The term ‘beneficial owner’ has been applied by Ukrainian courts and tax authorities in the area of application of the provisions of double-taxation treaties since the adoption of the Tax Code of Ukraine, in 2010. The changing nature of the concept of beneficial owner, its importance as an instrument for counteraction of treaty shopping, and the necessity of improvement of its application in the Ukrainian reality are the main factors that have a strong impact on the development of national practice in the application of the concept of beneficial owner. The article focuses on the main challenges to application of the concept of beneficial owner in the context of prevention of tax avoidance as one of the purposes of double-taxation treaties in Ukraine.