Uzbekistan introduces tax benefits and new platforms for civil society support

The president has supported institutional changes in the sector to improve the quality and transparency of project selection for state grants and social orders. Specifically, a Public Fund for Supporting Civil Society Institutions and its regional branches will be established under the parliament, ensuring targeted social projects and reducing bureaucracy.

Additionally, a single electronic platform will be launched to ensure transparency in all processes related to the allocation of state subsidies, grants, and social orders to civil society institutions.

The decree introduces the following mechanisms for developing social partnerships:

•  Annual competitions for social orders conducted by state agencies;
•  State agencies are granted the right to finance social partnership initiative projects of civil society institutions without holding competitions, up to 1,000 times the minimum wage;
•  The Cabinet of Ministers will annually approve a program for involving civil society institutions in socio-economic development programs based on social partnership.

To promote socially significant projects, the following benefits will be provided to civil society institutions:

•  Income tax and social tax rates for state grants and social order projects will be reduced by 50% for a period of three years;
•  Starting from January 1, 2025, the state duty for registering organizations of persons with disabilities, veterans, women, and children will be reduced by half;
•  The non-taxable charitable contribution amount from sponsoring organizations for individuals in need of social protection will be increased from 15 million UZS to 34 million UZS.