A session of the House took place under the chair of Senate Speaker Maulen Ashimbayev.
Senators discussed the bill “On Making Amendments and Additions to the Code of the Republic of Kazakhstan “On Taxes and Other Obligatory Payments to the Budget” (the Tax Code) and the Law of the Republic of Kazakhstan “On Implementation of the Code of the Republic of Kazakhstan “On Taxes and Other Obligatory Payments to the Budget” (the Tax Code)”.
Among other things, the Law envisages the improvement of the tax policy contributing to the simplification of the business dealing procedure and raising investments in Kazakhstan. After the discussion, senators sent the amended document to the Mazhilis.
“Particular attention is drawn to the reduction of taxes for citizens, support for small, medium businesses and investors. Therefore, senators have drafted a series of significant amendments to the Tax Code. The proposed amendments are intended for implementing the instructions of the Head of State, stated in his Address to the people,” Maulen Ashimbayev said.
The amendments are primarily related to support of small and medium business. According to senators, 30% of enterprises of this sector have ceased their activity.
“With a view to support the sector significantly affected by the pandemic, it is offered to relieve small and medium businesses from VAT and social tax for 2 years. A retail tax of 3% of income is introduced upon the instruction of the President,” the Senate Chairman added.
The next important amendment of senators is the tax deferment after the early withdrawal of some pension assets.
“With the early withdrawal of part of the funds in pension assets, 10% of them are withheld as a non-recurrent tax. Senators find this difficult for citizens in the existing period. It is therefore proposed to pay the tax only after retirement rather than upon receipt of pension savings. Moreover, it will not be a one-off payment. A provision is made in the bill to pay it in installments during 16 years,” the House Speaker noted.
The amendments also refer to the implementation of the instructions set by the Head of State to support investors.
“Depending on the amount, term of investments and place of work, investors will be granted exemption from corporate income tax, land tax, VAT and property tax for a period of up to 10 years. This is a necessary step for attracting investors to the national economy and implementing new projects in such hard times. Senators proposed these amendments in line with the President’s instruction,” Maulen Ashimbayev said.
Apart from that, deputies of the Senate discussed the pressing matter of providing the villages with the Internet.
“Senators propose to lower the yearly rate for mobile service providers for the use of radio frequencies by 90 percent. To gain this benefit, service providers need, first, to direct the saved funds to provide villages with high quality broadband Internet. This task is associated with the President’s instruction on balanced territorial development,” the House Speaker said.
In reviewing the amendments to the Tax Code, the Senate deputies proposed to exclude another regulatory provision regarding the publication of information on tax debts of citizens who lost their income during the pandemics.
The same day, deputies of the Senate adopted the Law “On Ratification of the Protocol on the Protection of Industrial Designs to the Eurasian Patent Convention of September 9, 1994”, which enables to strengthen and expand the Eurasian mechanism of industrial property protection.
During the session, senators announced three deputy requests. The lack of Kazakh language schools and kindergartens in Baikonur city was outlined in the appeal of Murat Baktiyaruly. Senator Lyazzat Rysbekova spoke about the problems of preserving the ecosystem of the Ural River. The deputy inquiry by Ali Bektayev raised the problems of social payments.
