The Finance and Budget Committee of the Majilis (Kazakh Parliament) convened a roundtable discussion last week to examine the latest Draft Package of the New Tax Code. The roundtable was moderated by Gulzhana Karagusova, Chair of the Finance and Budget Committee.

I was pleased to represent ITIC in the discussion, as there are numerous issues under discussion that pertain to investors in all sectors of the economy.

Ruslan Dalenov, First Deputy Minister of National Economy, spoke about the reform rationale underpinning the New Tax Code, and noted two of the Ministry of National Economy’s tax reform priorities revolving around state-business partnerships and the introduction of BEPS.

Deputy Minister of Finance Kanat Bayadilov presented the new approaches planned for tax administration, including:

Reduction of scheduled and non-scheduled tax audits by 56%.
Introduction of universal e-invoicing.
Improvements in VAT administration (although vague statements still do not address the core problem of refunds).
Introduction of Horizontal Monitoring.

Rustam Zhursunov, Deputy Chairman, National Chamber of Entrepreneurs "Atameken," presented the business community’s main concerns, including:

Stability of tax legislation.
Creating conditions to decrease shadow economy activities of certain businesses.
Reducing the burden of the Wage Fund.
Increasing the motivation and performance of tax administration.

During her closing remarks, Mme. Karagusova noted that the Majilis Tax Working Group (headed by MP Amanzhan Zhamalov) will start accepting submissions and proposals to the New Tax Code shortly. The Working Group will then begin hearings on the Draft New Tax Code in September.

Mukhit Akhanov is President of ITIC Kazakhstan.