The Pension Fund did not count 25 years of work in the tax service towards civil service experience: pensioner won the appeal case

The Second Administrative Court of Appeal upheld the decision in favor of the former tax authority employee, whom the Pension Fund refused to transfer to a civil service pension. The court concluded that service in tax authorities in positions with special ranks and titles should be counted towards civil service experience.

Case circumstances

The plaintiff worked for over 25 years in the state tax service—from November 1994 to March 2020. In December 2024, she applied to the Pension Fund for a transfer from an age-based pension, granted under general legislation, to a civil service pension according to Article 37 of the Law "On Civil Service."

However, the Main Department of the Pension Fund of Ukraine in Poltava region refused the transfer. The reason was that the period of the woman's work in the tax authorities was not counted towards civil service experience. The Pension Fund argued that the positions she held were not civil service positions, and therefore the required experience for a civil service pension was absent.

Disagreeing with this decision, the plaintiff appealed to the administrative court.

Decision of the court of first instance

The Sumy District Administrative Court partially satisfied the claim.

The court recognized the Pension Fund's refusal to transfer to a civil service pension as unlawful and canceled it. The court also obliged to count the plaintiff's period of work in the tax authorities from November 2, 1994, to March 31, 2020, towards civil service experience and to reconsider her application taking into account the court's conclusions.

At the same time, the court did not independently assign the civil service pension or determine its amount, as this falls within the competence of the Pension Fund after reconsideration of the application.

Position of the Pension Fund

In the appeal, the Pension Fund insisted that the right to a civil service pension arises only when all conditions prescribed by law are met simultaneously, including age, insurance experience, and civil service experience.

According to the appellant, the decisive criterion for counting work towards civil service experience is holding civil service positions with the corresponding rank and status of a civil servant. Since the fund did not recognize the disputed period as such experience, it considered its refusal lawful.

Conclusions of the appellate court

The Second Administrative Court of Appeal agreed with the conclusions of the court of first instance and dismissed the appeal.

The court noted that the legislation explicitly provides for counting work of tax authority officials, who were assigned special or personal ranks, towards civil service experience.

During the case review, it was established that the plaintiff served in the state tax service from 1994 to 2020, took the Civil Servant's Oath, was assigned special ranks of the state tax service, as well as a civil servant rank.

The panel of judges emphasized that tax authority officials are civil servants with a special status, and therefore such service periods must be counted towards civil service experience, including for pension purposes.

The court stated that according to the legislation in force at the time of the plaintiff's service, work in the state tax service was included in civil service experience. Moreover, the law explicitly provides that the period of work of tax authority officials in positions with special ranks is counted towards such experience regardless of the person's workplace at the time of reaching retirement age.

The court also established that as of May 1, 2016, the plaintiff had over 20 years of civil service experience. Therefore, when deciding on the transfer to a civil service pension, the Pension Fund is obliged to consider this experience and the court's legal conclusions. At the same time, the final decision on the pension transfer must be made by the Pension Fund after reconsidering the application.

As a result of case 480/621/25, the appellate court dismissed the appeal of the Main Department of the Pension Fund of Ukraine in Poltava region and left the decision of the Sumy District Administrative Court unchanged. The ruling took legal effect from the day of adoption and is not subject to cassation appeal, except in exceptional cases defined by the Code of Administrative Procedure of Ukraine.

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