Unofficial translation of the current version published in the “Adliya” Centralised Legal Information Bank of the Ministry of Justice of the Republic of Tajikistan (as of 19.10.2026). In case of any discrepancy, the official Tajik and Russian texts prevail.
(as amended by Laws of the RT No. 1491 of 02.01.2018 and No. 1940 of 24.12.2022)
This Law establishes the organisational and legal foundations for regulating charitable activity with a view to its development and provides for state support in this area (as amended by Law of the RT No. 1940 of 24.12.2022).
CHAPTER 1. GENERAL PROVISIONS
Article 1. Legislation of the Republic of Tajikistan on charitable activity
(as amended by Law of the RT No. 1491 of 02.01.2018)
The legislation of the Republic of Tajikistan on charitable activity is based on the Constitution of the Republic of Tajikistan and consists of this Law, other regulatory legal acts of the Republic of Tajikistan and international legal acts recognised by the Republic of Tajikistan.
Article 2. Basic concepts
The following basic concepts are used in this Law:
Charitable activity – voluntary activity of natural and legal persons providing material or other assistance (support), including in the form of disinterested (free of charge or on preferential terms) transfer to natural persons in need of such assistance or to legal entities directly providing such assistance, including the transfer of property and money to charitable organisations, disinterested performance of work and provision of services, or scientific, educational, awareness-raising or other activity carried out in the interests of society.
deleted (as amended by Law of the RT No. 1940 of 24.12.2022)
deleted (as amended by Law of the RT No. 1940 of 24.12.2022)
Benefactors – natural and legal persons carrying out charitable activity in the form of:
- disinterested (free of charge or on preferential terms) transfer of property into ownership, including money and intellectual property;
disinterested (free of charge or on preferential terms) granting of the rights to possess, use and dispose of any objects of property rights;
disinterested (free of charge or on preferential terms) performance of work and provision of services by benefactors – natural and legal persons;
Benefactors have the right to determine the purposes and procedure for using their donations.
Beneficiaries – natural and legal persons for whose benefit charitable activity is carried out.
Volunteers – natural persons carrying out charitable activity in the form of unpaid work in the interests of a beneficiary, including in the interests of a charitable organisation. A charitable organisation may directly pay the volunteers’ expenses connected with their work in that organisation (travel expenses, transport costs, etc.).
Charitable foundation – a non-membership non-profit organisation established by citizens or legal entities on the basis of voluntary property contributions and pursuing charitable goals (as amended by Law of the RT No. 1940 of 24.12.2022).
Grant – money and (or) other property provided free of charge and on a non-repayable basis to achieve certain goals in accordance with the legislation of the Republic of Tajikistan (as amended by Law of the RT No. 1940 of 24.12.2022).
Donation – voluntary unpaid assistance in money or in another form provided to non-profit organisations or to natural persons in need for charitable purposes, in the manner established by this Law.
Business companies created by charitable organisations – organisations that direct their profit to charitable purposes and whose founders (members) are exclusively charitable organisations.
Article 3. Purposes of charitable activity
Charitable activity includes:
social support, adaptation and protection of natural persons, including improving their material situation and the social rehabilitation of unemployed persons, persons unable to work, persons with disabilities and other persons who, due to their physical or intellectual characteristics or other circumstances, are unable to exercise their rights and legitimate interests on their own;
assistance to large and low-income families or to natural persons in need of adaptation or social protection;
assistance to children without parents (a parent), to preschool and other children’s institutions and to those caring for such children;
promoting the protection of motherhood and childhood;
strengthening the prestige and role of the family in society;
assistance to persons with disabilities and the elderly or to organisations caring for them;
assistance to victims of natural disasters, environmental, industrial or other catastrophes and social, ethnic or religious conflicts, to victims of repression, refugees and internally displaced persons;
support for natural persons in need of medical care or special care by paying for medical or related services (including travel to the place where such services are provided), or for organisations with the status of medical institutions;
promoting activity in the field of disease prevention and health protection, the promotion of a healthy lifestyle and the improvement of the moral and psychological well-being of citizens;
promoting activity in the field of education, science, culture, the arts, enlightenment and the spiritual development of the individual, including the establishment of scholarships;
promoting activity in the field of physical culture and mass sport;
protecting the population and the environment from pollution or other harmful effects;
assistance to penitentiary (correctional) institutions where such activity is aimed at improving the conditions of detention or medical care of prisoners;
- promoting peace, friendship and harmony among peoples and the prevention of social, ethnic and religious conflicts;
- protection and proper maintenance of buildings, sites and territories of historical, religious, devotional and cultural significance;
- other socially significant purposes determined in accordance with the legislation of the Republic of Tajikistan.
