Uzbekistan lets real-time customs data confirm exports for VAT zero-rating, backdated to 1 December 2023

What changed in detail

Law of the Republic of Uzbekistan No. ZRU-1014 of 24 December 2024 (published 26 December 2024, in force 1 January 2025) amends Article 261 of the Tax Code, which lists the documents that confirm an export of goods for the VAT zero rate.

Article 3, item 4, rewrites two entries in part one of Article 261, leaving the rest of the list in place:

• point 2 now reads: the customs cargo declaration that is the basis for removing the goods from the customs territory of Uzbekistan;
• point 3 now reads: shipping documents stamped by the customs authority at the border checkpoint, confirming that vehicles loaded with the goods crossed the customs border.

It also adds a new part two: information on goods crossing the customs border under Article 133 of the Tax Code, sent by customs to the tax authorities through real-time electronic exchange, is a basis for confirming the export. The former parts two and three are renumbered.

Article 6 extends item 4 to export operations from 1 December 2023 until the Law entered into force, so the new rules apply retroactively to that period.

What it means

The real-time customs-data rule is still in Article 261 in November 2026. Point 2 has since been widened again: Law ZRU-1108 of 25 December 2025, in force 1 January 2026, added the documents that support removal of goods sold through national and foreign electronic trading platforms.

For exporters, the practical gain is that border-crossing data held by customs can itself prove the export, so a missing stamped paper document need not cost the zero rate. The backdating to 1 December 2023 let exporters re-confirm operations from that date on the new basis.