The ministry said the proposal is aimed at creating equal conditions for businesses and fairer competition. Although the standard social tax rate is 12%, thousands of companies currently pay rates as low as 1% or are fully exempt.
The ministry said the preferential rates raise questions about equal contributions to pension insurance and the targeted use of tax benefits. It has therefore proposed requiring all businesses to pay social tax at the same rate.
In 2025, around 65,000 companies received social tax benefits worth nearly UZS 3.2 trillion, according to the ministry.
The ministry said that while the exemptions reduce employers’ costs, they do not eliminate the pension obligations associated with their employees.
“Therefore, it is proposed to stop granting new social tax exemptions and fully abolish existing exemptions from 2030,” the ministry said.
Under the proposed approach, business support would be provided through state budget subsidies rather than exemptions from social tax.
The ministry said this would ensure that employees earning the same salary – for example, UZS 6 million a month – have equal conditions for social tax contributions and the financing of their future pension rights regardless of which company they work for.
Impact on the Pension Fund
Social tax revenues are transferred to Uzbekistan’s Pension Fund. The ministry said the fund’s current revenues are insufficient to cover pension payments, requiring additional allocations from the state budget.
The proposed abolition of social tax exemptions is expected to increase revenue flowing into the Pension Fund and reduce the burden on the state budget.
