By 2030, the volume of Uzbekistan's shadow economy is set to be halved. This was announced on December 18 by the first deputy chairman of the Tax Committee, Mubin Mirzaev, during the second plenary session of the Senate.
In his speech, he mentioned that the Tax Committee, the Ministry of Economy and Finance, and the Chamber of Commerce and Industry have collaboratively developed a presidential decree aimed at reducing the shadow economy, which has been submitted for consideration to the Cabinet of Ministers.
In 2025, the agency plans to attract an additional 20 trillion soums. The identification of cases of fictitious entrepreneurship will replenish the budget by 3.5 trillion soums.
As a second focus, Mirzaev highlighted the prevention of tax evasion through price manipulation of goods and services, which is expected to generate 1.5 trillion soums. Additionally, measures associated with monitoring the production and sale of alcoholic and tobacco products will yield 1 trillion soums.
Moreover, examining customs benefits within the "korhonabay" system, as well as analyzing customs declarations for undervalued prices to evade duties, VAT, and recycling fees, will contribute an estimated 4.3 trillion soums.
“In the next five years, we aim to reduce the share of the shadow economy by half. To achieve this, the Tax Committee, Customs Committee, Ministry of Economy and Finance, Central Bank, and the General Prosecutor's Office will work together in an accelerated manner,” concluded Mubin Mirzaev.
In September 2023, experts estimated the volume of the shadow economy at $32 billion (around 40% of GDP). The main components include the secondary housing and auto markets, agriculture, informal trade, and the service sector.
In July, the General Prosecutor's Office launched a Telegram bot to combat the shadow economy. This platform accepts both complaints about violations and suggestions for solving issues.
According to the Statistics Agency, the volume of the "hidden" economy in 2023 approached 100 trillion soums, with 80% attributed to the service sector.
In mid-October, the Deputy Attorney General and head of the Department for Combating Economic Crimes, Shamsiddin Sokhibnazarov, reported that nearly 10 trillion soums have been brought out of the "shadow" since the beginning of the year.
Earlier, Spot reported that subsidies for electricity and gas would cease starting in 2028.