AKIPRESS.COM - The Government of Kazakhstan approved Tuesday the new draft Tax Code aimed at boosting SMEs and strengthening the financial sector, Primeminister.kz reported.

During the government meeting, Minister of National Economy Timur Suleimenov reported that under the new Tax Code is focused on protecting good taxpayers, stimulating different sectors of the economy and simplifying administration processes.

According to the new Code, all the uncertainties and inaccuracies will be improved in favor of taxpayers to treat tax disputes fairly.

The existing special tax regimes will be still working for the development of small and medium businesses. At the same time, a new alternative mode of fixed deduction is proposed. This is beneficial for those who have high turnover, but low profit. A company will be able to deduct half of its revenue without confirmation, and if it starts keeping records of expenses, it will receive bonuses (deductions) for confirmation of expenses.

Also, under the "simplified declaration" regime, the requirement on the amount of income will be the same for individuals and legal entities. In addition, the patent reduces the rate from 2% to 1% - this is done to reduce the tax burden due to the introduction of contributions to CSHI.

In the sphere of subsoil use, investment in geological exploration will be stimulated. It is proposed to abolish the super-profit tax for the mining industry. It is planned to cancel the commercial discovery bonus in order to stimulate successful exploration. For marine and deep oil deposits, a simpler alternative to subsoil use tax is proposed.

In terms of the real sector of the economy, VAT benefits are offered for the automotive industry under a special investment contract (SIC). So, import of components (raw materials and materials), as well as turnover of sales of goods produced in SIC will be exempted from VAT. Also, the transfer of property in financial leasing is exempt from VAT if the transferred property is acquired without VAT and is included in the list of goods for SIC.

Also, a number of incentive measures are envisaged for improving the financial sector, attracting investments and increasing benefits to participants in special economic zones. In particular, it is proposed to extend the extraterritoriality regime for the PIT SEZ members for a period of up to 2028 and to link the conditions for the social tax benefit to the ratio of labor costs to total expenses.

In general, it is expected that with the adoption of tax innovations, tax disputes will decrease, the number of inspections will be reduced, and administration will be simplified. The tax policy will become clearer and more predictable.