The Government of Tajikistan has adopted a Medium-Term State Revenue Program for 2024-2029 and the Plan of Actions for 2024-2026 aimed at increasing state budget revenues. It is planned to be done through digitalizing the state revenue system, identifying additional revenue sources, and improving tax and customs payment administration, among other measures. The program's authors also identified numerous challenges that are proposed to be addressed in the short and medium term.
Unnecessary benefits
The program highlights that over 100 tax and customs benefits are provided by law to support specific sectors of the economy, but their recipients often fail to properly report to the relevant authorities. This creates barriers to evaluating the effectiveness of these benefits. Moreover, the authors admit that in many cases, these benefits are not used effectively and do not contribute to the development of the sectors they are intended to support. Instead, they often reduce budget revenues.
Additionally, the misuse of benefits, especially the allocation of individual benefits, has led to unhealthy competition, worsened the financial situation of certain taxpayer groups, and decreased taxable sources. Despite claims by relevant authorities that individual benefits have been phased out, the program notes their continued existence in practice.
The document also stresses the lack of transparency regarding tax benefits, as information is not published on the official websites of the Ministry of Finance, the Tax Committee, or the Customs Service. The program proposes measures to close tax loopholes, ensure the rational use of tax benefits, reduce the tax burden on responsible taxpayers, and phase out or eliminate ineffective tax benefits, particularly those granted on an individual basis.
Notably, by the end of 2023, the total amount of benefits granted was nearly one-third of the total collected domestic taxes.
Smuggling
The program identifies the presence of “informal imports and exports” in Tajikistan's foreign trade, referring to the illegal cross-border movement of goods, essentially smuggling. The high susceptibility of customs procedures to corruption significantly reduces the flow of funds into the state budget, according to the program.
Debts
The program also notes that tax debts and instances of evasion or concealment of tax payments have persisted. Despite efforts, overdue debts related to customs duties and fees continue to occur as a result of customs control activities.
Other Issues
The program points out a decline in the share of tax and non-tax revenues relative to GDP between 2018 and 2022. Problems in tax and customs administration have led to a reduction in tax and customs payments as a proportion of overall state budget revenues. In 2018, the share of domestic tax and non-tax revenues accounted for 46.1% of the national budget, but this dropped to 42.3% in 2022. Similarly, customs payments fell from 21.3% to 20.3% during the same period.
The authors also highlight unresolved issues in the institutional and technical development of tax and customs bodies, preventing them from fully adapting to changing global trade practices. This, in turn, has led to ineffective tax and customs administration, unfair competition, an increase in illegal imports, and the entry of substandard goods into the domestic market.
Additionally, the program underscores the negative impact of quasi-fiscal operations by large state-owned enterprises (such as operating losses, rising debt, and failure to meet state guarantees) on the stability of the state budget and the government's ability to fulfill its social functions.
Furthermore, the document notes that the “e-government” initiative, digitalization of business processes, and the introduction of electronic services in government bodies—particularly in financial, tax, and customs services—have not yet reached a satisfactory level of functionality.
