Business trips in Uzbekistan: paperwork, expenses and taxes

A business trip is a time-limited journey ordered by the employer to another locality for a work assignment. The employer preserves the employee’s labour guarantees and reimburses travel, accommodation, per diem and approved expenses. The process and tax treatment depend on the documents, payment amounts and whether the employer belongs to the state sector. Business-trip definition (Article 287 LC)

In brief:

• before departure, define the assignment, place, period, work regime and budget, then issue the order and provide an advance;
• Regulation No. 424 is binding on budget-funded and state-controlled entities but recommendatory for other employers;
• documented reimbursements and per diem within the statutory limits are not employee income, while excess per diem is taxed as employment income;
• after the employee returns, collect the advance report, ticket, accommodation invoice and evidence of additional costs;
• an employer should put one business-trip procedure in a local policy and check each calculation before payment.

Updated: 05 September 2026

Trip approval, documents and working time

What counts as a business trip

There are three essential elements: an employer’s direction, travel from the permanent workplace to another locality and a specific work assignment for a defined period. The permanent workplace normally follows from the employment contract. If the unit or branch where the employee permanently works is elsewhere, that unit is the point from which the trip is assessed.

Journeys made by employees whose permanent work is mobile or travelling in nature are not business trips. Their contract should provide the conditions and compensation applicable to mobile work; the business-trip rules do not apply automatically. This distinction follows directly from the specific statutory rule (Article 287 LC).

A remote employee may also be sent on a business trip. A journey ordered by the employer to the employer’s location is a business trip where the remote employee cannot return to their residence every day. Remote-worker rule (Article 459 LC)

An ordinary business trip should not be confused with a temporary secondment to another employer. A secondment changes the employer that organizes the work, requires a separate fixed-term contract and needs the employee’s written consent. A short work journey does not have those effects.

How to document a business trip

First identify the applicable regime. Regulation No. 424 is binding on budget-funded organizations, state target funds, other funds financed by the budget, and legal entities in which the state holds at least 50%. It is recommendatory for other organizations and businesses. Scope of Regulation 424

The Labour Code remains binding on every employer. Reimbursement amounts are established in a collective agreement or in a local act agreed with the trade union committee. They may not be below the government amounts set for budget-funded organizations. Minimum guarantee (Article 287 LC)

For the state and budget-funded sector, the standard file includes a work plan, an order, decision or instruction, and a business-trip certificate. Required document set A private company should use the same evidentiary trail even where the prescribed forms are only recommendatory, because it records the business purpose and travel dates.

If the dates, route or assignment change, do not rely only on messages. An extension, recall or early completion should be documented by a new order, decision or instruction. Change of period

Employees who require consent

A pregnant employee and one parent or person replacing a parent of a child under 14, or a child with a disability under 16, may be sent only with written consent. The employer must first inform the employee of the right to refuse. Written-consent rule (Article 396 LC)

An employee with a disability may travel only with consent and where the journey is not prohibited by the recommendations of the medical and social expert commission. Disability condition (Article 428 LC) Obtain consent for the specific trip and check the recommendations before buying non-refundable tickets.

Employees under 18 generally may not be sent on business trips. A limited exception applies to listed creative, media, cinema, theatre and sports professionals and other occupations approved by the Government. Rule for minors (Article 417 LC)

For an adult outside these categories, consent is not a universal statutory condition for every trip. The employer must nevertheless check the employee’s function, permanent workplace, health restrictions, protected status and local policy. The assignment must not turn into a permanent transfer or work outside the contract.

Period and working time

For employers bound by Regulation No. 424, the ordinary duration of a domestic trip, excluding travel time, normally does not exceed 30 calendar days. Longer special periods exist for particular works and cannot be applied automatically to every trip. General duration limit

The working regime depends on the assignment: either the host employer’s regime applies, or the sending employer approves a regime in the assignment. Working-time regime (Article 196 LC) The order should therefore state whether the host schedule applies and whether any work on a rest day is required.

