The Tax Committee has officially commented on the draft resolution concerning the procedure for banks to provide information to tax authorities, which has been submitted for public discussion.
According to the Committee, the content of the document has been misinterpreted in some media outlets, and the initiative is being presented as establishing additional control over individuals’ deposits. In reality, the draft is aimed at defining a unified procedure for information exchange between banks and tax authorities.
According to the draft, a special module for “Bank-Tax” information exchange will be developed. Also, if an individual’s single bank card receives funds equivalent to or exceeding 500 times the base calculation amount from other individuals’ cards or e-wallets within one month, the bank is expected to notify the tax authorities. Currently, this amount is 206 million soums.
The Tax Committee emphasizes that this document does not grant new powers to tax authorities, does not abolish bank secrecy, and does not create free access to citizens’ accounts. Banks provide information only in cases and in the manner established by law.
It is noted that such powers already exist in current legislation. In particular, according to Article 134 of the Tax Code, banks must send information about the opening, closing, or change of details of an account or deposit to tax authorities in electronic form within three days.
Also, according to the Law “On Bank Secrecy”, information constituting bank secrecy on tax matters may be provided to state tax service bodies in accordance with the established procedure. In this case, the obtained information is considered tax secrecy and its disclosure or transfer to third parties is prohibited.
The Tax Committee noted that such mechanisms are also applied in international practice, and Uzbekistan, as a member of the Global Forum on Transparency and Exchange of Information for Tax Purposes, must introduce clear and transparent rules in this area.