Article 4. Right to charitable activity
Natural and legal persons have the right to carry out charitable activity without hindrance on the basis of voluntariness and free choice of purposes in the common interest (as amended by Law of the RT No. 1491 of 02.01.2018).
Natural and legal persons have the right to carry out charitable activity freely, individually or jointly, with or without forming charitable organisations.
No one may restrict the freedom to choose the purposes of charitable activity established by this Law and the means of achieving them.
Article 5. Participants in charitable activity
The participants in charitable activity are:
- natural and legal persons carrying out charitable activity, including by supporting an existing charitable organisation or creating a new one (benefactors, volunteers);
- natural and legal persons in whose interests charitable activity is carried out (beneficiaries).
Article 6. Charitable organisation
A charitable organisation is a non-governmental, non-profit organisation created to carry out charitable activity and registered as a charitable organisation in the manner established by the legislation of the Republic of Tajikistan.
deleted (as amended by Law of the RT No. 1940 of 24.12.2022)
Article 7. Forms of charitable organisations
Charitable organisations are created in the form of public organisations (associations), foundations, institutions and other forms provided for by the legislation of the Republic of Tajikistan for charitable activity.
A charitable organisation may be created in the form of an institution if its founder is another charitable organisation.
CHAPTER 2. PROCEDURE FOR CREATING, REORGANISING AND LIQUIDATING A CHARITABLE ORGANISATION
Article 8. Founders of a charitable organisation
Depending on its form, the founders of a charitable organisation may be natural and legal persons.
Bodies of state power and self-government bodies of towns and villages, as well as state enterprises and institutions, may not be founders of a charitable organisation (as amended by Law of the RT No. 1491 of 02.01.2018).
Article 9. Creation of a charitable organisation
(as amended by Law of the RT No. 1491 of 02.01.2018)
A charitable organisation is created by natural and legal persons.
A charitable organisation is considered created and becomes a legal entity from the moment of its state registration in accordance with the legislation of the Republic of Tajikistan (as amended by Law of the RT No. 1491 of 02.01.2018).
Article 10. Charter of a charitable organisation
The charter of a charitable organisation must provide for:
- the name, purposes and legal form of the charitable organisation (as amended by Law of the RT No. 1940 of 24.12.2022);
- the structure of the charitable organisation and its governing and audit bodies; the conditions and procedure for acquiring and losing membership of the charitable organisation and the rights and duties of members in organisations with membership;
the rights and duties of the charitable organisation;
- the competence and procedure for forming the governing bodies of the charitable organisation, their terms of office and the location of the permanent body;
- the procedure for amending the charter of the charitable organisation;
- the sources of the money and other property of the charitable organisation and the rights of the charitable organisation and its structural units to manage property;
- the procedure for reorganising and liquidating the charitable organisation;
- other provisions provided for by the legislation of the Republic of Tajikistan.
Article 11. State registration of a charitable organisation
The state registration of a charitable organisation is carried out on the grounds and in the manner provided for by the legislation of the Republic of Tajikistan.
A decision of the registering body refusing state registration of a charitable organisation, as well as evasion of such registration, may be appealed in court.
Article 12. Supreme governing body of a charitable organisation
The supreme governing body of a charitable organisation is its collegial body (general meeting), formed in the manner provided for by the charter of the charitable organisation.
Decisions to create a charitable organisation and approve its charter are taken at the general meeting.
The exclusive competence of the supreme governing body of a charitable organisation includes:
- amending the charter of the charitable organisation;
- forming the executive bodies of the charitable organisation and its audit bodies and terminating their powers early;
- approving charitable programmes;
- approving the annual plan, the budget of the charitable organisation and its annual report;
- deciding to create commercial and non-profit organisations, to participate in such organisations and to open branches and representative offices;
- deciding to reorganise and liquidate the charitable organisation (except for a charitable foundation).
Members of the supreme governing body of a charitable organisation and its officials may not hold staff positions in the administration of commercial organisations of which this charitable organisation is a founder (member).
Article 13. Reorganisation and liquidation of a charitable organisation
The reorganisation and liquidation of a charitable organisation are carried out in the manner established by the legislation of the Republic of Tajikistan.
When a charitable organisation is liquidated, its property remaining after the claims of creditors have been satisfied is used for charitable purposes in the manner provided for by the charter or, if the charter does not provide for it, by decision of the liquidation commission.
CHAPTER 3. CONDITIONS AND PROCEDURE FOR THE ACTIVITY OF A CHARITABLE ORGANISATION
Article 14. Activity of a charitable organisation
A charitable organisation has the right to carry out activity aimed at achieving the purposes for which it was created, as well as charitable activity aimed at achieving the purposes provided for by this Law.
