Tashkent, Uzbekistan (UzDaily.com) -- The Government of Uzbekistan will take measures to reduce the tax rate from 20 to 15 percent, the State Tax Committee said.

Such an order was given by the President of the Republic of Uzbekistan Shavkat Mirziyoyev at a video conference on the further development of small business and private entrepreneurship, held on 11 September 2019.

An unprecedented step in the year of “Active Investment and Social Development” should become the main driver of investment and economic growth not only in the Republic of Uzbekistan, but also in the Central Asian region as a whole.

Reducing the VAT rate is a message from the public, which, as in the development of the Concept for improving tax policy, is reflected in today's political and economic decisions.

Of course, this tax maneuver is strong-willed and difficult for the state, because a third of tax revenues to the budget are provided by VAT, the agency said.

Nevertheless, despite the possible risks of falling short revenues of the state budget, priority was given to reducing the tax burden and developing entrepreneurship in the country.

To all of the above, a reduction in the VAT rate by a quarter to 15% is also a signal of easing monetary policy and stabilizing prices.

As you know, the current tax rate of 20 percent was established in 2000 and has not been revised over the past 19 years.

It should be noted that Uzbekistan was the first country that, after the global financial crisis of 2008, went to a significant reduction in the VAT rate (by 25%).

The adoption of such a decision will significantly reduce the tax burden and leave at the disposal of taxpayers more than 10 trillion soums.

A new version of the Tax Code was previously published, within which, starting in 2020, a business will receive the right to a one-off set-off for fixed assets and a return on excess for VAT, which in turn will increase available working capital in the economy by 1.5 trillion soums.