Uzbekistan Intensifies Fight Against Shadow Economy and Boosts Tax Revenues

Tashkent, Uzbekistan (UzDaily.com) — Uzbekistan recently held a joint meeting of the State Tax Committee and the Department for Combating Economic Crimes under the General Prosecutor’s Office to address the reduction of the shadow economy.

The meeting was convened following directives issued at the 6 October session of the Commission on Reducing the Shadow Economy and brought together senior officials from relevant agencies, heads of regional offices, and representatives of ministries and state institutions involved in implementing anti-shadow policies.

Participants discussed measures to improve the effectiveness of combating the informal turnover in sectors such as construction, services, trade, tourism, transport, catering, and healthcare. Special attention was paid to formalizing employment and payrolls, as well as identifying priority tasks for further economic development on a transparent basis.

It was noted that digitalization—through the introduction of electronic invoices, online cash registers, digital labeling, electronic waybills, and incentive mechanisms including citizen cashback programs—has helped bring 10% to 20% of previously hidden economic activity into the formal economy across various sectors.

As a result of collaborative work with sectoral ministries, the turnover of enterprises in the regions increased by 42%, reaching 737 trillion soums. Among them, 26,800 companies doubled their turnover, while 24,300 enterprises that previously had no turnover began operations totaling 93.4 trillion soums.

These reforms have also increased tax revenues to the state budget over the first nine months of 2025 to 158.7 trillion soums, an 18% rise compared to the same period last year. The highest growth was recorded in Navoi (86%), Fergana (39%), and Syrdarya regions, as well as in Tashkent (33%).

In the catering sector, which is traditionally prone to shadow operations, the introduction of electronic procurement procedures and a VAT cashback mechanism led to a 44% increase in VAT revenues.

Employment formalization was another key focus of the meeting. In 14,500 regional enterprises, the number of employees more than doubled, reaching 255,000. Over 17,800 companies that had not previously reported personnel now declared 96,100 employees in their tax filings. Payrolls in 24,100 enterprises more than doubled, totaling 8.6 trillion soums, and 17,100 companies began issuing salaries amounting to 1.9 trillion soums.

The meeting concluded with proposals to further bring the economy out of the shadow, including improving control over accounting for goods and services, supporting domestic producers, developing e-commerce, and implementing new tools successfully tested in advanced economies, as well as revising standards and regulations in specific sectors.

These measures aim to create a transparent and efficient economic environment, stimulate business activity, and enhance social protection for workers.