Deputy Prime Minister, Minister of National Economy Serik Zhumangarin stated that the government and deputies have reached a compromise on the issue of the threshold for Value Added Tax (VAT) and the tax rate.
According to Tengrinews.kz, the Mazhilis is currently considering amendments to the new Tax Code in the first reading. In his report, Serik Zhumangarin stated that the government and deputies had managed to develop common approaches.
"VAT will be 16% (currently 12%). The VAT threshold will be set at 40 million tenge. This is the fruit of the compromise we have reached. But I want to say that against this backdrop we are losing 160,000 new taxpayers and missing out on about 400 billion in additional revenue. I say this so that our businessmen understand that our government and Parliament are ready to make such compromises," Zhumangarin declared.
According to him, Kazakhstan has also prepared norms that will tighten the rules for opening new individual enterprises (IEs).
"For those who have previously committed violations, those who have additional inactive IEs, opening new IEs will be a more complicated process," the Deputy Prime Minister added.
At the same time, the Deputy Prime Minister outlined the key parameters of the new Special Tax Regime (STR) for entrepreneurs. It is noted that the reform is aimed at simplifying the tax system and supporting businessmen who work with the public.
"It will now be called the STR based on a simplified declaration. The income limit of 600,000 MCI remains, as it is now," Zhumangarin reported.
Another innovation is the removal of restrictions on the number of employees for entrepreneurs using the STR. As it became known, the tax rate under the new regime will be 4%, while local maslikhats will have the right to reduce it by half.
"The government proposed extending the regime only to certain types of activities, and the main condition is only B2C operations. At the same time, B2B operations can only be carried out within the framework of the special regime. If a taxpayer working under the general regime buys goods or services from a 'special regime' taxpayer, they are not entitled to deduct such expenses," the Deputy Prime Minister noted.
Zhumangarin added that the new conditions do not require small businesses working with individuals to pay VAT.
"Corner shops, hairdressers and entrepreneurs working with the public will not become VAT payers. They should not be afraid," the Deputy Prime Minister assured.
Incidentally, the government had previously proposed making the VAT rate differentiated: 16%, 10% and 0% for various sectors of the economy. At the same time, the collegial body had proposed reducing the threshold for VAT from 20,000 MCI (78.6 million tenge) to 3,800 MCI (about 15 million tenge). In turn, deputies proposed cutting the threshold to 10,000 MCI (39.3 million tenge).