Uzbekistan: New VAT rules for nonresident e-commerce sellers
Existing nonresident VAT compliance regime extended to B2C sales of goods through electronic trading platforms, effective December 12, 2026.
Law No. ЗРУ 1173, published on September 11, 2026, extends Uzbekistan’s existing nonresident VAT compliance regime to cover foreign legal entities selling goods through electronic trading platforms, effective December 12, 2026.
Background
Uzbekistan first introduced VAT compliance obligations for nonresident providers of digital services to individuals under Law No. ЎРҚ 599 (December 30, 2019; effective in 2020). Under that regime, foreign legal entities rendering digital services to individuals in Uzbekistan (and platform operators facilitating such sales) were recognized as VAT taxpayers, required to register with the tax authority within 30 calendar days of starting or ending activity, and file returns electronically.
The new law extends these obligations to sales of goods through e-commerce platforms.
Overview of amendments
Entities in scope
Foreign legal entities selling goods (not just services) through electronic trading platforms, when the sale is sourced to Uzbekistan, are now brought into the same taxpayer/tax-agent framework previously reserved for electronically supplied services.
Transactions in scope
In-scope transactions include business-to-consumer (B2C) sales of goods to individuals via electronic trading platforms, sourced to Uzbekistan under the new place-of-sale test (see below).
B2C vs. B2B
For goods, a specific sourcing test now determines B2C in-scope status: a sale is sourced to Uzbekistan only where both the customer's place of residence and the delivery location of the goods are in Uzbekistan. No equivalent test existed previously because goods were out of scope. Business-to-business (B2B) transactions are subject to the self-assessment requirement.
Marketplace obligations
Platform operators that process payments for nonresident goods sellers are now recognized as tax agents for those transactions. The same tax-agent role platform operators already held for digital services is extended to goods sales, but under Article 278, this specific platform-operator rule applies when the platform is based in Uzbekistan. For foreign platforms, the law does not assign them this specific platform-operator tax-agent status. Therefore, the VAT obligation remains with the foreign seller unless another intermediary participating in the settlement qualifies as a tax agent under the general rule.
When multiple intermediaries participate sequentially in settlements between the nonresident seller and the individual customer, each intermediary or platform in that chain can be recognized as a tax agent. This cascading-liability concept is now extended to goods (it already existed for services).
Registration
The existing 30-calendar-day registration/deregistration procedure (Article 279) previously applicable only to digital services providers and their intermediaries now also applies to nonresident goods sellers and their intermediaries. There is no change in the registration process, documentation, or timeline itself.
Invoicing
No new invoicing provisions were identified for goods sellers in the amendments.
Compliance
The existing electronic reporting requirement via the taxpayer's personal cabinet (Article 281), previously applicable only to electronically supplied services, now also applies to goods sellers. VAT returns are filed quarterly, no later than the 20th day of the month following the relevant reporting period. General tax penalties may apply for late filing or non-payment of VAT.
Open question – interaction with import VAT
The amendments impose VAT on the sale transaction (sale-price basis under new Article 280) but do not address how this interacts with Uzbekistan's separate, pre-existing import VAT regime, under which VAT at the standard 12% rate is charged on customs value plus duty (and excise, where applicable) whenever goods physically cross the customs border. This is likely to be addressed in upcoming implementing regulations that are expected to be published within three months of the publication of the law.
For more information, contact a KPMG tax professional:
Philippe Stephanny | philippestephanny@kpmg.com
Sardor Shermatov | sshermatov@kpmg.co.uz
Aleksandra Okolita | aokolita@kpmg.co.uz
Artyom Kuznetsov | artyomkuznetsov@kpmg.co.uz