juris.hq
Starting a companyUpdated 30.08.2026

Should a foreign company open a branch or an Uzbek LLC?

Short answer

Usually the LLC. A branch is a permanent establishment with a narrower life.

LLCA subsidiary is a local person — it holds assets, hires, licenses and banks in its own name, and its parent’s risk stops at the contribution (LLC Law, Arts. 3–4 — lex.uz ↗)
PEA branch is the foreign company itself — a fixed place of business or sustained work makes a permanent establishment, registered and taxed on its Uzbek result (Tax Code, Art. 36 — lex.uz ↗)
15%Same profit tax either way — a permanent establishment pays profit tax at the standard rate on the profit attributable to it (Tax Code, Arts. 337, 347 — lex.uz ↗)
AccessAccreditation is its own procedure — a representative office is accredited rather than registered, and is meant for representation, not trade
What the law provides

The subsidiary and the branch answer different questions. An LLC is a separate Uzbek legal person: it can own property, employ, take licences and open accounts in its own name, and the foreign parent risks its contribution rather than itself. A branch or sustained on-the-ground activity is the foreign company operating directly — for tax purposes a permanent establishment, which must register and pay profit tax on the result attributable to its Uzbek activity. (Tax Code, Art. 36 — lex.uz ↗)

Because the tax on the substance converges, the choice is usually made by everything else: banking, licensing and contracting run more smoothly for a local entity, and a representative office — the accredited, non-trading presence — cannot carry a business. The accreditation procedure sits in its own legislation; the practical comparison for most founders ends at the LLC.

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Part of the answer bank 89 questions, each cited to the article it rests on.