Simply being in another city on a rest day is not work. If the employee actually works on a rest day or public holiday, payment is at least double. At the employee’s request, the employer may instead give another rest day and pay at least the ordinary rate; the additional rest day is unpaid. Rest-day compensation (Article 263 LC)

Business-trip time is recorded separately within worked time in the time sheet. Separate time recording (Article 200 LC) Departure and return days, work in transit and actual work on a rest day should be supported by the order, tickets, assignment and approved schedule.

Reimbursement and trip calculations

Expenses the employer reimburses

The mandatory core consists of transport to and from the destination, accommodation, additional living-away costs in the form of per diem, and other costs incurred with the employer’s permission or knowledge. Reimbursement duty (Article 287 LC)

Within Regulation No. 424, travel costs include documented fares, booking, compulsory passenger insurance, permitted baggage and the prescribed transfer between a station or airport and the locality. Travel-cost components A city taxi is not automatically reimbursable: check the reason, travel time, availability of public transport and prior authorization.

Missing evidence does not always eliminate the payment, but it changes the amount and tax risk. Under Regulation No. 424, undocumented travel is reimbursed at 440 of BRV per kilometre. No-ticket calculation A private employer states its rule in the collective agreement, local act or employment contract without going below the applicable guarantee.

For an ordinary employee in the state or budget-funded sector, documented accommodation is reimbursed within 660.000 of BRV per night. Accommodation ceiling Without evidence, the payment is 88.000 of BRV for each night. Undocumented accommodation A private employer should separately state the documented ceiling, approval of excess costs and the no-document rate.

If the distance, transport and assignment allow the employee to return to the permanent residence every day, no per diem is paid. The manager decides based on the circumstances. Daily-return rule

Calculating a domestic trip

Do not combine all payments into one amount. Calculate travel, accommodation, per diem, pay and approved additional costs separately. For the scope of Regulation No. 424, the daily allowance is up to 154.000 of BRV, including up to 110.000 for documented meals and 44.000 for other costs. Per-diem structure

A business trip is a period for which the employer makes guarantee payments. Guarantee payment (Article 280 LC) Regulation No. 424 specifies that the employee keeps the workplace, position and pay conditions; a piece-rate employee keeps average pay. Do not apply average pay to every employee without checking the remuneration system and local rules.

Where legislation or a local act requires average pay, the calculation period is the 12 calendar months before the month of accrual. Average daily pay follows the statutory method using 25.3 working days. Average-pay calculation (Article 257 LC)

Example calculation

An employee of a budget-funded organization travels for four calendar days. Tickets cost 600,000 soums, documented accommodation costs 500,000 soums per night for three nights, and there are no additional expenses. Assume every amount is within the applicable limits.

Pay for working days is added separately. If one day was a rest day and the employee actually performed the assignment, payroll also applies the increased payment rule or the documented alternative rest day.

Foreign business trips

For foreign travel, first determine the employer’s status. The general regulation registered under No. 2730 governs foreign-currency allowances, per diem, accommodation, travel and reporting for organizations outside the new special state regime. General foreign-trip rules

The order should identify the country and cities, border-crossing dates, purpose, host, sources of payment, advance currency and costs borne by the host. Check visa fees, medical insurance, baggage, registration payments and currency conversion. Host-provided meals or accommodation affect the employee’s payment and must be documented.

Under the general foreign regime, the advance report is filed with accounting no later than three working days after return and in the advance currency. Foreign-report deadline Evidence made under the rules of the country where a cost arose may support tax accounting if it identifies the transaction, amount and business link.

The state sector has had a separate regime since 2026, described below. A private company cannot use its higher country limits merely because it travels to the same country.

Advance settlement, taxes and protection

Closing the advance and taxes

For domestic travel under Regulation No. 424, the advance for fares, per diem and accommodation is issued before departure. Advance before departure Within three working days after returning, the employee submits the advance report, business-trip certificate and expense evidence. Domestic-report deadline

The employer may deduct a timely unreturned balance without separate written consent. The deduction order must be issued within one month after the repayment deadline. If the employer misses that period or the employee disputes the basis or amount, the debt must be recovered through court. Advance recovery (Article 269 LC) Total deductions from each payment generally cannot exceed 50% of accrued salary. Deduction limit (Article 270 LC)

The tax treatment can be checked in four blocks:

