Tax debt collection

Tax debt in Uzbekistan is normally collected in stages: the tax authority records the debt and sends a demand, then pursues money and, if that is insufficient, other property. Much of the process for legal entities and individual entrepreneurs proceeds without a separate claim; recovery against an ordinary individual’s property requires an application to court.

In brief:

• Reconcile the principal tax, late-payment interest and fine first: they are separate components paid in a statutory order.
• Check when the demand was received because later collection stages depend on that date.
• For a legal entity or individual entrepreneur, money is normally collected from accounts before other property is pursued.
• An appeal against an assessment may suspend its collection, but a request for deferral alone does not stop late-payment interest.
• After payment, verify allocation of the money, withdrawal of collection orders, release of accounts and closure of the BPI proceeding.

Updated: 05 September 2026

What tax debt includes and how to check it

Tax debt includes assessed taxes not paid by the due date, including advance and current payments, as well as overdue financial sanctions and late-payment interest. Payments are allocated in sequence: tax first, then late-payment interest and then the fine. This follows the tax debt composition rule (art. 55 Tax Code).

In practice, start with the ledger for each tax rather than the aggregate balance: identify the period, due date, assessment, payment, late-payment interest, fine and remainder. Legal entities and individual entrepreneurs receive official tax documents through the personal account and receive a message about a new document. This is set out in the electronic communication rule (art. 56 Tax Code).

If the amount is unclear, request a reconciliation statement and a copy of the assessment basis. Failure to perform an obligation by the deadline permits a demand, security measures and compulsory collection under the tax obligation rule (art. 86 Tax Code).

The official electronic services and reconciliation routes are described in the “Tax services” article. Keep the personal-account extract, demand and proof of payment because they are needed for an appeal and removal of collection measures.

When a payment demand is sent

A taxpayer must submit its payment order to the bank by the tax due date regardless of the account balance. When a debt arises, the tax authority sends a demand no later than three days after that date under the voluntary payment procedure (art. 115 Tax Code).

The demand must show the tax amount, late-payment interest calculated when it is sent, fines and the consequences of non-compliance, including possible collection and security measures. Reconcile every component against the required demand contents (art. 116 Tax Code).

The sending deadline depends on the source of the debt: no later than three working days after discovery or after a tax-audit decision takes effect, as stated in the demand deadline (art. 117 Tax Code). If the assessment changes, the authority must issue an amended demand or withdraw the old one within three days; a partial payment alone does not require a new demand under the amended demand rule (art. 118 Tax Code).

An electronic document is treated as received when read, but no later than three days after dispatch; a registered letter is treated as received after five days. Leaving a notification unread therefore does not prevent time from running under the service rules (art. 19 Tax Code).

The order for collecting tax debt

For a legal entity or individual entrepreneur, the rule is “money first, then property.” An ordinary individual is subject to a separate court procedure. The distinction is established by the collection sequence (art. 120 Tax Code).

If a legal entity or individual entrepreneur has not paid within sixty calendar days after receiving the demand and monetary measures have failed, collection moves to property under the property-stage rule (art. 119 Tax Code). This does not prevent security measures before that deadline: account suspension and property seizure have their own statutory grounds.

If the taxpayer transfers revenue or property to third parties after learning of a tax audit, the authority may seek recovery from them in court, limited to the value they received. This special route appears in the compulsory collection rule (art. 120 Tax Code).

Collection from bank accounts and receivables

If the taxpayer has not issued its own payment order, the authority sends an electronic collection order to accounts of the legal entity or individual entrepreneur, including corporate cards, no later than three working days after the due date. Demand deposits in soums are used first, then foreign-currency accounts; a fixed-term deposit is protected until maturity under the account collection rule (art. 121 Tax Code).

The bank generally executes a payment or collection order by the next operational day without charging a service fee. If funds are insufficient, it informs both the taxpayer and the authority as required by the bank duties (art. 90 Tax Code).

When the balance cannot cover every instruction, bank priority rules apply. Budget payments, wages, maintenance, authors’ payments and compensation for injury to life or health share the first proportional priority, followed by other enforcement and remaining payments under the debiting priority (art. 784 Civil Code).

