Small business remains a vital sector of the economy, generating employment, income, and a competitive business environment. In recent years, consistent measures have been implemented to support entrepreneurship, reduce the tax burden, and simplify access to public services.

At the same time, some existing procedures hinder the natural expansion of businesses. In particular, if the turnover of a small business entity does not exceed 1 billion soums, a simplified tax regime applies; once this threshold is exceeded, the business switches to paying value-added tax and profit tax.

This threshold was established in 2019, and prices have risen significantly since then. As a result, some entrepreneurs approaching the 1 billion soum threshold have begun understating turnover, failing to issue receipts, or splitting businesses into multiple entities.

At the presentation, a proposal was put forward to raise the threshold for small businesses transitioning to the general tax regime from 1 billion to 5 billion soums starting from June 1, 2026.

An initiative was also put forward to introduce a simplified procedure for paying value-added tax in the food service, retail, and services sectors. Under the new procedure, entrepreneurs will be able, at their discretion, either to pay VAT at a rate of 6 percent while remaining exempt from profit tax, or continue operating under the current general tax regime.

This will simplify tax calculation and payment procedures for small businesses, reduce the administrative burden, and diminish incentives for concealing turnover and artificially splitting businesses.

Issues related to VAT administration were also reviewed. For taxpayers that have switched to paying VAT, reporting requirements double. In 2023, 77 percent of errors in taxpayer reporting were made by VAT payers.

In this regard, proposals were put forward to automatically refund negative VAT balances for low-risk entrepreneurs, abolish the practice of temporarily suspending VAT payer certificates, revise the mandatory transition to VAT payment upon import, and automate the process of opening bank accounts.

To reduce the administrative burden on small businesses, proposals were put forward to allow entrepreneurs to independently correct their own mistakes. It was also proposed that tax audits not be conducted for tax risks of up to 500 million soums, while field tax audits would not apply to risks below 100 million soums.

A number of easing measures are also envisaged for the food service and hospitality sectors. In particular, proposals were made to permit the cash sale of alcoholic beverages and tobacco products, abolish the requirement regarding the share of non-cash revenue for partial VAT refunds, and simplify employee registration procedures for certain categories of workers.

These measures are expected to expand opportunities for legal business growth for more than 600,000 small enterprises. Increased transparency of the tax base is projected to generate at least 2 trillion soums in additional annual budget revenues.

The Head of State approved the proposed measures and instructed the responsible officials to create favorable and fair conditions for small businesses, encourage enterprises to scale up their operations, and strengthen entrepreneurial confidence through the simplification and digitalization of tax administration.