Reva V. Legal regulation of intergovernmental transfers in Ukraine.

The work conducts a comprehensive study of the legal regulation of intergovernmental transfers, on the basis of which new scientific provisions are substantiated and proposals for improving the current national legislation in this area are developed. The article reveals the content of the category "intergovernmental fiscal relations" and identifies the substantive features of the latter. Intergovernmental fiscal relations as a legal category are characterized by the following features: 1) legal nature of interbudgetary relations - they are possible only "within" the relevant legal regulation and are carried out in accordance with the provisions of budget legislation; 2) temporality - such relations are realized during the budget process within the budget period; 3) funds which are transferred to the budgets of different levels have different purposes: a) funds provided as respective grants do not have a corresponding target purpose; b) funds transferred from one budget to another as subventions have a clearly defined purpose (target purpose); 4) planning - the organization of intergovernmental relations, in particular, the amounts of intergovernmental transfers to be provided are planned in advance when drafting budgets; 5) interbudgetary relations are implemented at the stage of budget execution at the respective level; 6) interbudgetary transfers are the form of their implementation; 7) special subject composition - only the respective bodies of both state and local self-government may enter into such relations); 8) a set of bodies (representative and executive) acts as "parties"; 9) the set of actions of such bodies in interbudgetary relations ensures their dynamics and development. The author notes common and distinctive characteristics of the implementation of intergovernmental fiscal relations in Ukraine and the European Union. The first group includes: the form of implementation; goals and objectives; and the presence of a "cohesion policy". The second group includes: sources of intergovernmental transfers; term of budget planning; active and real use of strategic documents; availability of special conditions for entities wishing to receive intergovernmental transfers from the budget. The author correlates such categories as "interbudgetary relations", "budgetary regulation" and "legal regulation of budgetary relations". It is established that they differ in the "scope" of regulation of relations: legal regulation of budgetary relations provides for the reflection in the provisions of budget law of the provisions on regulation of relations arising in the process of preparation, review, approval, execution of budgets, reporting on their execution and control over compliance with budget legislation, as well as the legal framework for the formation and repayment of public (local) debt; budget regulation covers relations related to the division of powers between public authorities and local transfers. There are characterized the principles of implementation of intergovernmental fiscal relations and their classification based on the principles of the budget system of Ukraine. Given this approach, it is proposed to distinguish two groups of such principles: 1) general (balance, independence, validity, subsidiarity, targeted use of funds, publicity and transparency, etc.); 2) special (publicity, responsibility, equality of budgetary rights of subjects of intergovernmental relations, decentralization). The author substantiates the approach under which, under martial law, the principles of the budget system as the basis for the implementation of intergovernmental fiscal relations have a different content. The content and different approaches to the definition of intergovernmental transfers are revealed and generalized. The author distinguishes two groups of features of intergovernmental transfers - general (inherent in all intergovernmental transfers) and specific (characteristic of a particular type of intergovernmental transfers). The general features include: a) gratuitousness; b) irrevocability; c) monetary form; d) planned nature; e) regulatory consolidation. Specific features include the targeted purpose (direction) and temporal limitations. It is proposed to classify intergovernmental transfers by the following criteria: 1) the level of consolidation of the provision (transfer) of intergovernmental transfers; 2) the nature of expenditures which may be covered by funds received as intergovernmental transfers; 3) participation of the recipient budget in financing the activities for which funds are provided; 4) targeted direction; 5) the level of budget between which funds may flow in the form of intergovernmental transfers; 6) the "significance" of intergovernmental transfers; 7) the method of calculating the amount of intergovernmental transfers. The author reveals the essence of a subsidy as one of the types of intergovernmental transfers that can be provided in Ukraine.