Uzbekistan plans to consolidate tax benefits previously stipulated in subordinate legislation but not reflected in the Tax Code. This was announced on May 5 by Aziz Umirzakov, director of a department at the Tax Committee, following a meeting chaired by the president.
According to him, in practice, entrepreneurs have used benefits established by subordinate acts (presidential decrees, government resolutions), but the absence of these norms in the Tax Code has led to disputes, court proceedings, and additional costs for businesses.
“A decision was made to reflect all these benefits in the Tax Code, but taxpayers are granted the right to use them until corresponding amendments are made to the Code,” the Tax Committee representative stated in an interview with Uzbekistan 24 TV channel.
The meeting also discussed public oversight of cash receipt issuance. Currently, a citizen who reports a failure to issue a receipt to tax authorities can receive a reward of 20% of the collected fine.
“Today, if a citizen reports to tax authorities that a receipt, for example, a cash register receipt, was not issued, they are paid a reward of 20% of the collected fine,” said Aziz Umirzakov.
He noted that this mechanism has begun to be used not only as a tool for public oversight but also as a source of income.
“It must be admitted that some unscrupulous citizens have started using this not as a means of public control, but as a permanent source of income. That is, one person could deliberately file more than 10 complaints against a single enterprise within a month,” he noted.
The Tax Committee proposes to limit the number of reward payments while retaining citizens' right to report violations. “Under the new rules, the right to inform tax authorities about violations remains. However, even if a citizen reports more than twice, the reward will be paid no more than once a month,” Umirzakov said.
Business Ombudsman Abdumannop Burkhanov stated that two weeks ago, the head of state ordered a systematic study of problems affecting the mood of entrepreneurs and the business environment. Based on this work, his office presented 15 systemic issues. “Each of them was examined in detail. Since most proposals were supported, we expect this to have a positive impact on the mood of entrepreneurs,” he said.
Following the meeting with the president, measures were supported including postponing the introduction of aggregation in the digital labeling system for water and soft drinks, reducing fines for labeling violations, establishing fixed sanctions for public catering and trade, simplifying VAT refunds of up to 40% for cafes and restaurants regardless of the share of non-cash payments.
Also planned are a revision of regulations for signs and outdoor advertising, abolition of commissions for transfers between one's own cards, introduction of a moratorium on certain fines for entrepreneurs, simplification of environmental expertise and compensation payments for a number of retail facilities, and other measures.
Source: www.gazeta.uz