The employee exclusion appears in the compensation list (Article 369 TC). Excess per diem is employment income under the excess-payment rule (Article 373 TC). Because social tax applies to employment remuneration costs, the excess is also in that base; this is an inference from the combined provisions. Social-tax object (Article 403 TC)

For profit tax, the trip order, travel documents and service report are expressly recognized as evidence, but they must show an economic link to income-producing activity. Deductible-cost test (Article 305 TC) The turnover-tax base is aggregate income subject to listed adjustments, so ordinary business-trip costs do not reduce it. Turnover-tax base (Article 464 TC)

Liability and employee protection

The employer is responsible for timely authorization and payments, the employee for reporting and returning the balance, and accounting for checking the documents and tax classification. A local policy should separate approval, payment and review so one person does not control the entire cycle.

If the employer delays an amount due to the employee, monetary compensation accrues for every day from the day after the payment deadline until actual settlement. It applies regardless of the employer’s fault. Late-payment compensation (Article 333 LC)

During a business trip, the employer generally may not terminate the employment contract on its own initiative. The exceptions mainly concern liquidation of an organization or cessation of an individual entrepreneur’s activity in the cases provided by the Code. Dismissal protection (Article 163 LC)

See also. The preservation of pay and average-pay calculation are explained in salary rules, while day recording is covered in working-time rules. For a dispute about ending the contract during travel, consult dismissal rules.

Changes and payment checks

What changed in 2025–2026

From 12 June 2026, Cabinet Resolution No. 303 of 11 June 2026 establishes a separate foreign-trip regime for state bodies, state organizations and business associations with a state share of at least 50%. It introduced distinct documentation, a country table, advance funding and reporting rules. New state regime

Under this regime, the advance report is due no later than three working days after return. Where the advance was in foreign currency, recovery of an overdue balance uses the Central Bank rate on the advance date. State-report rule The unused balance is returned within two banking days after the report. Balance-return deadline

The practical consequence is to check the employer’s current status and the applicable country table before each foreign trip. A private company continues under its general regime, while a state entity uses the new special procedure; mixing the rules risks overpayment, underpayment and incorrect taxation.

Employer checklist before payment

Before departure, verify the business purpose, employer status, employee’s function, restrictions and consents, dates, route, working regime, budget, currency and host. Issue the order, approve the assignment, provide the advance and give the employee a clear evidence list.

After return, compare the report with the order and actual route. Check the ticket and boarding pass, accommodation, per-diem days, rest-day work, personal route deviations, exchange rate, host-paid expenses and returned balance. Then separate tax-exempt reimbursement, pay and any excess over a statutory limit.

Keep the order, assignment, consents, advance report, payment evidence and accounting calculation in one file. If a cost is not documented or was not approved in advance, record the employer’s decision in writing before final settlement instead of relabelling the payment retrospectively.

Frequently asked questions

Can an employee refuse a business trip?

There is no universal right to refuse every lawful work instruction. Written consent is required for a pregnant employee, one parent of a child under 14 or a child with a disability under 16, and an employee with a disability. Minors generally cannot be sent. The assignment must also match the employee’s function and respect medical restrictions.

Must a private company issue a trip certificate?

The prescribed form under Regulation No. 424 is directly binding on the stated state and budget-funded entities and recommendatory for other employers. A private company should still issue a certificate or equivalent record. Together with the order, assignment, tickets and report, it proves dates, route and business purpose.

Is per diem paid for a one-day trip?

If the transport and assignment allow the employee to return to the permanent residence every day, Regulation No. 424 provides no per diem. The manager decides after considering distance, transport, the assignment and rest. Fares and other approved costs may still be reimbursable.

What if a ticket or hotel invoice is lost?

First request a duplicate or electronic confirmation from the carrier or hotel. If the document cannot be restored, apply the special no-document rates and the employer’s local policy. Do not create a fictitious receipt: missing evidence affects the reimbursement and tax classification and should be recorded accurately.

Can an employee be dismissed during a trip?

Generally not on the employer’s initiative. Protection covers the trip period, with narrow exceptions related to liquidation of an organization or cessation of an individual entrepreneur’s activity. Termination on another basis, such as mutual agreement or employee initiative, requires a separate check of genuine consent and procedure.