Income earned by freelancers on the Mellow service must be declared by yourself, as freelancers are not employees and Mellow does not pay tax on the income paid.
To report your Mellow income in Uzbekistan, you’ll need to:
be a tax resident;
have a tax number;
choose your tax status.
Tax residence
Tax residents of Uzbekistan pay tax on their worldwide income, no matter where it’s earned. Non-residents are taxed only on income from Uzbek sources.
An individual is considered a tax resident of Uzbekistan if they meet one of the following criteria:
an individual is present in Uzbekistan for 183 days or more during any 12-month period beginning or ending in the tax period;
an individual is present in Uzbekistan for less than 183 days, but more than in any other country.
You can also claim residency early, without waiting out the full 12 months – just apply to the tax authority and attach a long-term employment contract.
Uzbekistan has double taxation treaties with a number of countries (full list), the provisions of which may override the applicable tax residence rules and other provisions of national legislation.
Tax Identification Number
The Personal Identification Number of an Individual (PINFL) is a single identifier that verifies your identity whenever you use a government, banking, social, or other service. It’s printed on your biometric passport or ID card and consists of 14 digits encoding your sex, century and date of birth, district or city code, a personal serial number, and a check digit.
Before July 2021, individuals in Uzbekistan were automatically assigned a Taxpayer Identification Number (TIN) – a 9-digit code used to identify them within the tax system. It’s no longer issued to individuals, and the PINFL has taken its place.
A VAT registration number is a 12-digit number assigned to legal entities and individual entrepreneurs in Uzbekistan once they register as VAT payers.
Freelancer Taxes and Contributions
What you owe depends on the status you choose and the rules that come with it. In Uzbekistan, freelancers can receive income through Mellow under one of three tax statuses:
IMPORTANT! Mellow does not have the option to choose a tax status for freelancers based in Uzbekistan.
Here’s a closer look at each status and the taxes that come with it.
Individual
This is the default status – everyone starts out with it. It works for people on an employment contract, or for activities that don’t require any special registration.
Under this status, you pay:
Personal income tax (PIT) at a flat rate of 12% (Art. 381 of the Tax Code of the Republic of Uzbekistan).
Reporting. By April 1 of the year after the reporting year, you file an annual aggregate income tax return (form template). You can file online – through the Soliq mobile app or your taxpayer personal account – or drop it off in person at the district tax office where you’re registered.
This video guide walks you through filling out the PIT return.
Social tax. If your employer isn’t required to calculate and withhold it for you, you’re free to pay it voluntarily.
Reporting and payment. Social tax is calculated from your annual aggregate income tax return and follows the same deadlines as PIT.
Self-employed persons
A self-employed person is someone who independently provides services or performs work for other individuals and legal entities to earn income. You can only take on this status if your activity appears on the list of permitted ones.
There are two ways to register:
In person at your district tax office, where a staff member fills out the application for you;
Online, through the Soliq mobile app or your taxpayer personal account – this takes no more than 30 minutes, and the steps are laid out in these instructions.
Either route gets you the same thing: a certificate of registration as a self-employed person, complete with a QR code.
Restrictions. A self-employed person can’t hire employees, and the status can’t be combined with an employment contract or with IE status.
A few other things worth knowing about self-employment:
For online services and work, you can receive foreign-currency payments from foreign individuals and legal entities into an Uzbek bank account without registering the contract with the Unified Electronic Information System of Foreign Trade Operations (UEISFTO) – unlike IEs, who do have to register theirs.
Your time as a self-employed person counts toward your length-of-service record, and you qualify for state incentive benefits – though sick leave and paid vacation aren't part of the package.
You can work with foreign individuals and legal entities without a written contract – a public offer, electronic message exchange, or issued invoice (electronic ones included) is enough.
You can drop the status at any time – just notify the tax authority through the Soliq app before you stop operating.
As a self-employed person, you pay:
Turnover tax at 1% on your annual income, provided it doesn’t exceed UZS 1 billion.
Who files and pays:
If you work through a digital platform that acts as your tax agent, the agent takes care of everything for you – calculating the tax, filing the return, and sending the payment. Please note: Mellow does not act as a tax agent for income received through the service.
If there’s no tax agent, or you work outside a digital platform, it’s all on you – calculations, filing, and payment.
The return is filed in the prescribed form with the tax office where you’re registered. A video guide (in Uzbek) walks you through how to fill it out.
Filing deadlines (Art. 470 of the Tax Code of the Republic of Uzbekistan):
For the reporting period (month) – by the 15th day of the following month;
For the tax period (year) – by February 15 of the following year.
Payment deadline: December 31 of the reporting year.
Social tax on a voluntary basis, with a minimum of 1 base calculation unit (BCU) per year (Art. 408 of the Tax Code of the Republic of Uzbekistan). As of August 1, 2025, 1 BCU equals UZS 412,000.
