State Revenue Committee

of the Ministry of Finance of the Republic of Kazakhstan

PRESS RELEASE

A seminar on the theme: “Introduction of a new mechanism for VAT refund using Blockchain technology” was held in Almaty 

On February 28, 2019, the State Revenue Committee of the Ministry of Finance of the Republic of Kazakhstan jointly with the State Revenue Department with the support of Al-Farabi Kazakh National University held a seminar with taxpayers on “Introduction of a new mechanism for VAT refund in the use of VAT control accounts by taxpayers with the Blockchain technology”.

The use of Blockchain technology in the tax collection system is one of the innovations of the fourth industrial revolution. In general, digital technologies will give a powerful impetus to the development of the tax and customs industries. Starting from the new year, Blockchain technology is being introduced to implement new methods of administering value-added tax. This significantly saves time and money of large taxpayers, as well as representatives of small and medium-sized businesses.

The seminar was attended by the employees of the State Revenue Committee MF RK, National Bank of the RK, representatives of “E-invoicing” IS, “Virtual Warehouse” developers, “1C-Rating” LLP, UNCTAD Office, as well as over 1,300 taxpayers, customs representatives, Administration of Foreign Economic Activity for Almaty city and Almaty regions.

Opening the seminar, the Head of the State Revenue Department for Almaty Tynysbekov Askar Stanislavovich made an introductory speech, familiarized the audience with the seminar program and introduced the seminar participants.

The Head of the End-to-End Monitoring Department of the SRC MF RK Dosmagambetov Garifolla in his speech emphasized the main features and benefits of the implementation of the Blockchain technology.

The Deputy Head of the End-to-End Monitoring Department of the SRC MF RK Saltanat Matkulova, spoke on the topic “The features of VAT refund when the VAT control account is used by VAT payers”. She introduced to taxpayers new methods of VAT administration and gave a detailed presentation on the taxpayers’ work with the information system VAT Blockchain, and also answered the questions about the procedure for filing a claim for VAT refund.

The Coordinator of the UNCTAD office Umitkul Gubasheva elaborated on the electronic customs declaration of goods and the procedure for transferring information to the ASTANA-1 Information System. She told about the start of operation of the ASTANA-1 Information System, and also highlighted the advantages of this program both for participants of foreign economic activities and for those involved in customs operations. She explained the procedure for transferring information from the Astana-1 Information System to the VAT-Blockchain Information System, including: for electronic customs declarations based on which goods were exported (including the fact of crossing the EEU border when exporting goods); on customs declarations based on which the goods were imported; on customs declarations / “List of goods” based on which goods were imported into the territory of the SEZ, on “Receipt order” completed by airports during refueling of foreign aircraft after customs authorities’ marks.

In addition, during the seminar, the topics on the following issues were covered:

- IS “E-invoicing” and the functionality “Virtual Warehouse” in terms of goods accounting when taxpayers use the VAT control account;

- Registration of 1-С operations in the taxpayer’s accounting system: Accounting when using the VAT control account;

- International experience on the use of separate payments for transactions on one item and VAT amounts by the use of special VAT accounts in the European Union countries by VAT payers.

- On the procedure for opening VAT control accounts in subdivisions (branches) of second-tier banks located in Kazakhstan.

Additionally, since 27.02.2019, taxpayers and participants of foreign economic activity have been able to send their questions using the WhatsApp messenger, in which a special group for the seminar was created.

During the seminar, the speakers gave exhaustive answers, which were received in advance and during the seminar, to taxpayers and participants of foreign economic activity using the WhatsApp messenger.

As a whole, the seminar took place in a friendly atmosphere, was constructive and accessible to understanding by taxpayers and participants of foreign economic activity.

Press Service of SRC MF RK

(Zhenis Ave, 11)