Permitted Activities for Individual Entrepreneurs (YaTT) in Uzbekistan in 2026: Full List and Restrictions
An individual entrepreneur (IE) in Uzbekistan — the local equivalent of a sole proprietor — may carry out only the activities expressly named in an official government list. The list currently has 93 items, plus crafts, which are covered by a separate list. Below you will find the full list in its current version, a method for finding your own business in it, and an answer to whether you still need a licence once you have found it.
Contents
- What the IE Activity List Is and Why It Matters
- 1. Where the List Is Established and Which Version to Check
- 2. The Full List of Permitted Activities for Individual Entrepreneurs in 2026
- Section I. Retail Trade
- Section II. Crafts
- Section III. Consumer Services (Other Than Those Covered by Section II)
- Section IV. Other Activities
- 3. How to Find Your Activity on the List
- 4. Do You Need a Licence If Your Activity Is on the List?
- 5. What to Do If Your Activity Is Not on the List
- 6. Combining Activities and Changing Them After Registration
- 7. Checklist Before Registering as an Individual Entrepreneur
- Conclusion
What the IE Activity List Is and Why It Matters
In Uzbekistan, a legal entity may carry out any activity not prohibited by law. For an individual entrepreneur, the logic is reversed: only what is on the list is allowed. Everything else is off-limits to an IE.
That is why choosing an activity based on the everyday name of a service is risky. A “pastry maker”, a “repair technician” and an “event organiser” all have a place on the list, but each item has its own boundaries. Stepping outside them means carrying out an activity you have no right to carry out.
1. Where the List Is Established and Which Version to Check
The list is Annex No. 1 to Cabinet of Ministers Resolution No. 6 of 7 January 2011 “On Approval of the List of Activities That May Be Carried Out by Individual Entrepreneurs”. Two provisions of this resolution define the whole topic:
- paragraph 2: from 1 April 2011, individuals may not carry out activities that are not included in the list;
- paragraph 3: Public Services Centres must strictly follow the list when registering IEs.
The list was restated by Cabinet of Ministers Resolution No. 175 of 16 April 2026, published on 17 April 2026. The main change concerns item 71, which now expressly includes the collection of scrap metal and metal waste.
Before that, the list was amended eight times between 2022 and 2025. Lists found in older articles and on forums are almost certainly out of date: they may lack items 88–93 or contain earlier wording.
2. The Full List of Permitted Activities for Individual Entrepreneurs in 2026
The list is reproduced in full below, with its official numbering and its division into four sections.
Section I. Retail Trade
No. | Activity |
1 | Retail trade in food and non-food products (except sales of construction materials, cement, slate, timber and wood, alcoholic and tobacco products, all types of petroleum products, articles made of precious metals and precious stones or articles incorporating such materials, audiovisual works, phonograms and computer software, new imported cars, and pharmaceutical products) |
2 | Mixed retail trade from mobile retail outlets (located on a temporary basis, seasonal or event-specific in nature, and requiring dismantling and removal at the end of each working day) |
3 | Retail trade in agricultural produce at dehkan markets (farmers’ markets) |
4 | Retail trade in newspapers, magazines and books |
5 | Import and retail trade in goods (except sales of construction materials, cement, slate, timber and wood, vegetable oil, alcoholic and tobacco products, all types of petroleum products, articles made of precious metals and precious stones or articles incorporating such materials, audiovisual works, phonograms and computer software, new imported cars, and pharmaceutical products) |
Section II. Crafts
Crafts are carried out under the list established by legislation; Resolution No. 6 itself does not contain that list. The IE registration application form (Annex No. 4 to the Regulation on the Procedure for State Registration of Business Entities (the “Registration Regulation”), approved by Cabinet of Ministers Resolution No. 66, as amended by Cabinet of Ministers Resolution No. 380 of 13 July 2026) refers to the list approved by Presidential Decree No. UP-5242 of 17 November 2017. Lists of craft areas were later also approved by Presidential Decrees No. UP-91 of 12 June 2023 and No. UP-50 of 19 March 2025 (the latter in force since 1 January 2026). The specific craft is selected from the registration system’s directory; if the craft you need is not there, check which list applies with a Public Services Centre. Crafts cannot be combined with any other activity.
