From January 1, 2027, Uzbekistan proposes to introduce reduced working hours while maintaining average wages for women over 55 and men over 60. This measure is stipulated in a draft presidential decree aimed at reforming the pension system. According to the document, working hours for this category of employees will be reduced, but wages will be preserved in full.
The draft also includes changes for self-employed individuals and the abolition of social tax benefits. In particular, from 2027, it is planned to introduce a system of social tax payment for self-employed persons on a fixed basis. They will be allowed to pay the tax in installments throughout the year. Ten percent of the social tax paid by self-employed individuals will be directed to the State Social Insurance Fund. From these funds, they may be paid maternity and childbirth benefits, as well as temporary disability benefits.
As of July this year, 2.8 million self-employed individuals were registered in the country, of which about 800,000, or 30 percent, voluntarily paid pension contributions. Today, a self-employed person can pay one base calculation amount — 440,000 soums — to gain one year of work experience for pension assignment. Now these payments will become mandatory.
The draft also proposes not to provide new social tax benefits to enterprises and organizations. Existing benefits are planned to be abolished from January 1, 2030. Currently, the standard rate for employers is 12 percent, but reduced rates or tax exemption benefits apply to certain enterprises. According to the Ministry of Economy and Finance, by the end of 2025, more than 65,000 enterprises used social tax benefits worth 3.2 trillion soums. Some were fully exempt from tax, while others paid it at a rate of 1 percent.
The Ministry of Economy and Finance must prepare amendments to the laws on state and funded pension provision, as well as to the Tax Code, by December 1, 2026. It is also planned to create a mobile application "Pension". Through it, citizens will be able to use public pension services online, check their work experience and income, calculate their future pension amount, and manage pension savings. The application is planned to be launched in April 2027.
Recall that this draft proposes to increase the retirement age by 3 months annually starting from 2028. By 2039, it will reach 63 years for men and 58 years for women. It is also planned to increase the minimum work experience for pension assignment to 15 years in 2034. From 2027, the wage period taken into account when assigning pensions in Uzbekistan will be gradually increased to 20 years. At the same time, 10 percent of the lowest-income period will be excluded from the calculation. Along with this, the state will begin allocating additional funds to voluntary pension savings.
Source: www.gazeta.uz