A charitable organisation has the right to engage in non-commercial activity to raise resources and to carry out non-sale operations.
A charitable organisation has the right to engage in entrepreneurial activity only to achieve the purposes for which it was created and in line with those purposes.
To create the material conditions necessary to achieve its purposes, a charitable organisation has the right to establish business companies. A charitable organisation may not participate in business companies together with other persons.
A charitable organisation may not spend its funds or use its property to support political parties, movements, groups or campaigns.
Article 15. Branches and representative offices of a charitable organisation
A charitable organisation has the right to create branches and open representative offices in the territory of the Republic of Tajikistan within the requirements of the legislation of the Republic of Tajikistan. Branches and representative offices are created abroad in accordance with the legislation of the foreign state, unless otherwise provided for by international treaties recognised by the Republic of Tajikistan.
Branches and representative offices are not legal entities; they are given property by the charitable organisation that created them and act on the basis of regulations approved by it. The property of branches and representative offices is recorded on their separate balance sheet and on the balance sheet of the charitable organisation that created them.
The heads of branches and representative offices are appointed by the supreme governing body of the charitable organisation and act on the basis of a power of attorney issued by the charitable organisation.
Branches and representative offices act on behalf of the charitable organisation that created them. The charitable organisation that created them is responsible for their activity.
Article 16. Unions (associations, councils) of charitable organisations
(as amended by Law of the RT No. 1940 of 24.12.2022)
Charitable organisations, regardless of their legal form, have the right to create unions (associations, councils), which are non-profit organisations, on the basis of founding agreements and charters adopted by the charitable organisations (as amended by Law of the RT No. 1940 of 24.12.2022).
Members of a union (association, council) of charitable organisations retain their independence and the rights of a legal entity (as amended by Law of the RT No. 1940 of 24.12.2022).
Unions (associations, councils) of charitable organisations are not liable for the obligations of their members. Members of unions (associations, councils) of charitable organisations bear subsidiary liability for their obligations in the amount and manner provided for by the founding documents of the union (association, council) (as amended by Law of the RT No. 1940 of 24.12.2022).
The creation, activity, reorganisation and liquidation of unions (associations, councils) of charitable organisations, including with the participation of foreign non-profit associations, are carried out in the manner established by the legislation of the Republic of Tajikistan (as amended by Law of the RT No. 1940 of 24.12.2022).
Article 17. Sources of the property of a charitable organisation
The sources of the property of a charitable organisation may be:
- contributions of the founders of the charitable organisation; membership fees (for membership-based charitable organisations); charitable donations, including earmarked ones (charitable grants), provided by natural and legal persons in money or in kind;
- income from non-sale operations; income from securities;
- income from entrepreneurial activity permitted by this Law;
- receipts from resource-raising activities (campaigns to attract benefactors and volunteers, including entertainment, cultural and sports events, campaigns to collect charitable donations, lotteries and auctions) in the manner established by the legislation of the Republic of Tajikistan, as well as the sale of property and donations received from benefactors in accordance with their wishes;
- income from the activity of business companies established by the charitable organisation;
- the work of volunteers;
other sources of income provided for by the legislation of the Republic of Tajikistan and connected with the main activity of the charitable organisation.
Article 18. Property of a charitable organisation
A charitable organisation may own, or hold other property rights to, buildings, structures, equipment, money, securities, information resources, results of intellectual activity and other types of property, unless the legislation of the Republic of Tajikistan provides otherwise (as amended by Law of the RT No. 1940 of 24.12.2022).
A charitable organisation may carry out any transactions with property it owns or holds on another right that do not contradict the legislation of the Republic of Tajikistan, the charter of the organisation or the rights of the benefactor.
A charitable organisation may not use more than 20 per cent of the funds it spends in a financial year to pay its administrative and management staff.
Unless otherwise established by the benefactor or the charitable programme, at least 80 per cent of a charitable donation in money must be used for charitable purposes within one year of its receipt by the charitable organisation. Charitable donations in kind are used for charitable purposes within one year of receipt, unless otherwise established by the benefactor or the charitable programme.
The transfer of the property of a charitable organisation (by sale, payment for goods, work or services or in other forms) to its founders (members) on terms more favourable to them than to other persons is not allowed.
Article 19. Spending of the funds of charitable organisations
The funds of charitable organisations may be spent on charitable purposes and on maintaining the charitable organisation. Maintenance costs may include:
- salaries of administrative and management staff;
- payroll charges;
- office and household expenses;
- business trips and official travel;
- purchase of equipment and supplies;
- major and routine repairs;
- rent;
- other expenses (settlements with the budget and extra-budgetary funds, etc.).
