Hotel Accounting in Uzbekistan: Revenue, Tourist Fee and Taxes

Bookings and prepayments: when it is not yet revenue

A hotel almost always receives money before arrival: a booking prepayment, a deposit from a tour operator, a corporate client paying ahead. For profit tax these amounts are not income — Article 304 of the Tax Code of the Republic of Uzbekistan expressly excludes from income amounts received as prepayment (advance) for goods and services sold.

• in the books the prepayment is recorded as an advance received — account 6310 “Advances received from buyers and customers”;
• revenue is recognised as the service is provided — for nights stayed — in account 9030 “Income from works and services”; settlements with guests and customers go through account 4010;
• for a long stay crossing the month end, revenue is split by month according to the actual nights;
• set out non-refundable prepayments for cancelled bookings in the contract and accounting policy as a separate type of income, so they do not sit in advances for years;
• issue e-invoices to corporate clients and tour operators; the fee Regulation requires accommodation documents to show the cost of services and the fee amount for the days stayed.

Tourist fee: who pays and how much

The fee is collected by accommodation providers — hotels, apart-hotels, tourist bases, holiday homes, campsites, motels, guest houses and other facilities offering accommodation (para 2 of the Regulation). It is charged for each day of stay; a partial day counts as a full day.

• local citizens — 0.4% of the BCV per day; children under 16 do not pay;
• foreign citizens — under Annex 1 to the Regulation: hotels with more than 40 rooms — 15% of the BCV, 11 to 40 rooms — 10%, up to 10 rooms — 5%;
• specialised leisure facilities (holiday homes, sports bases) — 10% of the BCV; individual accommodation with up to five rooms and hostels — 5%; family guest houses — 2%;
• the fee is not charged to local citizens for stays in medical institutions, sanatoriums and boarding houses;
• the fee is not charged at accommodation located in districts and towns other than regional centres, the capital, Nukus and the high tourism potential districts listed in Annex 2; the 2026 wording of this exception is brief, so before you stop collecting the fee, check your address against the list and confirm with the Tourism Committee.

How to collect and transfer the fee

• open a special account in national currency at a commercial bank, used only for the fee, and show its details separately in contracts with tour operators (para 4 of the Regulation);
• the bill, receipt or invoice issued to the guest must show the cost of hotel services and the total fee for the days stayed;
• keep records of the number of guests, days of stay and amount to transfer; submit guest data to the Tourism Committee through the special electronic programme;
• the fee for the previous month is transferred in full to the Fund’s special account by the 5th of the current month; any fee under-collected from guests is paid by the hotel from its own funds;
• late transfer — a penalty of 0.05% of the unpaid amount per day, capped at 50% of the total debt (para 6 of the Regulation);
• responsibility for timely transfer rests with the head and chief accountant of the accommodation provider.

The fee is not hotel revenue

Para 8 of the Regulation states plainly that the tourist fee received in the special account is not revenue (profit) of the accommodation provider, and no profit tax, turnover tax, VAT or other mandatory payments are levied on it. So the fee must not pass through the income accounts: in the books it is a settlement with the Fund — a liability closed by the transfer.

• show the fee as a separate line in cash register receipts and invoices so it does not enter the tax base;
• reconcile monthly: nights per guest-registration programme × rate = fee charged = receipts in the special account = transfer to the Fund.

Hotel taxes and temporary reliefs

Under the general regime hotel services are subject to VAT at 12% (Article 258 of the Tax Code). Article 483 provides temporary reliefs for accommodation providers — each with its own deadline and conditions.

• from 1 January 2022 to 1 January 2027 businesses may apply a 0.1 coefficient to the legal-entity property tax and land tax rates for hotels (accommodation facilities), including the land they occupy;
• for hotels newly built before 1 January 2027, this relief applies for five years from the month of commissioning, and the cost of such buildings may be deducted as depreciation over two years;
• from 1 January 2025 to 1 January 2028 businesses providing hotel (accommodation) services that hire employees aged up to 30 pay social tax on their wages at 1%;
• social tax conditions: such employees’ average monthly wage is at least 2.5 times the minimum wage, and income from the qualifying activities is at least 60% of total income; if headcount is concealed, the relief is cancelled;
• the tourist-zone reliefs (1% turnover tax and others) applied until 1 January 2025 — they can no longer be used.

Hotel accountant’s checklist

• accounting policy: when revenue is recognised, how non-refundable prepayments are treated;
• separate accounting: rooms, restaurant, other services — especially where relief conditions differ;
• a special account for the fee, monthly reconciliation with the guest-registration programme, transfer by the 5th;
• monitoring Article 483 reliefs: deadlines, employee and income-share conditions;
• stocktaking of linen and low-value items in rooms.