Section III. Consumer Services (Other Than Those Covered by Section II)
No. | Activity |
6 | Hairdressing, manicure, pedicure and beautician services, and other similar services |
7 | Laundry services, arranging dry and chemical cleaning, and ironing services |
8 | Repair and cleaning of carpets and carpet products |
9 | Repair of garments, fur, leather and knitted items, headwear and textile haberdashery; made-to-order tailoring of garments, knitted items, headwear and textile haberdashery for individual customers, including custom-made curtains and drapes; embroidery |
10 | Dressing and dyeing of animal hides, fur, textile, leather and other items |
11 | Made-to-order footwear for individual customers; repair, dyeing and cleaning of footwear |
12 | Making and repair of haberdashery articles |
13 | Making and repair of costume jewellery and trinkets (key rings, charms) |
14 | Key cutting |
15 | Making and repair of metal and tinware products |
16 | Making wreaths (including funeral wreaths), artificial flowers, ikebana and garlands |
17 | Making and repair of fences, monuments and wreaths made of metal |
18 | Making doors, windows and other wooden products |
19 | Repair and making of equipment (household, sports, fishing, etc.) |
20 | Sharpening of cutting tools and instruments |
21 | Assembly of ready-made furniture, furniture repair and upholstery |
22 | Repair and tuning of musical instruments |
23 | Making jewellery from precious metals and stones to individual order, and jewellery repair |
24 | Repair of optical goods and watches; engraving (relief inscriptions and images) on items made of metal, plastic, ceramics, faience, stone and cardboard |
25 | Repair, installation and maintenance of radio-electronic equipment, household machines, household appliances, office machines and computer equipment |
26 | Repair and maintenance of vehicles, including other vehicle maintenance services (repair and installation of audio systems and security alarms, polishing, application of protective and decorative coatings to the body) |
27 | Plumbing services and welding work |
28 | Glass and mirror cutting; decorative glass processing |
29 | Glazing services for premises |
30 | Public toilet services |
31 | Bathhouse and sauna services |
32 | Residential cleaning services |
33 | Yard and garden maintenance services, and landscaping work |
34 | Protection of orchards, vegetable gardens and green spaces against pests and diseases |
35 | Video and photography services |
36 | Rental of household goods and items (furniture, tableware, household, sports and fishing equipment, household appliances, devices, etc.) |
37 | Operating family guest houses and hostels in accordance with the procedure established by legislation |
Section IV. Other Activities
No. | Activity |
38 | Making and selling national sweets, confectionery and kurt (dried salted yoghurt balls) at home, without the use of packaging equipment |
39 | Making and selling national flatbreads (non) and patyr (layered flatbread) |
40 | Making and selling popcorn, soft-serve ice cream and soft drinks, and ayran and go’ja (a traditional fermented grain drink) on tap |
41 | Making and selling salads and pickles, and making at home and selling certain individual-portion dishes, without seating or at locations specifically designated by decision of local government authorities |
42 | Making and rental of measuring instruments |
43 | Renovation services for residential and non-residential premises for the public |
44 | Tutoring services |
45 | Translation and editing services |
46 | Services related to children’s arcade machines |
47 | Design, development, production, sale, repair and use of cryptographic information security tools |
48 | Design services (graphic, interior, furniture, etc.), drafting and graphic work, and painting |
49 | Software development services, organising computer games, computer typing and printing services, and services related to copying and reproducing text |
50 | Making and printing business cards and invitations |
51 | Bookbinding |
52 | Production and placement of advertising |
53 | Services provided by insurance agents |
54 | Concert and entertainment activities |
55 | Organising celebrations (weddings, anniversaries, birthdays, etc.) |
