Uzbekistan's National Agency for Prospective Projects (NAPP) has proposed extending tax incentives for investors on income from stocks and bonds until 2038. This was announced at a press conference on August 12 by Saulat Toreshov, head of a department at NAPP, as reported by Kursiv Uzbekistan.
According to him, the tax incentives are planned to apply both to traditional instruments—stocks and bonds—and to new securities for the market, including sukuk and securitized bonds. The NAPP representative noted that current tax incentives are valid until 2028, and the agency proposes to extend them for another 10 years.
Specifically, until 2038, it is proposed to exempt individuals and legal entities—both residents and non-residents of Uzbekistan—from personal income tax and corporate income tax on interest income and positive exchange rate differences on bonds of business entities (including those denominated in foreign currency). Similar incentives should apply to income from sukuk.
It is also proposed to extend until the end of 2038 the current exemptions for individuals, residents and non-residents, from personal income tax on dividends from stocks. Currently, this exemption is valid until December 31, 2028. For non-resident legal entities, it is planned to maintain for the same period the preferential corporate income tax rate of 5% on dividends from stocks (i.e., at the level applicable to local companies).
NAPP considers long-term tax incentives as one of the tools to attract institutional and private investors to the stock market. “Referring to world experience, international practice shows that tax incentives are recognized as one of the most effective tools for developing the capital market, and it is precisely thanks to this approach that many countries have managed to significantly develop their stock markets in a short time,” said Saulat Toreshov.
According to him, fixing incentives until 2038 should increase the attractiveness of capital market instruments and provide greater stability in making investment decisions. According to NAPP's presentation, the proposed set of measures should contribute to the growth of investment volume in Uzbekistan's stock market. In 2026, this indicator is projected at 10 trillion soums, and by 2030 it is planned to reach 20 trillion soums.
The project also provides for a number of other tax incentives for capital market participants. In particular, it is proposed to exempt investment funds from dividend tax, and operations between the issuing bank and a special purpose vehicle (SPV) related to covered assets from taxation. For non-residents' operations through omnibus accounts, if the actual owner of securities does not change, tax obligations should not arise.
Additionally, it is proposed to fully exempt sukuk originators and SPVs from turnover tax when transferring property, goods, and services within such transactions for issuing Islamic securities. NAPP hopes that the set of tax incentives and new financial instruments will expand the investor base and increase the volume of long-term financing through the capital market.
Source: www.gazeta.uz