Collection from a debtor can be based on a reconciliation statement. The authority notifies the debtor within three working days; the debtor has ten working days to sign or give a reasoned refusal, and silence is treated as recognition under the debtor procedure (art. 121¹ Tax Code).

This route is unavailable if the debtor gives a reasoned denial, the limitation period has expired, enforcement is already pending or completed, or the debtor is a foreign taxpayer, an individual, in liquidation or insolvent. The original taxpayer remains liable until the money actually reaches the budget under the debtor exclusions (art. 121¹ Tax Code).

When accounts are suspended and property is seized

The law distinguishes collection from security. Security measures comprise pledge, surety, bank guarantee, late-payment interest, suspension of account operations and property seizure under the security-measures list (art. 106 Tax Code). A suspension does not debit money; it restricts outgoing operations. A seizure preserves property for possible collection.

The head of a tax authority may suspend operations of a legal entity or individual entrepreneur for no more than ten days; a longer period requires a court. Grounds include overdue reporting, failure to provide explanations or documents, obstruction of an audit, or absence from the registered address under the suspension grounds (art. 111 Tax Code).

A bank implements the suspension upon receipt and keeps it in place until cancellation; it does not open new accounts during that period except those protected by law. These are the bank suspension duties (art. 113 Tax Code). When the authority asks a court to extend a suspension, the court checks both the statutory ground and the tax head’s initial decision for up to ten days under the Supreme Court guidance.

After an audit, where there is a risk of non-compliance, the authority may prohibit disposal of property first and then suspend accounts only for any shortfall in value. A guarantee, pledge or surety may replace those measures under the post-audit security rule (art. 161 Tax Code).

Tax seizure of a legal entity’s property applies after partial non-compliance with a demand for fifteen calendar days, where money is insufficient, and only to the value needed to cover the debt. A decision, report, inventory and video recording or witnesses are required; payment or replacement with a pledge leads to cancellation under the seizure procedure (art. 114 Tax Code).

How property reaches the BPI and is sold

A legal entity’s or individual entrepreneur’s property is pursued in order: cash; non-production assets; finished goods; production materials and fixed assets; property transferred to others; and then other property, excluding essential household items of the entrepreneur and family. A court is normally required, while the head of the tax authority may decide where the debt is admitted under the property order (art. 123 Tax Code).

The decision is sent to the Bureau of Compulsory Enforcement, or BPI, within three working days, and enforcement actions should be completed within two months under the enforcement referral rule (art. 123 Tax Code). The enforcement document includes details of collection orders and, for seized property, the decision and report under the BPI document package (art. 8³ Enforcement Act).

The BPI commences proceedings within one working day and allows no more than fifteen days for voluntary compliance. The order warns the debtor of the enforcement fee, costs and compulsory measures under the commencement procedure (art. 23 Enforcement Act).

Once the voluntary period ends, enforcement actions are generally taken within two months, but expiry of that period does not terminate the proceeding under the enforcement period (art. 30 Enforcement Act). Where there are several creditors, payments to the budget and state funds share first priority with employment, maintenance and certain other claims under the claims priority (art. 80 Enforcement Act).

Property is valued at market value, and the valuation report may be challenged in court no later than ten days after notice under the valuation rules (art. 54 Enforcement Act). Sale is generally undertaken within two months, and real estate and vehicles are sold by electronic online auction under the property sale procedure (art. 56 Enforcement Act).

How collection from an individual differs

The tax authority applies to court against an ordinary individual when the total debt exceeds one million soums. Collection proceeds against accounts, cash, transferred property and other property in sequence; late-payment interest stops between seizure of property and transfer of sale proceeds to the budget under the individual debt procedure (art. 125 Tax Code).

Enforcement documents for that tax debt are initially handled remotely: the debtor receives five days, after which an ineffective case moves to the general procedure under the simplified proceeding (art. 43¹ Enforcement Act). The simplified procedure permits collection from accounts and, for a debt no greater than 1.360.000, from salary and other income; property seizure and a travel restriction do not apply at this stage under the collection measures (art. 43² Enforcement Act).