56 | Rental of dresses, costumes and accessories |
57 | Social services (childcare, care for the sick and the elderly) |
58 | Fitness and wellness activities (shaping, aerobics, sports clubs, health groups) and coaching services |
59 | Organising and running hobby groups and clubs |
60 | Activities of family non-state preschool educational organisations established on the basis of public-private partnership in the form of material, technical and methodological support for family non-state preschool educational organisations |
60¹ | Day care services for children with disabilities established under public-private partnership |
61 | Taxidermy services |
62 | Grain milling services |
63 | Livestock slaughter services |
64 | Pet care services |
65 | Veterinary activities |
66 | Road freight transport |
67 | Passenger and freight transport by river |
68 | Cultivation, collection, procurement and sale of medicinal raw materials of plant, animal and mineral origin |
69 | Growing and selling flowers and ornamental trees (including bonsai) |
70 | Breeding and selling aquarium fish, ornamental birds and other animals |
71 | Collection (purchase) of glass containers, scrap metal and waste, and other recyclable materials |
72 | Real estate agency activities |
73 | Services to individuals and legal entities using specialised and agricultural machinery |
74 | Procurement of agricultural produce for organisations |
75 | Research, development and technological work performed under work contracts |
76 | Making and reprocessing ink ribbons for dot-matrix printers and alphanumeric printing devices |
77 | Making envelopes, paper folders and binders |
78 | Intermediary services for telecommunications operators and providers (information and reference services for subscribers or service providers, accepting payments for providers’ services) |
79 | Cleaning and fluffing of used cotton wadding and wool |
80 | Tourism activities: travel agency and excursion services, and the services of guides (guide-interpreters), tour guides and instructor-guides |
81 | Carpentry and joinery (carpentry and joinery work to order for the public) |
82 | Metal repair work (home-based repair of household metal items: cutting duplicate keys, umbrella repair, minor repair of other household metal items) |
83 | Wooden architecture (wooden sculptures, wooden structures for children’s playgrounds and parks) |
84 | Fabric painting (hand-dyeing of fabrics and clothing, applying designs to fabric, including by screen printing and by hand) |
85 | Artisanal mining of precious metals |
86 | Renting out accommodation to tourists |
87 | Acting as an agent in the provision of public services |
88 | Management of apartment buildings (holders of a qualification (certification) certificate) |
89 | Services provided by cadastral engineers |
90 | Acting as a patent attorney |
91 | Educational outreach activities |
92 | Energy audit services |
93 | Growing seedlings |
The list comes with explanatory notes. If an IE carries out an activity that is ancillary to its main activity, fixed tax is paid as for a single activity. Activities on the list may also be carried out by legal entities. Within the list, an IE may engage in foreign trade activity in the prescribed manner.
3. How to Find Your Activity on the List
Match what you will actually do, not your job title: which goods you sell, where you work, and whether you will have seating, equipment or hired staff. Then find the item that describes those actions and read it in full, including the text in brackets.
How to check:
- Describe in two or three sentences what customers will pay you for.
- Search for items by the key action: “repair”, “making”, “trade”, “services…”.
- Read the qualifiers: exclusions (“except…”), location (“at home”, “home-based”, “at dehkan markets”) and method (“without seating”, “without the use of packaging equipment”, “to individual order”).
- Check the cross-references: “in accordance with the procedure established by legislation” or “holders of a certificate” mean that additional rules apply.
- Break your business down into activities: at registration, you state one main activity and no more than two additional ones from the list.
- If part of your business does not fit any item, that part cannot be run through an IE.
