Owners of war-destroyed property exempt from land rent for 2026

Owners of land plots on which residential or non-residential buildings have been destroyed as a result of combat actions, terrorist acts, or sabotage are exempt from land payments in 2026. This benefit covers both land tax and lease payments for plots of state and communal ownership. The main criterion for obtaining the exemption is the presence of a record regarding the destruction of the object and the plot itself in the relevant state register.

Legal basis and validity period of the norm

As reported by the State Tax Service, the basis for these changes was Law of Ukraine No. 4903-IX dated 9 June 2026, which entered into force on 23 October 2026. The document supplemented the Tax Code with a new sub-clause regulating the collection of land payments for the current year for plots with war-destroyed property.

The exemption is effective from 1 January 2026, but it applies exclusively on the condition that information about the destroyed object and the land plot beneath it has already been entered into the State Register of Property Damaged and Destroyed as a Result of Combat Actions, Terrorist Acts, and Sabotage Caused by the Armed Aggression of the Russian Federation Against Ukraine.

Limitations by area and owner categories

The law clearly defines the area limits for which the exemption from land payments applies to individuals – owners of destroyed residential property:

• in villages – no more than 0.25 hectares;
• in settlements – no more than 0.15 hectares;
• in cities – no more than 0.1 hectares.

For individuals and legal entities that have lost non-residential property, as well as for legal entities that are owners of destroyed housing, a different calculation logic is established:

• 100% of the land plot area is exempt from payment if the area of the destroyed object constitutes one-third of the plot area or exceeds this figure;
• 50% of the plot area is exempt if the area of the destroyed object does not exceed one-third of the plot area.

Exemption period and adjustment of liabilities

Land payments are not accrued from the first day of the month in which the destruction of property was recorded in the register. The exemption remains in effect until the last day of the month in which a property right to a newly built object is registered on that plot, or until the end of martial law in Ukraine.

«Платники плати за землю, які до дати набрання чинності Законом задекларували податкові зобов'язання з плати за землю за вказані земельні ділянки, мають право відкоригувати нараховані податкові зобов'язання» (Land payment payers who declared land payment tax liabilities for the specified land plots before the date the Law entered into force have the right to adjust the accrued tax liabilities), – it says in the State Tax Service statement.

To exercise this right, owners must submit amending tax declarations in the procedure established by the Tax Code.

Logic of tax burden

A similar exemption principle has already been applied to the property tax: if an object had significant damage and data on this was entered into the state register, the owner was temporarily exempt from payment. The new law extended this logic to land payments, linking the exemption specifically to the fact of building destruction, rather than the degree of its damage. This allows avoiding a double financial burden on owners whose property has already been lost due to the war.