In general enforcement, money and valuables are pursued first, but at least 680.000 must remain in an ordinary individual’s accounts, except for debt from activity as an entrepreneur and maintenance claims under the protected balance rule (art. 47 Enforcement Act). Statutory compensation for injury, maintenance, birth, maternity, burial, child care, business travel, relocation and severance payments is also protected under the protected payments list (art. 69 Enforcement Act).

As a rule, the sole home in which the debtor and family permanently reside and necessary household items cannot be taken. Exceptions include mortgaged property and a home that the enforcement document expressly identifies under the home protection rule (art. 52 Enforcement Act).

For a spouse’s personal debt, that spouse’s property is pursued first; if it is insufficient, the creditor may seek separation of the spouse’s share in common property under the spousal property rule (art. 34 Family Code). A travel restriction may follow a judicial enforcement document if the individual fails to comply without valid grounds; it must be removed no later than the day after compliance or termination under the travel restriction rule (art. 42¹ Enforcement Act).

Late-payment interest, enforcement fee and costs

Late-payment interest accrues daily from the day after the due date: unpaid tax is multiplied by one three-hundredth of the current Central Bank refinancing rate. It does not accrue while payment is prevented by the tax authority’s own account suspension or attachment of money, or in other expressly listed cases under the interest calculation rule (art. 110 Tax Code).

Accrued interest forms part of the tax debt, and a court cannot reduce it outside the cases specified by law under the Supreme Court position. Filing for a deferral or instalment arrangement does not by itself stop interest.

After the BPI voluntary period expires, an enforcement fee is charged: five per cent for a monetary recovery up to and including 440.000.000, and two per cent above that threshold under the enforcement fee rates. Documented expenses for transport, storage, sale, specialists, postage and searches may be collected separately under the enforcement expenses list (art. 75 Enforcement Act).

Example. Assume principal tax debt of one hundred million soums, a refinancing rate of fourteen per cent and a delay of thirty days. The calculated interest is one million four hundred thousand soums: multiply the debt by the rate, divide by three hundred and multiply by the days of delay. If compulsory enforcement begins after the voluntary period and the amount remains in the lower band, the illustrative enforcement fee is another five million soums. This is an illustration; actual dates, rate, balance and relief must be checked on the calculation date.

If the debt cannot be paid at once, review the tax deferral guide. Apply before a property sale makes restoration of the position difficult.

How to appeal, recover or write off debt

A decision following a tax audit or field audit normally takes effect one month after service; it may be complied with voluntarily before then under the effective-date rule (art. 160 Tax Code). A complaint against such a decision is filed through the issuing authority within one month, and the materials must be forwarded within three days under the appeal filing period (art. 232 Tax Code).

An appeal to the superior tax authority or court suspends execution of the challenged decision or action, including collection of additional assessments and financial sanctions, until the appeal decision or final judicial act under the collection suspension rule (art. 231 Tax Code). The Supreme Court additionally requires the court to verify mandatory suspension and, where necessary, impose it on its own initiative under the guidance for courts.

An audit complaint is considered within one month, extendable by no more than fifteen days; other complaints are considered within fifteen days with the same extension limit under the review periods (art. 235 Tax Code). Recovery and budget-refund disputes go to the economic or civil courts, while challenges to a tax authority’s decision or action go to the administrative courts under the jurisdiction distinction.

If an audit decision is cancelled, the amount collected is refunded or credited with interest at the refinancing rate under the cancellation consequences (art. 230 Tax Code). An application to refund an excessively collected amount is filed within three years; the standard refund period is fifteen days, or three days for a business with a high sustainability rating, and interest may be available when the application is filed within thirty days under the excess collection refund (art. 105 Tax Code).

The crediting process, application and interest calculation are covered in the tax refund guide. Keep the bank statement and the document that caused the debit for the appeal.

The general three-year Tax Code period defines the time for an audit, demand or revision of tax; it does not automatically terminate an enforcement proceeding already underway under the tax obligation limitation (art. 88 Tax Code). A separate three-year period applies to liability for a tax offence under the liability limitation rule (art. 217 Tax Code).

