Tax Committee suspends over UZS 100 billion in social cashback amid fraud investigation

The special refund mechanism was originally designed to provide targeted welfare support to vulnerable low-income citizens registered in the Unified Registry of Social Protection. Under this framework, instead of the standard 1% cashback, registered individuals receive a full value-added tax (VAT) refund on purchases across nine specific categories of essential goods and services. These items include beef, poultry, mutton, eggs, vegetable oil, flour, sugar, medicines, and medical services.

 However, tax authorities noted that several citizens and entrepreneurs began exploiting the system for personal gain, misinterpreting its underlying purpose. A prior investigation already exposed the theft of UZS 35.1 billion via the Soliq mobile application under the guise of legitimate cashback claims.

 Nationwide review of suspicious transactions

 The Tax Committee, in collaboration with the Department for Combating Economic Crimes under the General Prosecutor's Office, is currently reviewing the operations of 649 businesses. In 2025–2026, these enterprises sold the designated categories of goods and services to citizens from the welfare registry while engaging in questionable transactions.

 Data from the automated online cash register system shows that transactions totaling UZS 36.8 trillion were processed, resulting in UZS 347.9 billion in cashback distributed to 771,100 citizens.

 A closer look at these operations revealed widespread anomalies. Consequently, inspectors have placed 204,100 individuals on a registry of suspicious buyers for attempting to claim VAT refunds using fabricated or third-party receipts. Due to these findings, the distribution of UZS 102.5 billion in social cashback for April 2026 has been frozen pending further review.

 The Tax Committee has urged all citizens to register only the receipts generated from their personal purchases and services within the Soliq application, explicitly warning against the collection and utilization of receipts belonging to third parties.