If you have received the decision of temporary protection and you have children, you are entitled to apply for and receive family allowance regardless of whether you work or not. Both Estonian and Ukrainian bank accounts are suitable for receiving family allowance. The amount of child allowance is 60 euros for the first and second child and 100 euros for the third and next child. From three children, an allowance for a family with many children of 300 euros per month and from seven children of 400 euros per month is paid.

The school support is a one-time allowance for all school-age children (aged 7-19) who have received international protection or temporary protection and are entering schools in Estonia for the first time. It is paid by the Estonian Refugee Council and is intended for expenses related to starting school.

School support can be applied for all school-age children who started or are about to start schooling in Estonia for the first time in 2022. The child must be admitted to the school at the time of the application. The application is made on behalf of the child/children by their parent or guardian.

The one-off financial support is 50 euros per child. The support is paid only once.

The purpose of the support is to help children with refugee backgrounds going to school in Estonia for the first time to coverm basic school-related expenses. The exact use of the allowance does not have to be proven, it can be spent on things related to the child's school at its own discretion.

Ukrainians who have obtained temporary protection status in Estonia are entitled to financial assistance. Payment for groceries and other priority expenses is €200 per month for the first family member, €160 per month for each subsequent adult family member and €240 for each child.

Parents who arrived in Estonia with a child younger than one and a half years old are paid parental compensation. The amount of compensation is €584 per month for a period of up to 545 days.

More information about cash assistance here .

Ukrainian war refugees can open an account for free and get a PIN calculator for free to use the digital channels at most Estonian banks. Several banks also waive the account maintenance and transaction fees for a while. As payments in Euros move the fastest, the payer should also prefer Euro payments if possible. More information on the conditions for opening an account and the necessary documentation at Swedbank, SEB, LHV, Luminor, Coop Pank and TBB bank can be found at this page .

When wishing to open a bank account one needs to know that:
- there could be queues at the bank offices;
- there could be a need to visit the bank office twice; (expectations might differ in different banks)
- there is a need to prove one’s identity
- a contract needs to be signed after the bank has made a positive decision
- opening a bank account might take up to 14 working days
- the bank card will be delivered by post, so one needs a local postal address. If that is not possible, one more visit to the bank office is needed.

Specific circumstances depend on the documents a person has and might differ in the different banks. 

There are some 800 places across Estonia beyond the network of ATMs that provide cash in cooperation with Swedbank. Cash can be withdrawn from the shop tills of Coop, Grossi, R-Kiosk, Meie Toidukaubad, Aldar Marketi shops, and from Olerex and Terminal Oil service stations. The shops and service stations have more information on the conditions of the service.

Exchange for Ukrainian hryvnias is currently only available in Estonia at Tavid currency exchange bureaux. Exchange rates and more information can be found from the Tavid website  . Several Ukrainian banks are also continuing to provide digital payment services (cards and payments) despite the war. This means that Ukrainian refugees that have reached Estonia should try whether the bankcards issued by Ukrainian banks work in Estonia. If they work, then those cards can be used for paying in stores and for withdrawing cash in Euros. The exchange rate for hryvnias in such transactions is set by the Ukrainian bank that issued the bankcard. Good to know: the Ukrainian Central Bank recommends that people who leave Ukraine let the hryvnias stay on their bank account. In many instances the Ukrainian bankcards work outside Ukraine as well and in that case the exchange rate for making card payments and withdrawing cash is significantly cheaper than in would be at a currency exchange bureau: bank.gov.ua .

When working for a Ukranian registered company from Estonia, Ukrainian employees do not have to pay any tax in Estonia until the natural person’s residency for tax purposes is fixed in Estonia. Definition for determining natural person’s residency for tax purposes is described on Estonian Tax and Customs Board’s website .

Resident natural persons must declare their worldwide income in Estonia. It means that they must pay income tax on both Estonian and foreign income, double taxation is avoided in Estonia. Non-residents are liable to tax in Estonia only on Estonian income. If income tax on the non-resident’s income taxable in Estonia has been withheld in Estonia or at the rates provided for in the tax treaty, the non-resident is not obliged to declare such income.

