Modern Concepts of Excise Tax Administration and Their Adaptation in Uzbekistan: A Digital Traceability Framework

This study develops a conceptual and applied framework for modernizing excise tax administration in Uzbekistan through digital traceability, integrated transaction data, and risk-based compliance management. Excise taxes differ from broad-based consumption taxes because they are imposed on selected goods whose consumption may generate fiscal, health, or environmental externalities. Their effectiveness therefore depends not only on statutory rates, but also on the ability of the administration to identify taxable products, control production and import volumes, verify release for consumption, reconcile inventories, prevent illicit trade, and monitor retail realization. The analysis combines international guidance from the OECD, WHO, IMF and World Bank with official Uzbekistan budget and tax-administration data for 2021-2026. State budget receipts from excise tax increased from UZS 13.1 trillion in 2021 to UZS 21.9 trillion in 2025, equivalent to a compound annual nominal growth rate of about 13.7 percent. At the same time, the share of excise in total state budget revenue declined from 7.9 to 6.1 percent, indicating that nominal growth alone is not a sufficient measure of administrative performance. The paper proposes an Integrated Excise-Tax Data Platform connecting digital marking, electronic invoices, online cash-register receipts, customs declarations, production and warehouse data, payments and licenses. It also introduces an Excise Administration Risk Score and an Excise Tax Administration Modernization Index for operational monitoring. The proposed framework shifts control from periodic document-based inspection toward continuous reconciliation of product movement, tax liability and supply-chain risk, while preserving taxpayer service, data governance and legal safeguards.