Planned business | Closest item | What to check |
Manicure, eyelash extensions | 6 | The item covers “other similar services”, meaning beauty services of the same kind. Medical activities are licensed separately and are not covered by it |
Website and app development | 49 | The item refers to “software development”. Writing the code for a website or app comes closest to this wording, but the item does not mention websites as such: if the work amounts to something else (design only, for example), look for a more suitable item. Graphic design falls under item 48, and production and placement of advertising under item 52; each service is declared as a separate activity |
Cakes and other confectionery | 38 | The item allows making and selling national sweets, confectionery and kurt only at home and without packaging equipment. Production outside the home or with packaging equipment is not covered |
Takeaway food | 41 | The item covers salads and pickles, as well as certain individual-portion home-cooked dishes — without seating or at locations designated by the khokimiyat (local government administration). A café with a dining area is not on the list |
Clothing store | 1 | Retail only. Wholesale trade is not on the list |
Clothing store that imports its own goods | 5 | At registration, “import and retail trade in goods” cannot be combined with any other activity |
Building materials store | — | Construction materials, cement, slate, timber and wood are excluded from items 1 and 5 |
Freight transport with your own truck | 66 | Passenger transport by road is not on the list. International road freight requires a licence (see section 4) |
Renting out an apartment to tourists | 86 | For a guest house or hostel, see item 37, “in accordance with the procedure established by legislation” |
Paid lectures, seminars, workshops, courses | 91 | Educational outreach only — activities not covered by state educational standards. Teaching under educational standards does not fall under this item; paid classes require a contract (see section 4) |
Children’s club, tutoring | 59, 44 | These are separate items, not varieties of item 91 |
The table shows how to reason, but it is no substitute for checking: what counts is the exact wording of the item and the actual content of the work.
4. Do You Need a Licence If Your Activity Is on the List?
The short answer: being on the list does not exempt you from licensing. The list answers only one question — whether an individual can carry out the activity as an IE. Whether additional authorisation is required is decided by a different law.
That law is Law No. ZRU-701 of 14 July 2021 “On Licensing, Permitting and Notification Procedures”. It divides authorisation to operate into three regimes, each set out in its own annex to the law:
Regime | What it is | Where it is listed |
Licence | A document without which the activity cannot be carried out; issued when licensing requirements are met | Annex No. 1 to ZRU-701 (Article 13) |
Permit-type document | A permit, approval or official opinion for a specific activity or action | Annex No. 2 (Article 19) |
Notification | No decision by an authority is needed: the entrepreneur reports the start of the activity and undertakes to comply with the requirements | Annex No. 3 (Article 36) |
Qualification requirements | A certificate or professional status under a sector-specific law | For example, the Law “On the Management of Apartment Buildings” for item 88 |
The law lists licensed and notification-based activities in its annexes, and it prohibits introducing notification-based activities beyond those it provides for (Article 36). This means you need to check those annexes and the sector-specific law for your field — not the IE list.
Below are the items on the list for which additional requirements are confirmed by regulations. The table is not exhaustive: if an item is not in it, that does not mean no authorisation is needed.
Item | Requirement | Legal basis |
37, family guest houses and hostels | Inclusion of the property in the Unified Register of Family Guest Houses, Hostels, Yurt Camps and Tent Camps; the entry is made by the regional office of the Tourism Committee if the established requirements are met | |
47, cryptographic tools | Licence from the State Security Service for the development, production and sale of cryptographic information security tools | Annex No. 1 to ZRU-701 |
54, concert and entertainment activities | Licence, with a state duty payable every year for it to remain valid | Article 17 of ZRU-701 |
65, veterinary activities | Licence for veterinary laboratory and diagnostic work; notification for starting veterinary treatment and prevention activities | Annexes No. 1 and No. 3 to ZRU-701 |
66, road freight transport | Licence for international road freight transport | Annex No. 1 to ZRU-701 |
71, scrap metal collection | Only a business entity holding a licence for the purchase, sorting and processing of scrap may act as a scrap metal collector | Paragraph 2 of the Regulation approved by CMR No. 425 of 6 June 2018, as amended by CMR No. 175 |
80, tourism activities | Licence for domestic and inbound tourism activities; notification to the Tourism Committee for starting travel agency activities | Annexes No. 1 and No. 3 to ZRU-701 |
85, artisanal mining of precious metals | Permit for the right to use a subsoil plot for artisanal mining | Article 16 of Law No. ZRU-710 “On Precious Metals and Precious Stones”; Chapter 12 of Law No. ZRU-987 “On Subsoil” |
88, apartment building management | Registration as an IE and a qualification (certification) certificate | Law No. ZRU-581 of 7 November 2019, in force since 1 August 2020 |
91, educational outreach | No licence, but paid classes are conducted under a written or electronic contract; a programme is mandatory where minors take part; children under 14 may attend only with written parental consent; groups of 100 or more people follow the rules for mass events |
CMR — Cabinet of Ministers Resolution.