Payment deadline: December 31 of the reporting year.
Individual entrepreneurs
An individual entrepreneur (IE) is a person who provides services, performs work, or sells goods – for private or commercial use – without setting up a legal entity.
There are two ways to register as an IE:
In person. Visit the Public Services Center for your place of residence or registration and file an application for the state registration of a business entity without forming a legal entity (individual entrepreneur) – that’s Annex No. 4 to the Regulation approved by the corresponding resolution. The state duty is 1 BCU (base calculation unit).
You’ll need to pick your line of business from the approved list of activities open to IEs. You can name one primary activity and up to two additional ones – with a single exception: “import and retail trade of goods” can’t be combined with anything else.
Online. File the application through the business registration system at new.birdarcha.uz. Going this route brings the state duty down to 0.9 BCU – a 10% discount for registering digitally.
Online registration, along with other online filings down the line, requires an electronic digital signature (EDS).
As an IE, you’re required to register any foreign trade contracts in the UEISFTO (Unified Electronic Information System of Foreign Trade Operations). The only exception is export contracts of up to USD 5,000 carried out through e-commerce (see Clause 17 of the Regulation on the Procedure for Monitoring and Controlling Foreign Trade Operations). Working with the system also requires an EDS. Once your contract is registered in UEISFTO, the system assigns it an identification number – and only then can work under the contract begin.
IEs in Uzbekistan can choose between two tax regimes:
The two come with different sets of tax obligations, but under either one an IE pays payroll taxes (if they have employees) and resource taxes (where those apply). IEs on the simplified regime can also register as VAT payers voluntarily if it makes sense for them.
Here’s a closer look at each regime.
Simplified tax regime
Under the simplified regime, the following taxes and contributions apply:
Turnover tax – calculated the same way as for self-employed persons.
Social tax – at least 1 BCU per month, regardless of your annual turnover.
Payment is due monthly, no later than the 15th of the month in which the business activity takes place.
Reporting is only required if you have employees (their compensation is taxed under different rules). Returns go to the tax authorities on a cumulative basis – monthly, by the 15th of the month following the reporting month, and annually, by February 15. More on social tax reporting here.
General tax regime
Once an IE’s annual turnover crosses UZS 1 billion, or the moment they start importing goods, they have to move over to the tax and mandatory contributions regime that applies to legal entities. To make the switch, submit an application at least 10 days before the start of the following month.
Social tax – same rules as under the simplified regime.
Corporate income tax (CIT) – calculated using one of two methods: standard or simplified.
Standard method: a rate of 15% (unless Art. 337 of the Tax Code of the RUz provides otherwise), applied to income minus deductible expenses. Non-deductible expenses – the ones the law doesn’t let you factor into the tax calculation, such as fines and charitable donations – stay in the taxable base.
The rate is cut in half, to 7.5%, for turnover taxpayers whose income crosses UZS 10 billion for the first time during the year. This reduced rate applies for the tax period in which the threshold is crossed and for the one that follows, provided income in the year the relief is used stays within UZS 100 billion.
Turnover taxpayers switching to CIT for the first time on or after January 1, 2026 are fully exempt from CIT (except on dividend and interest income) for one tax period after the year of transition. This doesn’t apply to reorganized taxpayers.
Simplified method: a flat rate of 25% on total income, with no deduction of expenses. To use this method, you’ll need to submit an application.
Reporting on CIT is filed quarterly – by the 20th of the month following the end of the quarter (so the Q1 return is due by April 20). The annual return is due by March 1 of the year following the reporting year.
Tax payments are due on the same dates as the returns, both quarterly and annually. If your income for the previous year exceeded UZS 20 billion, you’ll also need to make monthly advance payments – by the 23rd of each month.
Value-added tax (VAT). An IE on the general regime has to register as a VAT payer once their income for a tax period exceeds UZS 1 billion. The standard rate is 12%.
Registration as a VAT payer is handled online – just submit an application for tax registration. Within 5 days, the tax authority issues a registration decision, prepares a VAT registration certificate, and assigns a VAT payer registration number (more on the process here).
Reporting is monthly – by the 20th of the month following the reporting month (so the March return is due by April 20).
Tax payment is due on the same date as the return.
VAT and CIT payers with total income of up to UZS 10 billion can defer their tax liabilities through a notification-based installment plan – interest-free, for up to 6 months. You can take advantage of this option once per calendar year.
Additional information
Soliq mobile app (Google Play, App Store)
Taxpayer’s account – Soliq
Mellow documents for the tax authority:
When reporting your Mellow income, use the information from your offer agreement along with data from your work completion certificates and invoices.
Still have questions?
Reach us through the online chat in your Mellow account or email us at [email protected] – we’re here to help.