On September 30, the Legal Committee of the Solar Energy Association of Ukraine held an open meeting on the topic: “Depreciation of Solar Power Plants in 2025: Tax Authorities Continue to Charge Additional Corporate Income Tax to Producers”.
The meeting was moderated by the Committee’s Chair, Ivan Balytskyi. The main speaker was Natalia Kurilenko, Head of the Tax Practice, auditor, and attorney at Sokolovskyi & Partners law firm.
Ms. Kurilenko emphasized:
“Depreciation of solar power plants in 2025 remains one of the most problematic issues for electricity producers. The tax authorities continue to insist on their approach to charging corporate income tax. Therefore, it is crucial to know all the nuances of documentation and accounting policies in order to defend your interests in disputes.”
In her presentation, the expert gave a detailed overview of depreciation methods, useful life periods of equipment, and the classification of assets into different groups. She highlighted the importance of proper documentation when commissioning solar plants:
“If a company decides to depreciate individual components of a power plant, each item must be documented separately with its own inventory number, depreciation term, and technical specifications.”
It was also stressed that businesses should account for both physical and moral depreciation of equipment. Solar panels can be used for 25–32 years, gradually losing efficiency; inverters typically last 5–25 years; and the service life of batteries is an even more sensitive factor.
The meeting also covered depreciation methods. According to Natalia Kurilenko, the method must be clearly specified in the company’s accounting policy. For equipment with decreasing efficiency over time, the production method is more appropriate than the straight-line method. She also reminded participants of the option to apply accelerated depreciation, allowed under the Tax Code until 2030 for new facilities.
Significant attention was paid to residual value.
“When the depreciation period ends, the company must clearly understand what to do with the asset – dispose of it, sell it, or revalue it. It is essential that all these actions are properly documented, otherwise this will cause issues for both accounting and taxation,” the expert explained.
Court practice in 2025 was also discussed. The tax authorities often refuse companies the right to recognize individual solar plant elements as separate assets, insisting on classifying the entire station as a single complex. At the same time, courts have already issued both positive and negative rulings.
“The most important thing is for companies to have a strong evidence base: an accounting policy order, commissioning acts for individual elements, technical documents. And of course, it is necessary to refer to the Supreme Court’s practice, which confirms the right to divide equipment into separate assets,” Kurilenko emphasized.
Participants received answers to pressing questions and were able to discuss complex aspects of the topic. The meeting confirmed that the issue of solar power plant depreciation remains highly relevant for the industry.
SEAU reminds members that recordings of committee meetings and webinars are available on the Association’s platform. In the near future, the recording and the expert’s presentation will also be published in the Solar Digest. Stay tuned for SEAU updates and join upcoming community events!