Why is this important
The tax authority’s refusal to correct the obvious mistake (billion per pepper) created an absurd situation: the entrepreneur received a huge fictitious debt. A demonstration of the system’s bureaucratic rigidity when formal rules are more important than common sense. Victory in court is a precedent for other entrepreneurs with similar problems. The Ministry of Justice’s intervention through the justice department demonstrates interdepartmental control over tax authorities.
What happened
- The customer bought pepper for 20 thousand soums, the cashier wrote a check for 2 billion soums;
- The tax authority refused to cancel the check, citing the impossibility of its editing;
- The Khatyrchi District Justice Department filed a lawsuit against the tax department;
- The court recognized the tax collectors’ actions as illegal, the check was corrected.
The essence of the problem
Cashier’s mistake: In a store in Navoi region, a cashier mistakenly wrote a receipt for 2 billion soums instead of 20 thousand soums per pepper. Most likely, the cashier entered 2,000,000,000 instead of 20,000.
Tax debt: The online cash register automatically sent the receipt data to the tax system. The entrepreneur formally “sold” goods worth 2 billion, creating a huge tax base and a fictitious debt on VAT and other taxes.
Tax refusal: the entrepreneur appealed to the tax office with a request to cancel the erroneous receipt. The tax authorities refused, stating that after sending the receipt to the system, it cannot be edited.
Court: The Khatirchi District Justice Department filed a complaint with the Navoi Inter-District Administrative Court. The court deemed the tax collectors’ actions illegal and forced the check to be corrected.
Tax position
The tax department cited the technical impossibility of editing the check after its registration in the system. This is formally true: online cash registers fix data irreversibly to prevent fraud (reduced revenue, tax evasion).
However, in case of obvious error (billion per pepper), there should be a correction mechanism through a memo, act, confirmation from the buyer.
Context
Online cash registers: Uzbekistan has implemented online cash registers to combat the shadow economy and tax evasion. The cash registers automatically send the data on each receipt to the tax system, eliminating the possibility of concealing the revenue.
The irreversibility problem: online cash register data is irreversible to prevent fraud. But this creates a problem with errors: the cashier entered the wrong amount, and the entrepreneur receives a fictitious tax base.
Correction mechanism: In developed countries, there are procedures for correcting erroneous receipts through return receipts, service notes, and confirmations from the buyer. In Uzbekistan, such a mechanism is either absent or poorly functioning.
Bureaucratic rigidity: the tax authority’s refusal to correct an obvious mistake (2 billion per pepper) demonstrates a bureaucratic culture where formal rules are more important than common sense. Tax officials are afraid of responsibility for correcting data, even when the error is obvious.
Precedent: a court decision creates a precedent for other entrepreneurs with similar problems. Now you can refer to this case when appealing tax refusals.
Tax arrears: with a revenue of 2 billion soums, the entrepreneur would have to pay 12% VAT (240 million), profit tax (up to 300 million), and other deductions. This is an absurd amount for a small shop.