Debt is treated as uncollectible only on statutory grounds: liquidation, insolvency of an entrepreneur or individual, death, loss of the legal ability to collect by judicial act, no property or money information in the Register of Obligations for ten years, and specified deregistration cases for a foreign company under the write-off grounds (art. 96 Tax Code). On death, late-payment interest and fines are written off, while heirs pay tax within the value of accepted inheritance, generally within one year after acceptance under the heirs’ obligations (art. 94 Tax Code).

In liquidation, the liquidator pays the debt from money and sale proceeds; participants may bear a remainder only within statutory limits under the liquidation payment rule (art. 91 Tax Code). In a reorganisation, the successor assumes the transferred tax debt, including previously imposed fines, without changing the due date under the successor obligation (art. 92 Tax Code).

If collection has failed, the tax authority must document the measures taken and file for insolvency no later than thirty days after enforcement documents are returned for inability to collect under the filing conditions. Pre-commencement debt enters the creditors’ register, while specified taxes arising after commencement are current claims outside it under the registered and current claims.

Insolvency consequences and creditor priority are explained in the liquidation and bankruptcy guide. That process is distinct from an ordinary write-off of uncollectible tax debt.

What changed in 2025–2026

• A Presidential Resolution of twenty-eight November two thousand twenty-five introduced an experiment in Namangan Region from the start of two thousand twenty-six: an individual’s property- or land-tax debt above one million soums is handled through electricity billing, and debt data appears in payment applications under PP-364.
• A Presidential Decree of thirty March two thousand twenty-six provided for electronic exchanges and new property-sale actions; for tax enforcement documents, a tax officer prepares seizure and inspection records for a legal entity’s property while the state enforcement officer retains statutory powers under UP-50.
• A Presidential Decree of twenty-six May two thousand twenty-six provided for fully automated reactivation of account operations from the start of July after explanations or corrections are submitted in response to a desk-audit demand under UP-100.
• A Presidential Decree of twenty-seven August two thousand twenty-six offers small and medium-sized businesses a “second chance”: if principal debt predating the programme is paid in full by year-end, interest is written off and the related enforcement proceeding ends, provided no principal remains at the start of the next year under PF-175.

What to check after paying the debt

After payment, verify that money was posted to the correct tax and period and that principal, interest and fines all show a zero balance. An unexecuted collection order must be withdrawn after payment, credit, grant of a deferral, write-off of uncollectible debt or reduction through an amended return under the collection-order withdrawal (art. 121 Tax Code).

If an account was suspended, the authority cancels the measure on the same day or no later than the next day after the ground is cured and sends the decision to the bank electronically. Interest is payable for an unlawful suspension or delayed cancellation under the suspension cancellation rule (art. 112 Tax Code).

If the case reached the BPI, a bank receipt alone is not enough. Obtain the order closing the proceeding, check that property seizure and any travel restriction were removed, and confirm that no enforcement fee or expenses remain. Retain those documents with the reconciliation statement and personal-account extract.

Frequently asked questions

Can the tax authority debit money without a court order?

Yes. An admitted tax debt of a legal entity or individual entrepreneur is normally debited through a collection order without a separate judgment. A court is normally required to pursue other property if the taxpayer has not admitted the debt.

Does an appeal stop collection?

An appeal to the superior tax authority or court suspends execution of the challenged decision or action and collection of the corresponding assessment and sanctions. Identify the disputed amount and notify the body executing the decision when filing.

When can tax debt be written off?

Not merely because time has passed. A statutory ground of uncollectibility is required, such as liquidation, completed insolvency, death, legal impossibility confirmed by a court, or long-term absence of property and money in the Register of Obligations.

Can debt be collected from the taxpayer’s debtor?

Yes, if the receivable is confirmed by a reconciliation statement or deemed recognised because no reply was given, and no statutory exclusion applies. The taxpayer’s own tax debt remains until money actually reaches the budget.

What if the debt is paid but the account remains suspended?

Give the tax authority proof of payment, verify posting in the personal account and request the cancellation decision. If the matter is with the BPI, separately obtain closure of the proceeding and removal of every enforcement restriction.