Item 47 is broader than the licence: it also covers the design, repair and use of such tools. Check the requirements for these actions against the licensing regulation for this field.
If an authority delays its decision, the law protects the applicant. An application for a licence or permit-type document must be considered within 20 working days; for certain activities, the Cabinet of Ministers may set a longer period (Article 28(2) of ZRU-701). If the authority neither issues the document nor refuses within that period, the applicant may start the activity, but must first pay the state duty or fee through the special electronic system “Litsenziya” (Licence). The applicant is then issued the licence or permit-type document, cannot be held liable for operating without it, and the consequences fall on the authority (Article 28(5) and (6), as amended by Law No. ZRU-1099, in force since 1 March 2026).
Since 14 August 2026, a special regime called “Business Entry Without a Licence” has been in effect (Article 28¹ of ZRU-701, introduced by Law No. ZRU-1164). Its conditions are as follows:
- the applicant notifies the competent authority free of charge through the Litsenziya system or the Single Portal of Interactive Public Services;
- the regime lasts three months, and throughout that period the applicant cannot be held liable for operating without a licence or permit-type document;
- within those three months, the applicant must bring the activity into line with the licensing or permitting requirements and obtain the licence or permit-type document — or stop the activity;
- the regime applies only to the activities specified in the regulations on licensing and permitting procedures approved by the Cabinet of Ministers, and in their procedure passports (the official standard description of each procedure).
So before you start, check whether the regime covers your particular activity.
5. What to Do If Your Activity Is Not on the List
You cannot register an IE under a “similar” item and in practice carry out a different activity: paragraph 2 of Resolution No. 6 expressly prohibits individuals from carrying out activities that are not on the list. Work through the following steps.
- Reread the entire list by action, not by name. The work you need is often covered by general wording: “renovation services for the public” (item 43), “production and placement of advertising” (item 52), “services using specialised machinery” (item 73).
- Check crafts. Section II refers to a separate list of crafts, and some types of manual production may be found there. Keep in mind that crafts cannot be combined with other activities under a single registration.
- Split the business. If only one line of business is missing from the list, decide whether you can drop it or move it into a separate structure.
- If you work alone, without employees, check whether self-employed status would suit you: it has its own, separate list of activities.
- Consider a legal entity. A limited liability company (LLC) may carry out any activity not prohibited by law. For a detailed comparison of business structures — liability, taxes, profit withdrawal — see our article “LLC vs Sole Proprietorship in Uzbekistan: Which Business Structure Should You Choose?”.
- Check authorisation requirements for the new structure too. Switching to an LLC removes the restriction of the list, but not licensing requirements.
6. Combining Activities and Changing Them After Registration
Can you combine several activities? Yes, but within the limits of the registration application form:
- one main activity and no more than two additional ones from the list;
- “import and retail trade in goods” (item 5) cannot be selected together with other activities;
- crafts cannot be selected together with other activities.
How to change or add an activity. A change in an IE’s type or line of activity is subject to mandatory re-registration within 30 days of the change (Annex No. 7 to the Registration Regulation). The application is filed through the registration system on the Single Portal of Interactive Public Services or at a Public Services Centre, and re-registration takes place in real time. The application again states one main activity and up to two additional ones.
If the new activity is licensed, you obtain a licence for it separately: under Article 13 of ZRU-701, a licence is issued for each type of activity. If the new line of business is not on the list, re-registration will not help — you need a different business structure.
7. Checklist Before Registering as an Individual Entrepreneur
Once you have chosen your activity, the next question is tax. The right regime depends on turnover, imports and your customers; we cover it in our article “Turnover Tax, 12% VAT, or 6% VAT: How to Choose a Tax Regime in Uzbekistan in 2026”. If you would rather not keep the books yourself, you can outsource them through our accounting services.
Conclusion
The IE activity list is a closed list: if your work is not on it, you cannot do it as an IE. Once you have found your item, read its qualifiers, check the wording against the official text and, separately, check whether you need a licence or notification. These three checks will protect you from a registration refusal and from operating without the required authorisation.
