On 12.12.2023, the Head of State signed the Law of the Republic of Kazakhstan "On Amendments and Additions to the Code of the Republic of Kazakhstan "On Taxes and Other Mandatory Payments to the Budget" (Tax Code) and the Law of the Republic of Kazakhstan "On the Enactment of the Code of the Republic of Kazakhstan "On Taxes and Other Mandatory Payments to the Budget" (Tax Code)", providing for the following changes and additions:

the exclusion of the obligation to store for five years from the date of printing or full filling of replacement reports, cash books and commodity receipts, as well as cancellation, refund and control checks, for which cancellation and refund operations were carried out for taxpayers using cash registers with data transfer function (effective January 1, 2024);

the introduction of the obligation of the organizers of the gambling business, which carries out the activities of a bookmaker and (or) a totalizator, to submit to the Committee information about participants in gambling and betting, and their winnings through the integration of information systems (effective after 60 days from the date of the first official publication);

granting the right to state revenue authorities to transfer information for use in the IAS "Smart Data Ukimet" when selecting control subjects for verification without human participation in automatic mode (effective from January 1, 2024);

maintaining the taxpayer's obligation, when confirming the location, to submit in person to the state revenue authority a written explanation of the reasons for the absence at the time of the tax inspection, accompanied by copies of documents and the original (for verification) or notarized copies of documents (effective from January 1, 2024);

on desk control (to be put into effect after sixty calendar days after the date of its first official publication):

exclusion of the taxpayer's obligation to submit documents with extracts from the registers of tax and accounting and documents related to these violations, to an explanation of disagreement with violations identified by the results of desk control;

replacement of the taxpayer's obligation to attach copies of documents confirming the fact of carrying out operations (transactions) specified in violations with the obligation to indicate the circumstances confirmed by documents on the implementation of operations (transactions) specified in the notification;

exclusion of the obligation to provide an explanation indicating the circumstances of disagreement and the mandatory attachment of documents for medium-risk notifications, while maintaining this obligation only for high-risk notifications;

exclusion of the right of state revenue authorities to make a decision on recognizing a notification as unfulfilled for medium-risk notifications, while retaining such a right only for high-risk notifications;

an exception to the number of grounds for suspending expenditure transactions on taxpayer's bank accounts is the presence of a decision of the state revenue authority to declare unfulfilled a notification on the elimination of violations identified by the results of desk control;

cancellation of the order on suspension of expenditure transactions on bank accounts no later than one business day following the day of elimination of the reasons for suspension of expenditure transactions on bank accounts;

addition the basis for conducting a thematic audit is the issue of determining the tax liability for mutual settlements with the taxpayer (taxpayers), in respect of whom (which) the state revenue authority has applied restrictions, on the issuance of electronic invoices;

replacing the grounds for conducting a thematic audit in terms of "failure by the taxpayer (tax agent) to comply with the notification" with "confirmation of violations specified in the notification".

Informing taxpayers about the decision to restrict the issuance of electronic invoices in the following additional ways: by registered mail with notification or to the taxpayer under signature;

providing an opportunity for a taxpayer (tax agent) to send a complaint to the notification of the results of the audit through the e-government portal, as well as sending a decision on the complaint by the state revenue authority in electronic form, with a certificate by means of an electronic digital signature;

оn corporate income tax:

clarification of the editorial board in the part that the costs of intangible services purchased from a non–resident - an interconnected party of management, consulting, consulting, auditing, design, legal, accounting, advocacy, advertising, marketing, franchising, financial (except for remuneration costs), engineering, agency - are not deductible services, royalties, rights to use intellectual property objects only when such a non–resident - related party is registered in a state with preferential taxation.
This condition also applies to the related norm in order to reduce taxable income for the above services (effective from January 1, 2023);

according to the taxation of microfinance organizations:

income from reducing the size of provisions (reserves) for the purposes of calculating CIT created by a microfinance organization is not recognized as income in the event of a decrease in the amount of the claim against the debtor in connection with the forgiveness of such an organization of bad debts on microcredit and remuneration for it within the maximum ratio of the total amount of bad debts forgiven for the tax period microcredit arrears and remuneration on them to the amount of the principal debt at the beginning of the tax period (effective from January 1, 2024);

income from termination of obligations under a loan (loan, microcredit) is not considered as the annual income of an individual subject to taxation if the termination of obligations is carried out as a result of debt forgiveness on a loan (loan, microcredit) issued by a bank (microfinance organization), including on the principal debt, remuneration, commission, penalty (penalty fine), as well as for the state fee paid by the creditor (effective from January 1, 2024);

