Uzbekistan to tighten control over informal salaries

Shavkat Mirziyoyev announced plans to enhance oversight of concealed activities and the practice of paying salaries "in envelopes" during a video conference focused on key initiatives for developing the service sector.

The meeting emphasized that two years ago, a 1% social tax rate was introduced for trade and service enterprises. During this time, the number of such enterprises has grown by 1.5 times, and the number of employees has increased by 220,000.

Many companies have moved out of the "shadows" and started paying salaries officially, which led to a 3.2-fold increase in the payroll fund and an additional 2.1 trillion UZS in tax revenue.

As a result, numerous entrepreneurs have requested an extension of the tax incentive for another three years. This proposal has been approved, and now the incentive will apply to service enterprises employing workers under 30 with a salary of at least 3 million UZS.

Companies in construction, trade, and catering sectors will also be allowed to sign short-term and simplified labor contracts (based on piece rates or hourly wages).