More than 600 million somonis (equivalent to 53 million U.S. dollars) of citizens’ undeclared funds have bene legalized in Tajikistan since the law on amnesty allowing individuals to legalize their assets and money was adopted in July 2021.
The head of the National Bank of Tajikistan Hokim Kholiqzoda stated this at a news conference in Dushanbe on February 2.
The head of Tajikistan’s regulator, in particular, noted that little more than 317 million somonis had been legalized until the end of the last year, while by the end of January, the amount exceeded 600 million somonis.
Tajikistan’s lower chamber (Majlisi Namoyandagon) of parliament (Majlisi Oli) endorsed a draft law on amnesty allowing individuals to legalize their assets and money that had not been previously declared and illegal incomes on June 30, 2021 and law took effect on July 5, 2021.
The legalization of assets and money automatically exempts holders of such assets from administrative and criminal liability.
This law applies only to offences relating to misappropriating or embezzling the legalized assets and money.
This law reportedly provides for the simultaneous legalization of both assets and money
This amnesty is only a one-time initiative that will last until July 4, 2022.
Tajikistan has some experience in carrying out such amnesties, which were announced in the country three times. But the simultaneous legalization of both assets and money is being carried out in Tajikistan for the first time.
The first such an action was carried out in 2003 to attract additional financing in the country’s economy. The law provided for legalization of money only and did not apply to assets. In address to the parliament, President Emomali Rahmon noted in April 2004 that 190 million U.S. dollars owned by 18,000 people had been legalized in the framework of that one-time action.
The next such an action was carried out in 2008-2009 and it applied only to assets, which were illegally acquired or misappropriated. As a result, more than 87,000 assets at a total cost of 19 billion somonis (equivalent to US$5 billion at the then exchange rate) had been legalized.
The third amnesty for legalized money was held in 2010-2011. The results of that amnesty were not made public. It is probably due to insignificant volume of the legalized funds.