on changes in taxation of state-issued securities:

exclusion of the right to reduce taxable income by the amount of income in the form of remuneration for state-issued securities, as well as income from value gains from the sale of state-issued securities reduced by losses from the sale of state-issued securities (effective from January 1, 2030);

the provisions of subparagraphs 2), 3), 4) and 9) of paragraph 2 of Article 288 of the Tax Code do not apply to income received by second-tier banks on state-issued securities issued by the National Bank of the Republic of Kazakhstan (effective from March 1, 2024);

exclusion of benefits in terms of full exemption from taxation of income of non-residents from CIT in the form of remuneration for state-issued securities (effective from January 1, 2030);

exclusion of benefits in terms of full exemption of income of non-residents in the form of remuneration in the absence of trading on the stock exchange in accordance with the criteria determined by the Government of the Republic of Kazakhstan (effective from January 1, 2024);

on taxation of dividends (for resident legal entities) (effective from January 1, 2023):
 - exclusion of provisions on the non-application of adjustments to total annual income from corporate income tax in respect of dividends on securities placed on the KASE, AIFC exchanges, if active trading on the stock exchange was not carried out during the tax period (criteria are determined by the Government Of the Republic of Kazakhstan);
           exclusion of the provision on corporate income tax in the form of income taxed at the source of payment of dividends on securities placed on the KASE and AIFC exchanges, if active trading on the exchange was not carried out during the tax period;
according to the temporary balancing board (effective from January 1, 2024):

- granting the right to deduction for expenses incurred by the National Infrastructure Operator in connection with the provision of services to the mainline railway network for the carriage of passengers by rail to a railway carrier engaged in the carriage of passengers, baggage, cargo, mail, free of charge, including the application of a temporary reduction factor of 0 to the tariff for regulated services of the mainline railway network for the carriage of passengers by rail;

- granting the right for the cargo carrier to deduct expenses for the paid temporary balancing fee (within the limits established by the state body in charge of natural monopolies) to the operator of locomotive traction in passenger traffic;
 - recognition of sales turnover, receipt of a temporary balancing fee, in accordance with the legislation of the Republic of Kazakhstan on railway transport, by the operator of locomotive traction in passenger traffic;

- non-recognition of sales turnover, provision by the National Operator of infrastructure, services of the mainline railway network for the carriage of passengers by rail to a railway carrier engaged in the carriage of passengers, baggage, cargo, mail, free of charge, including with the application of a temporary reduction factor of 0 to the tariff for regulated services of the mainline railway network when transporting passengers by rail;

- granting the right to offset the amount of VAT on goods, works, services used or to be used by the National Infrastructure Operator to provide a railway carrier engaged in the transportation of passengers, baggage, cargo, mail, services of the main railway network when transporting passengers by rail free of charge, including with the use of a temporary reduction factor of 0 to the tariff for regulated services of the mainline railway network when transporting passengers by rail;

on individual income tax (IIT):

providing the possibility of applying the deduction of professional payments at the expense of the employer in determining taxable income when calculating the CIT (effective from January 1, 2024);

it is not considered as income of an individual:

professional payment at the expense of the employer in accordance with the Labor Code of the Republic of Kazakhstan (effective from January 1, 2024);

cost increase in the sale (transfer as a contribution to the authorized capital of a legal entity) of parking spaces located on the territory of the Republic of Kazakhstan on the right of ownership for one year and more from the date of registration of ownership (effective from January 1, 2022);

targeted savings in the form of payments from the unified accumulative pension fund, as well as directed to an individual pension account to account for voluntary pension contributions (effective from January 1, 2024);

material benefit from saving on the cost of goods, works, services when they are purchased at the expense of the amount accrued for previously made purchases or received works, services (effective from January 1, 2018);

according to property income

recognition as income from value gains when an individual sells parking spaces located on the territory of the Republic of Kazakhstan on the right of ownership for less than a year from the date of registration of ownership (effective from January 1, 2022);

determination of the purchase price (cost), in case of sale by an individual of a mechanical vehicle and (or) trailer imported from the territory of a state that is not a member of the Eurasian Economic Union, subject to state registration in the Republic of Kazakhstan, owned for less than a year, which were previously imported into the territory of the Republic of Kazakhstan, the price (cost) specified in the agreement (contract) or other supporting document, which also takes into account customs and recycling payments specified in the declaration for goods and paid upon import of such motor vehicles and (or) trailers (effective from January 1, 2023);

