TIN in Uzbekistan: How to Find Your Number and Check a Counterparty

How a TIN is assigned

Legal entities and individuals are registered with the tax authorities for tax control purposes; registration and deregistration are free of charge (Article 126). An Uzbek legal entity is registered at the same time as its state registration: the confirming document is the certificate of state registration (Article 126). Legal entities are registered at their location and at the location of each separate subdivision (Article 128).

An individual is registered at the same time as being issued an ID card or assigned a PINFL — no separate registration document is issued (Article 126). Individuals are registered at their place of residence (Article 128). A foreign legal entity operating through other separate subdivisions (not an accredited branch or representative office) files a registration application no later than 30 calendar days from the start of its activity (Article 129).

Where the TIN must be stated

The tax authority states the TIN in all documents it sends to the taxpayer, and the taxpayer — in returns, applications and other documents for the tax authority (Article 127). In addition, the TIN must be stated:

• in licences for certain types of activity;
• in commercial, civil-law and employment contracts;
• in documents on transactions of legal entities and IEs, including invoices and shipping documents;
• in cash, settlement and payment documents;
• in other documents where required by law (Article 127).

How to find your TIN

• Individual: your TIN is your PINFL (Article 127). It is shown on your ID card and biometric passport; it is also visible in the taxpayer's personal account on the electronic tax services portal when logging in with an EDS (E-imzo) or through the identification system.
• Legal entity: the TIN is shown in the certificate of state registration (Article 126) and in the register extract.
• Individual entrepreneur: registered at the place of business or residence (Article 129); the number is in the registration documents and the personal account.

What you can learn about a company from its TIN: public information

Information about a taxpayer is a tax secret from the moment of registration (Article 126), but Article 29 of the Tax Code makes exceptions. The following is not a tax secret:

• publicly available information, including information made public with the owner's consent;
• the taxpayer identification number;
• violations of tax legislation and the penalties applied for them;
• the tax regimes applied and registration as a VAT payer;
• amounts of taxes paid and tax arrears;
• the participants (shareholders) of a legal entity;
• the average headcount;
• amounts of income and expenses according to the financial statements (Article 29).

Why check a counterparty by TIN

A check before signing a contract shows who you are dealing with: whether it is a VAT payer (this determines whether you can offset VAT from its invoice), which tax regime it uses, whether it has tax arrears and violations, how many employees it has and the scale of its income. Zero headcount and no taxes paid alongside large deliveries are a reason to request additional documents.

The minimum set before a first transaction: match the TIN and name against the contract and the invoice, check VAT payer status and tax arrears, look at the participants and headcount. For large transactions and investments, this expands into due diligence.

Registration data held by the tax authority

A legal entity's registration data includes the TIN, full and short name, address, legal form, state registration details, the amount of charter capital (for commercial organisations), data on separate subdivisions and the full list of participants with their shares (Article 132). For an individual — full name, citizenship, PINFL, passport or ID card details and place of residence; for an IE — also the date and number of registration and type of activity.

If registration data has changed but the tax authority is not aware of it, documents and notices may go to the wrong place — make sure the information in the register is up to date.