Earmarked donations intended for a charitable programme are used in accordance with the terms of the donation.
The limit on salary costs does not apply to the pay of persons employed in charitable programmes.
Funds spent on publishing the report on the activity of the charitable organisation and on the mandatory audit of charitable foundations count as expenses for charitable purposes.
Allocating funds from the republican and local budgets and other state targeted funds to charitable organisations is prohibited.
If the income of a charitable organisation’s budget exceeds its expenditure, the surplus must not be distributed among its founders (members) but must be used to achieve the purposes of the organisation (as amended by Law of the RT No. 1940 of 24.12.2022).
Article 20. Charitable programme
A charitable programme consists of a set of measures approved by the supreme governing body of the charitable organisation and aimed at solving specific tasks consistent with the statutory purposes of the organisation.
A charitable programme includes an estimate of expected receipts and planned expenditure (including the pay of persons involved in implementing the programme) and sets the stages and timeframes of its implementation.
At least 80 per cent of the income received in a financial year must be used to finance charitable programmes (including the costs of their material, technical, organisational and other support and the pay of persons involved in implementing them). For long-term charitable programmes, the funds received are used within the timeframes set by those programmes.
CHAPTER 4. STATE GUARANTEES OF CHARITABLE ACTIVITY
Article 21. State support for charitable activity
The state guarantees and ensures the protection of the rights and legitimate interests of natural and legal persons participating in charitable activity provided for by the legislation of the Republic of Tajikistan.
Officials who obstruct the exercise of the rights of natural and legal persons to carry out charitable activity are liable in accordance with the legislation of the Republic of Tajikistan.
Central and local bodies of state power may support participants in charitable activity in the established manner in the following ways (as amended by Law of the RT No. 1940 of 24.12.2022):
- nominating them for state awards of the Republic of Tajikistan and sectoral awards;
- granting tax, customs and other benefits provided for by the legislation of the Republic of Tajikistan;
- financing charitable programmes on the basis of the results of announced competitions;
- leasing state facilities free of charge or on preferential terms for their intended use (as amended by Law of the RT No. 1940 of 24.12.2022).
To support charitable activity and ensure interaction between bodies of state power, self-government bodies of towns and villages and charitable organisations, councils (committees) for the support of charity may be created, consisting of representatives of the legislative and executive authorities, charitable and public organisations and public figures. These councils (committees) have no powers of authority over participants in charitable activity (as amended by Law of the RT No. 1491 of 02.01.2018).
Their decisions are advisory.
Article 22. Oversight of the activity of a charitable organisation
The state body that registered a charitable organisation oversees compliance with the charter of charitable activity. A charitable organisation keeps accounting records in the manner established by the legislation of the Republic of Tajikistan (as amended by Law of the RT No. 1940 of 24.12.2022).
A charitable organisation ensures open access to its annual reports, including for the mass media.
Information on the amount and structure of the income of a charitable organisation, as well as on the amount of its property, its expenditure, the number of employees, their pay and the involvement of volunteers, may not be a trade secret.
The activity of a charitable organisation is overseen by state supervisory bodies within their competence.
Disputes between a charitable organisation and natural and legal persons who transferred funds to it for charitable purposes concerning the use of those funds are considered in court.
CHAPTER 5. FINAL PROVISIONS
Article 23. International charitable activity
Participants in charitable activity have the right to carry out international charitable activity in the manner established by the legislation of the Republic of Tajikistan and international treaties recognised by the Republic of Tajikistan.
International charitable activity is carried out through participation in international charitable projects and in the work of international charitable organisations, interaction with foreign partners in the relevant field of charitable activity, and in any other form accepted in international practice that does not contradict the legislation of the Republic of Tajikistan and the norms and principles of international law.
A charitable organisation has the right to open accounts in banks of other states in accordance with the legislation of those countries.
A charitable organisation has the right to receive charitable donations from foreign citizens and stateless persons, as well as from foreign and international organisations. Such donations are used in the manner permitted and established by this Law.
Article 24. Charitable activity of foreign citizens, stateless persons and foreign and international organisations in the territory of the Republic of Tajikistan
Foreign citizens, stateless persons and foreign and international organisations have the right to participate in charitable activity in the territory of the Republic of Tajikistan in accordance with this Law.
Article 25. Liability for violating this Law
Natural and legal persons who violate the requirements of this Law are liable in accordance with the legislation of the Republic of Tajikistan.
Article 26. Entry into force of this Law
This Law shall enter into force after its official publication.
President of the Republic of Tajikistan E. Rakhmonov
Dushanbe, 22 April 2003, No. 18