on the imposition of lump-sum pension payments

clarification of the procedure for withholding personal income tax in the presence or conclusion of a pension annuity agreement with an insurance company with an individual, as well as in the case of a lump-sum pension payment to an individual who is a recipient of pension payments for years of service (effective from July 1, 2023);

determination of the amount of taxable income on lump-sum pension payments from the unified accumulative pension fund in the form of the sum of lump-sum pension payments minus the standard deduction for persons with disabilities, persons equated to them, parents, guardians, guardians of a child with a disability or a person with a disability since childhood, as well as one of the adoptive parents (adoptive parents), one of the foster parents who have adopted orphaned children and children left without parental care into a foster family (effective January 1, 2021);

establishment of the excise tax rate for brewing products in the amount of 90 tenge/liter, in order to unify excise rates in accordance with the agreement on harmonization of excise policy within the EAEU countries (effective from January 1, 2025);

on state duty:

provision of deferral on payment of state duty in courts (effective from January 1, 2024);
the establishment of a zero rate instead of the rate of 1 MCI for the state fee from citizens' appeals to the Constitutional Court of the Republic of Kazakhstan (effective from January 1, 2024);
exclusion of an application for the cancellation of a court decision in absentia from the categories of applications subject to exemption from payment of state duty in courts (effective from January 1, 2024);
exclusion of the norm for exempting a privileged category of individuals from paying state duty from submitted appeals to the Constitutional Court (effective from January 1, 2024);

on vehicle tax:

exclusion of the characteristic "on the chassis of a passenger car" in relation to motor vehicles with a cargo platform and a driver's cabin separated from the cargo compartment by a rigid stationary partition (pickup trucks) classified as passenger cars (effective from January 1, 2024);

change of the authorized state body providing information on stolen (stolen) vehicles in connection with a change in the procedural concept in the CPC of the Republic of Kazakhstan regarding the registration of a theft application (effective from January 1, 2024);

on payment for the use of land plots:

establishment of the procedure for payment of fees for land plots unused for appropriate purposes or used in violation of the legislation of the Republic of Kazakhstan (effective from January 1, 2024);

establishment of a separate procedure for calculating and paying fees for the use of land plots for subsoil plots in accordance with the legislation of the Republic of Kazakhstan on subsoil and subsoil use on the basis of a license for exploration or extraction of solid minerals (effective from January 1, 2024);

on digital mining:

VAT exemption on the sale of cryptocurrencies (effective from January 1, 2024);
          the establishment of a fixed fee rate for digital mining in the amount of 2 tenge per 1 kW/hour of electricity consumed and the exclusion of a rate of 10 tenge per 1 kW/hour of electricity consumed, when consuming electricity produced at own power plants (effective from January 1, 2024);

  on universal declaration:

 the establishment of a single deadline for submitting declarations both in electronic form and on paper is September 15 of the year following the reporting calendar year (effective from January 1, 2024);

exclusion of the procedure for submitting by individual entrepreneurs, persons engaged in private practice, a declaration of assets and liabilities, income and property at the location, with the submission of such a declaration at the place of residence (effective from January 1, 2024);

reducing the list of declared information by excluding information on income taxed at the source of payment and property registered in the Republic of Kazakhstan in connection with the receipt of such information from tax agents, authorized bodies, organizations and other sources, the exception is persons subject to the requirement of the Law of the Republic of Kazakhstan "On Combating Corruption" (introduced in effective from January 1, 2024);

according to the special tax regime of retail tax:

restriction of the right to apply a special tax regime of retail tax by legal entities in which the founder or participant is simultaneously the founder or participant of another legal entity applying a special tax regime (effective after sixty calendar days after the date of its first official publication);

clarification of the procedure for determining income when applying the SNR of retail tax, where the income received is determined collectively, is similar to the procedure for determining income established by Article 681 of the Tax Code (effective sixty calendar days after the date of its first official publication);

granting the right to local representative bodies to make a decision on lowering the retail tax rate by March 31, 2024 (effective from January 1, 2024);

on taxation of special economic zones (hereinafter referred to as SEZ):

exclusion of provisions on approval of lists of priority activities carried out in the territories of the SEZ, by a decree of the Government of the Republic of Kazakhstan (hereinafter referred to as PPRK), in connection with maintaining a list of priority activities carried out in the territories of the SEZ, by an authorized body (Ministry of Industry and Construction of the Republic of Kazakhstan) (effective from January 1, 2024);
 the introduction of a differentiated approach to the provision of tax benefits in the FEZ on the principle of "the more investments, the more benefits", so the validity period of tax benefits will be determined directly depending on the volume of investments (effective from January 1, 2024).