Every time a letter from the State Revenue Committee arrives in the mail, accountants across Kazakhstan tense up. Even when it's just a thank you for the taxes paid. This reflex is the best evidence of how complicated the relationship between business and tax authorities has been. But things are changing.
Zhenebek Nurzhanov, Deputy Chairman of the State Revenue Committee, in an interview with entrepreneur and founder of the electronic document management service Maxim Baryshev, discussed how the SRC views business from the inside, what is really worth fearing, and what tax amnesty means in practice.
Budget Overperformance: Why January's Numbers Are Misleading
At the beginning of 2026, publications appeared stating that in January, the budget fell short of taxes, and analysts immediately linked this to the new tax code. Then in February, the budget was overperformed — the republican by 361 billion tenge, the local by 298 billion tenge — and the pendulum swung in the opposite direction.
Nurzhanov explains: both interpretations are incorrect. In February, taxes for the fourth quarter of the previous year traditionally come in — VAT, mineral extraction tax. Comparing January with January or drawing conclusions about the impact of the new code based on two months is statistically meaningless. The first real data will not appear until April-May when payments for the first quarter of 2026 are made.
The takeaway for entrepreneurs is simple: do not rely on hasty analytical forecasts. Official data is published monthly on the websites of the Ministry of Finance and the SRC.
How the SRC Chooses Who to Audit
Annually, tax audits affect about 1% of taxpayers — roughly 20,000 out of two million. Planned audits are canceled this year, but that does not mean there are fewer audits. Unplanned ones remain — and they operate on a tax risk system.
What signals attract the SRC's attention?
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Mismatch between the scale of work and staff. A company provides cleaning services for a large facility, but there are no employees on staff — this is a direct risk. Or a restaurant where 100 million tenge passes through the cash register annually, yet only one chef is listed on staff.
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Splitting the payroll through individual entrepreneurs. If a company has been attracting hundreds of individual entrepreneurs for years, who before and after were its regular employees providing the same services — the tax authorities see this and qualify it as a scheme.
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Economically unjustified transactions. Nurzhanov describes a telling case: a company transferred 50 million tenge to an individual entrepreneur for transportation services, although the entrepreneur himself stated in the explanation that he spent only 2 million tenge on the work, paying it to three individuals under civil contracts. The question the SRC asks: what normal business would pay 50 million for something that can be bought for 2 million?
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Mismatch of activity types. A company imported children's toys but issues invoices for construction materials, which it never had in stock.
The main principle to remember: the SRC does not know in advance who the violator is. The risk management system identifies anomalies — statistical deviations from the industry norm. If your indicators fit into a reasonable picture, the likelihood of an audit is minimal.
How to Check a Counterparty Yourself
Nurzhanov shared simple criteria he personally uses.
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The first two digits of the BIN — the year the company was registered. A company with a BIN starting with 07 has existed since 2007 — almost 20 years of history. A company with a BIN of 24 or 25 is a newcomer with increased risks.
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On the SRC website, you can see the amount of taxes paid by any BIN. A company that paid 100,000 tenge a year is small and unreliable. A company with hundreds of millions in taxes paid is a completely different level of trust.
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The company's OKED. If you need building materials, but the supplier's classifier states "cleaning services" — that's a red flag.
Simplified System and B2B: What the Real Problem Is
The restriction of deductions on transactions between companies on the general regime and businesses on the simplified declaration has become the most painful norm of the new code. Nurzhanov does not shy away from the topic.
His explanation is based on historical logic: the simplified declaration was conceived as a temporary lift for beginners — from a patent to a full-fledged business with VAT and CIT. Small thresholds, simple accounting, minimal burden — while the entrepreneur gets on their feet.
But since 2007, the conditions of the simplified system have gradually improved: the turnover threshold increased, the rate decreased. As a result, an anomaly formed: 1.2 million taxpayers work on the simplified declaration against 600,000 on the general regime. In many cases, the simplified system ceased to be a growth tool — it became a way to constantly remain in a preferential regime.
Meanwhile, B2B transaction turnovers through the simplified system grew exponentially: in 2023 — 5.4 trillion tenge, in 2024 — already about 10 trillion. Of these, 4.1 trillion are services. It is this volume that raised questions about the reality of transactions.
There is no complete ban — there is a restriction on deductions. The solution the SRC is counting on: 116,000 entrepreneurs who actually work in the B2B segment will switch to the general regime. It is technically accessible to them, and VAT — as Nurzhanov explains — is a buyer's tax, not a seller's: the VAT payer simply takes it into account.
Tax Amnesty: Who and How Much Will Be Written Off
As of January 1, 2026, 67,000 micro and small business entities have debts totaling 273 billion tenge. Of these, the principal debt is 176 billion tenge, penalties are 90 billion tenge, fines are 6.5 billion tenge.
The condition of the "Clean Slate" program is simple: if the principal amount of taxes is paid off by March 31, 2026, penalties and fines will be completely written off. No applications need to be written — commissions in each district office monitor daily. If the account was blocked, it opens on the next business day upon receipt of funds.
An important caveat: the amnesty only applies to business taxes. Personal taxes — land, property, property income — are not subject to write-off.
What's Next: Pre-filled Declarations and a Service Approach
The SRC has already launched pre-filling of VAT declarations — the system automatically generates a declaration based on data from invoices, customs declarations, and form 328. For small businesses with simple operations, it remains to click the consent button.
Plans include a similar tool for calculating payroll taxes: the entrepreneur enters the accruals for each employee, the system itself calculates PIT, OPV, SO, and OSMS. The two-hundredth form in such a scenario becomes redundant.
The main idea that Nurzhanov repeats in different formulations: the SRC wants to intercept errors before they become violations. The notification is now called "on discrepancies" rather than "on violations" — it's not a label of a violator, but an invitation to sort it out.
The Main Thing to Do Right Now
If you have tax arrears for past periods — pay off the principal debt by March 31. Penalties and fines will be automatically written off.
If you work on the simplified system and a significant part of your income is B2B transactions, consult with an accountant about switching to the general regime. It may be more beneficial than it seems at first glance.
If you are choosing a supplier — check their BIN, tax payment history, and OKED on the SRC website. It takes five minutes and protects you from tax risks down the chain.
And lastly: if a letter from the SRC arrives — open it calmly. Most likely, it's just a notification. Not a threat.