.5% policy rate that is 18.6% a year on the debt. Deliberate non-payment carries a 25–50% fine.
Property tax arrears surface in two unpleasant places: at the sale of the apartment, where the notary asks for a no-arrears certificate, and at the border, if the amount has gone to enforcement.
Who does not pay
Since 1 January 2023 no tax is charged on objects in areas of active hostilities and temporarily occupied territories on the Ministry of Development list, or on destroyed and uninhabitable housing recorded in the Register of Damaged and Destroyed Property. The exemption applies in the months when the territory is on the list.
Kyiv and Kyiv region are not on the list in 2026: owners in the capital pay in full. Relief for specific groups, large families, orphans, is set by the local council, and Kyiv City Council kept it at the basic level in 2026.
How to read it
Property tax in Ukraine is administrative, not economic. It does not affect the decision to buy: 0.05% of value a year against 5–8% in transaction costs. Analyst Ruslan Averin sees its single practical role for an owner as a signal that the apartment is visible to the state: since 2026 notaries report transactions quarterly, the property register is matched against the income register, and an unpaid UAH 1,800 becomes a reason to check whether the rent is declared. Paying it is easier than explaining.
Related: every tax an owner pays, at purchase, holding, letting, sale and inheritance and selling an apartment held under three years.