President Emomali Rahmon has ordered the Ministry of Finance to explore the issue of introducing step-by-step payment of subscription bonus for mineral developers while developing draft tax code in new edition, according to the Tajik president’s official website.
The head of state considers that payment of the one-time flat tax in a form of subscription creates a number of financial and economic difficulties for mineral developers, which have not yet begun mining.
Earlier, controversial issues over the subscription bonus had arisen between tax agencies and mineral developers.
Thus, the subscription bonus caused large debt of Tajik-Chinese gold mining company Zarafshon to the country’s budget in 2015, and the company was forced to pay some 200 million somoni for its subscription bonus debt.
In accordance with Tajikistan’s legislation, a mineral developer pays 30 percent of the total amount of the subscription bonus before obtaining a license.
Some companies consider this practice unacceptable because they are not sure about the guaranteed license.
The Ministry of Finance, however, insists on the importance of payment of 30 percent of the subscription bonus before obtaining a license, because this method allegedly increases the responsibility of companies that intend to obtain a license.
Experts note that the practice in the application of the subscription bonus is used in all countries, but there it is collected upon production but not in advance as it is done in Tajikistan. Moreover, the calculated subscription bonus amount in Tajikistan is 10 times more than in Uzbekistan and 100 times more than in many CIS member nations.
The subscription bonus for mineral developers was introduced in Tajikistan in 2011.
The minimum amount of the subscription bonus is established for each type of mining activity separately.
For example, the minimum amount of the subscription bonus for mining (excluding hydrocarbons) should not be less than 10,000 estimated indicators for large deposits, 5,000 estimated indicators for medium-sized deposits and 2,500 estimated indicators for small deposits.
In Tajikistan, one estimated indicator amoun