Non-residents must declare the taxable business income and the gains derived from the transfer of property received in Estonia and taxed pursuant to § 29 of the Income Tax Act, as well as the income taxable pursuant to § 41, wherefrom the income tax has not been not withheld. Double taxation will be avoided in the person’s country of residence.

When working for a Ukranian registered company from Estonia, Ukrainian employees do not have to pay any tax in Estonia until the natural person’s residency for tax purposes is fixed in Estonia. Definition for determining natural person’s residency for tax purposes is described on Estonian Tax and Customs Board’s website .

Resident natural persons must declare their worldwide income in Estonia. It means that they must pay income tax on both Estonian and foreign income, double taxation is avoided in Estonia. Non-residents are liable to tax in Estonia only on Estonian income. If income tax on the non-resident’s income taxable in Estonia has been withheld in Estonia or at the rates provided for in the tax treaty, the non-resident is not obliged to declare such income.

Non-residents must declare the taxable business income and the gains derived from the transfer of property received in Estonia and taxed pursuant to § 29 of the Income Tax Act, as well as the income taxable pursuant to § 41, wherefrom the income tax has not been not withheld. Double taxation will be avoided in the person’s country of residence.

There is an ingenious, but not perfect, solution — to prove to the tax authority of the state in which the citizen does not plan to pay taxes that he is a resident of another country where he fulfills this duty.

A natural person has such a right, as Ukraine has valid conventions and treaties on the avoidance of double taxation with 73 countries of the world. Among them are almost all European countries, as well as the USA and Canada. According to these conventions, Ukrainians who pay taxes in Ukraine have the right to avoid taxation in the country of residence.

If such a situation arises in which a citizen falls under the criteria of a tax resident of Ukraine and at the same time another state defines him as its resident, he has the right to contact the tax authorities of the country of residence and make a request to the Ukrainian tax authorities to confirm that he pays taxes.

That is, in order to prevent double taxation, it is necessary to determine the resident status of an individual and, if necessary, obtain a document that will confirm it. But this may require the help of specialists - tax consultants or lawyers. Specialists advise in advance to collect evidence of the presence of a center of economic interests in Ukraine (if you plan to pay taxes only in Ukraine).

Among them may be:

• certificate of payment of taxes in Ukraine;
• certificate of tax resident of Ukraine (soon to be available in electronic form);
• actual place of registration in Ukraine;
• evidence of the presence of an individual entrepreneur registered in Ukraine (registration documents and tax declarations);
• certificates of current accounts in Ukrainian banks;
• certificates about the child's attendance at educational institutions in Ukraine;
• receipts for the payment of utility bills.

If a citizen of Ukraine is recognized as a resident of Ukraine, but paid taxes in another country, the taxes paid can be credited in Ukraine. But if a person does not meet the criteria of a resident of Ukraine, it allows to change the tax resident status and consider another country as the place of tax payment.

It is important to check the registration of a natural person as a subject of entrepreneurial activity in the Unified State Register. Even if the activity has not been carried out for a long time, but the registration has not been terminated, this is a criterion for recognizing a person as a resident of Ukraine, which is accompanied by the obligation to pay taxes on income received abroad in Ukraine.

Being a citizen of Ukraine, but a tax NON-resident, you will still have to pay taxes in Ukraine for some types of income:

• when receiving inheritance and gifts from persons who are not relatives of the 1st and 2nd degrees of kinship;
• when receiving an investment profit;
• when selling/leasing immovable and movable property to a natural person.

Source .

You can transfer money from Estonia to Ukraine via an international transfer or money transfer at a corresponding provider or a bank.

For an international transfer at the bank you have to fill out a special form and usually pay fees. Other special money transfer providers (e.g. Western Union, Moneygram, Wise, Revolut, Paypal) are often a cheaper and faster alternative.