Uzbeks Ease Tax Requirements
Uzbeks Ease Tax Requirements
A decision by Uzbekistan’s government to make taxation less of an onerous and intrusive business is a step in the right direction at a time when the country’s economy is feeling the impact of the global financial crisis, NBCentralAsia observers say.
On April 9, the CA-News agency reported that the Uzbek tax service was to reduce the number of tax inspections that small businesses have to undergo. The new rules, which will remain in place until next year, mean that unscheduled inspections can only be carried out if a permit is issued in advance. This document has to be signed by the head of the national body which coordinates the various inspection agencies. More cursory inspections require the approval of regional governors.
What that means is that a range of officials who previously used to be able to order inspections of private firms at will – tax service managers, deputy provincial tax chiefs, and district government heads – are now barred from doing so.
Business people in Uzbekistan have long been unhappy about the succession of tax inspections to which they are subjected, by a whole range of state organisations all the way down to mahalla (neighbourhood) committees.
Svetlana, a businesswoman in the capital Tashkent, welcomes decision, which she thinks will help stop officials abusing the system.
“Uzbek entrepreneurs are always being bothered with inspections of various kinds,” she said. “They [officials] extort money using minor violations as a pretext.”
In her view, officials should leave small and medium businesses alone, instead of imposing inspections that impede their growth.
The owner of a small shop in Tashkent, Abror can reel a list of state organisations that ran checks on the business last year – apart from taxmen, he was frequently visited by the fire service, health and safety officials, and even members of the mahalla committee, who asked him pay what they said was a contribution to local government.
“I’m tired of all of this and I want to shut the business down,” said Abror.
Komron Aliev, an independent economist in Tashkent, believes the authorities were forced into easing the burden placed on businesses as the economy goes through a difficult period, with gloomy prospects and no outcome in sight.
Global crisis is just beginning to bite in the already shaky Uzbek economy, with the government taking less in revenues, commodity-based exports falling, and migrant workers in Russia and Kazakstan sending less money home.
Aliev says the authorities need to do more to help small and medium-sized businesses, as this sector could generate much-needed jobs and halt the decline in average incomes.
“Businesses need to develop rapidly right now,” he said. “To do that they need to spend less time dealing with inspectors and then picking up the pieces afterwards, which takes months.”
(NBCentralAsia is an IWPR-funded project to create a multilingual news analysis and comment service for Central Asia, drawing on the expertise of a broad range of political observers across the region. The project ran from August 2006 to September 2007, covering all five regional states. With new funding, the service has resumed, covering Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan.)
On April 9, the CA-News agency reported that the Uzbek tax service was to reduce the number of tax inspections that small businesses have to undergo. The new rules, which will remain in place until next year, mean that unscheduled inspections can only be carried out if a permit is issued in advance. This document has to be signed by the head of the national body which coordinates the various inspection agencies. More cursory inspections require the approval of regional governors.
What that means is that a range of officials who previously used to be able to order inspections of private firms at will – tax service managers, deputy provincial tax chiefs, and district government heads – are now barred from doing so.
Business people in Uzbekistan have long been unhappy about the succession of tax inspections to which they are subjected, by a whole range of state organisations all the way down to mahalla (neighbourhood) committees.
Svetlana, a businesswoman in the capital Tashkent, welcomes decision, which she thinks will help stop officials abusing the system.
“Uzbek entrepreneurs are always being bothered with inspections of various kinds,” she said. “They [officials] extort money using minor violations as a pretext.”
In her view, officials should leave small and medium businesses alone, instead of imposing inspections that impede their growth.
The owner of a small shop in Tashkent, Abror can reel a list of state organisations that ran checks on the business last year – apart from taxmen, he was frequently visited by the fire service, health and safety officials, and even members of the mahalla committee, who asked him pay what they said was a contribution to local government.
“I’m tired of all of this and I want to shut the business down,” said Abror.
Komron Aliev, an independent economist in Tashkent, believes the authorities were forced into easing the burden placed on businesses as the economy goes through a difficult period, with gloomy prospects and no outcome in sight.
Global crisis is just beginning to bite in the already shaky Uzbek economy, with the government taking less in revenues, commodity-based exports falling, and migrant workers in Russia and Kazakstan sending less money home.
Aliev says the authorities need to do more to help small and medium-sized businesses, as this sector could generate much-needed jobs and halt the decline in average incomes.
“Businesses need to develop rapidly right now,” he said. “To do that they need to spend less time dealing with inspectors and then picking up the pieces afterwards, which takes months.”
(NBCentralAsia is an IWPR-funded project to create a multilingual news analysis and comment service for Central Asia, drawing on the expertise of a broad range of political observers across the region. The project ran from August 2006 to September 2007, covering all five regional states. With new funding, the service has resumed, covering Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan.)
