Changing the Registered Address of an LLC or IE in Uzbekistan: Procedure and Tax Consequences

Location and postal address of an LLC

• An LLC’s location is the place of its state registration unless the founding documents provide otherwise; they may designate as the location the permanent seat of the governing bodies or the place of main business (Article 5 of Law No. ZRU-1137).
• The postal address is a mandatory element of the charter (Article 14).
• Charter amendments relating to a change of postal address take effect for third parties from notification of the registering authority, not from registration (Article 14).

Notification instead of re-registration

As a general rule, changes to registration data listed in Appendix 7 to the Regulation require mandatory re-registration (paragraph 21 of the Regulation). For a change of a legal entity’s location (postal address), however, a simplified procedure applies: the change is made by notifying the registering authority, provided the company has no tax debt exceeding three hundred times the BCV (paragraph 21).

• Deadline for a legal entity: 10 days from the change of location (Appendix 7, item 5).
• Deadline for an individual entrepreneur changing the place of business: also 10 days (Appendix 7, item 2).
• If the tax debt exceeds 300 BCV, the simplified notification procedure does not apply, so pay the debt first.
• The application is filed through the registration information system by ticking “change of location (postal address)” and entering the new address (form appended to the Regulation).

Tax registration after the move

• Legal entities are registered with the tax authorities at their location and at the location of their separate subdivisions (Article 128 of the Tax Code of the Republic of Uzbekistan).
• The tax authorities register and deregister taxpayers themselves on the basis of the information they hold (Article 129); registering bodies must pass information from the state register to the tax authorities (Article 133). The Tax Code does not require a separate application to change tax office.
• Location (postal address) is part of a legal entity’s registration data (Article 132), so after the move check the data in your taxpayer account.
• If the company acquires real estate at the new location, it is also registered at the location of that property (Article 128); the tax authority does so within three working days of the request (Article 131).
• If a warehouse, office or other unit with permanent workplaces remains at the old address, it may be a separate subdivision (Article 32) with its own tax registration.

If an individual entrepreneur changes address

An IE’s registration data shows the place of business. When it changes, the entrepreneur reports the change within 10 days (Appendix 7 to the Regulation, item 2). An IE’s tax registration data include the place of residence and registration details (Article 132 of the Tax Code), so when moving check which data have changed (business address, home address or both) and update them in your taxpayer account.

Separate subdivision or relocation

A separate subdivision is any territorially separate unit at whose location permanent workplaces are equipped (Article 32 of the Tax Code). Two scenarios should therefore be kept apart: if the company moves entirely, its location changes; if it opens an additional workplace, a separate subdivision arises while the registered address stays the same.

What to do after changing the address

• update the address in contracts, invoices and on the website so counterparties send documents to the current address;
• notify the bank and check the details in the e-invoice system and in the taxpayer account;
• sign a lease or other document for the premises at the new address;
• if you use online cash registers, check the installation address;
• enter the new address in the charter (new version or amendments), since the postal address is a mandatory charter element.

State duty

The Law on State Duty sets a duty of one BCV for state registration or re-registration of business entities that are legal entities and of individual entrepreneurs. If the address is changed by notification, check in the registration system whether a duty applies in your case.

Common mistakes

• moving without notification, so documents and tax demands keep arriving at the old address;
• missing the 10-day deadline;
• trying to use the notification procedure with a tax debt above 300 BCV;
• leaving a workplace at the old address without checking whether a separate subdivision has arisen;
• not updating the address in the charter.