An open meeting with entrepreneurs in the food service and gastronomy sector was held in Tashkent on April 21. Business representatives noted that rising prices are increasing turnover, pushing many small enterprises toward the VAT registration threshold.

Currently, businesses with turnover exceeding 1 billion soums are required to pay VAT at a rate of 12%. While a theoretical mechanism for tax offset and refund exists, it is not functioning effectively in practice.

Davron Vakhabov, head of the Chamber of Commerce and Industry (CCI), stated that raising the threshold is inadvisable as it could complicate the situation. He recalled that the business community had previously proposed an alternative: a 6% turnover tax instead of VAT. However, the government suggested improving the VAT refund mechanism.

“At expanded meetings chaired by the president, the issue of simplified VAT refund was raised. But in practice, this mechanism is not yet fully operational. Therefore, we will submit a new proposal: either radically simplify VAT refunds or reduce the rate, for example to 6%,” Vakhabov said.

He added that raising the VAT threshold is currently inexpedient because the VAT chain covers many sectors, including food service.

Source: kun.uz