Banned but paying taxes – TikTok listed among Uzbekistan’s major e-service taxpayers

From January to September 2025, 73 foreign companies paid a total of UZS 124.8 billion in taxes, up 44% compared to the same period last year.

During the reporting period, the social media platform TikTok paid UZS 2.645 billion in taxes, making it one of the ten largest taxpayers in the sector. Although the platform has been officially blocked in Uzbekistan since the summer of 2021, it was registered as a taxpayer in 2023.

According to the State Tax Committee’s explanation to Kun.uz, under Article 281 of the Tax Code, foreign companies providing electronic services in Uzbekistan must register as taxpayers electronically. A special online system has been created for this purpose. “These companies register voluntarily and pay the prescribed amount of taxes,” the committee said in its comment.

For reference, in the summer of 2021, Uzbekistan restricted access to TikTok, Twitter, Skype, WeChat, and VKontakte. The move was based on Article 27-1 of the Law “On personal data,” which requires that personal data of Uzbek citizens be stored on servers physically located in Uzbekistan. To date, no global social media platform is known to have complied with this requirement.

On 3 November 2021, Telegram, YouTube, Instagram, Facebook, and Odnoklassniki were also blocked, sparking widespread public backlash. The restrictions were lifted later that same day, and several officials were dismissed in the aftermath.

Currently, TikTok remains the only platform listed in the register of entities that violate the rights of personal data subjects.