Imam-khatib of the Tashkent’s Imam Termezi mosque, Isoqjon Begmatov was sacked, the press service of the Muslim Board of Uzbekistan (MBU) said.
Members of the internal commission of the MBU at a meeting on August 25 harshly criticized the emotional statements of the imam as well as the fact that he raised sensitive issues, which caused controversy and differences.
It should be noted that in one of his last speeches, Isokjon Begmatov criticized the fiscal policies. He said, in particular, that the more the buyer demands receipts, the more retailers pays taxes due to the registry of goods in the tax system, because of which “they make losses.”
“If you do not demand receipt, then [sellers] do not register through the cash register, the volume of goods sold is shown lower, and thus they will pay less taxes ... It is not the buyer who demands receipts that oppresses the seller. Those who adopted the law are those are oppressing the businesses... Those who came up with this are oppressing the people, sellers, businesses. Taxes are too high, businesses are closing down,” said Isokjon Begmatov.
The MBU said that the imam-khatib admitted serious mistakes in his speeches and expressed regret.
Tax burden on business in Uzbekistan is one of the highest among the former Soviet countries, which makes businesses to go to the shadow, with the Uzbek shadow economy estimated at around 60% to the formal economy.
