Uzbekistan has been advised to phase out its universal tax cashback program for consumer receipts in favor of more targeted incentives, according to a report by the Institute for the Reduction of the Shadow Economy and Fiscal Analysis under the Ministry of Economy and Finance.
The document notes that the tax cashback was originally introduced as a temporary measure to foster a tax compliance culture. Its purpose was to encourage consumers to demand fiscal receipts, thereby increasing transparency in the retail sector. By returning 1% of the purchase price to consumers, the state effectively mobilized citizens to participate in public tax oversight.
The authors argue that this objective has largely been achieved. Requesting a receipt has now become a habit for consumers, while tax authorities have adopted robust digital oversight tools in recent years. These include online cash registers, electronic invoicing, digital product tracking, goods and services identification, big data analytics, and cross-system data exchange.
Meanwhile, the budgetary cost of funding the cashback program continues to climb. According to the provided data, 820 billion soums were spent on the program in 2022, 1.24 trillion soums in 2023, 1.05 trillion soums in 2024, and 1.51 trillion soums in 2025. Projections for 2026, calculated based on payouts from January to May, suggest total spending could reach 1.81 trillion soums.
For comparison, the document indicates that 900 billion soums have been budgeted for the construction of preschool facilities in 2026—roughly half of the projected expenditure for the tax cashback program.
The analytical report points out that the surge in budget expenditures is no longer yielding a proportional increase in tax revenues. As an example, the report cites turnover tax revenues, which grew from 1.65 trillion soums in 2021 to 3.07 trillion soums in 2025; however, the growth rate has slowed down following the initial phase of deploying digital tracking tools.
Another argument raised against the universal cashback program is that a significant portion of the payouts goes toward purchases made at major retail chains, which already operate entirely within the legal economy. Consequently, the state budget is essentially subsidizing transactions that would have occurred regardless of the cashback incentive.
In May 2026, the total amount of distributed tax cashbacks reached 146.6 billion soums. Out of this total, 15.7 billion soums—or 10.7%—were generated by just 10 major retail brands.
As an alternative, the institute proposes shifting from the principle of "rewarding every receipt" to "incentivizing oversight in the highest-risk sectors of the economy." One proposed option is a state-run consumer lottery for individuals who register receipts from high-tax-risk industries, including food services and small retail shops.
According to estimates, allocating up to 100 billion soums annually to these lotteries—featuring major cash rewards, cars, travel packages, and other high-value prizes worth over 5 million soums—could slash budget expenditures by nearly 20-fold.
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