ASTANA, Kazakhstan, February 12. The implementation of tax reforms in Kazakhstan is expected to increase annual tax revenues to 4-5 trillion tenge ($9.8 billion), said Kazakhstan's Vice Minister of Finance, Yerzhan Birzhanov, during a meeting with the business community in Kazakhstan’s Pavlodar region, Trend reports.
In the course of the meeting, the key amendments to the tax legislation planned for the near future were presented.
"This regime will involve a 4 percent deduction: 2 percent for pension contributions, 1 percent for health insurance, and 1 percent for social contributions," explained Birzhanov.
The Vice Minister also addressed concerns about potential increases in food prices due to higher tax burdens. He assured that agricultural products would remain untaxed, while retail taxation would stay in its current form. The Ministry of Finance is also considering reducing ineffective tax benefits and introducing progressive individual income tax rates for high-income citizens.
One of the main innovations highlighted was the introduction of a simplified tax regime for individuals earning up to 15 million tenge ($29.600) annually. Such individuals will no longer need to register as sole proprietors. This measure aims to support a broad category of self-employed workers - such as couriers, taxi drivers, and artisans - by allowing them to engage in platform-based employment through aggregator operators without unnecessary bureaucratic hurdles.
Whereas previously 1 percent went to pay income tax, now these funds will remain with the self-employed as part of their future pension and social savings. If income exceeds the threshold, individuals will be obliged to register as VAT payers.
The government is discussing a potential increase in the VAT rate to 16 percent to boost budget revenues. This measure is intended to maintain the stability of the National Fund and finance priority state projects such as investor lending, the development of agricultural institutions, defense expenditures, modernization of public utilities, and improvements to the heating, gas transport, mechanical engineering, manufacturing, water supply, and sanitation systems.
"In recent years, we have been withdrawing funds from the National Fund, although its main purpose is to invest in the future," reminded Birzhanov.
The proposed tax reforms aim to strike a balance between supporting businesses and increasing budget revenues to address the country’s social needs. During the meeting, local entrepreneurs had the opportunity to ask questions and make suggestions that will be considered as the initiatives are further refined.
To note, the reduction of the VAT registration threshold to 15 million tenge ($29.600) had already been discussed earlier with the Government of Kazakhstan.