News

1506.2022

SZP PARTNER YELENA TYUREIKINA DELIVERING A SPEECH AT THE CONFERENCE DEVOTED TO NEW AMENDMENTS TO THE KAZAKHSTAN TAX CODE

On 14 June 2022, the Almaty City Chamber of Entrepreneurs hosted a press-conference on the new amendments to the Kazakhstan Tax Code that repeal dividend tax exemption.

A number of speakers expressed their opinions on the matter, including, Director of the Almaty City Chamber of Entrepreneurs Aytuar Koshmambetov, Chairman of the Regional Council Maxim Baryshev, General Director of Tigrohaud Firm LLP and member of the Regional Council Zhanar Kurabayeva, General Director of the Kazakhstan Union of Transport Workers Sabit Amanbayev, and Partner of Sayat Zholshy & Partners Yelena Tyureikina.

On 8 June 2022, the Mazhilis (the lower house) of the Kazakhstan Parliament passed, in a second reading, the new amendments to the Tax Code, as an urgent draft, that repeal dividend tax exemption for mid- and large-size businesses. With effect from 2023, all tax reliefs on the dividends distributed in favour of nonresidents and natural persons in amounts above 30,000 MCIs will be repealed.

The Atameken National Chamber of Entrepreneurs has made a stand against the repeal of such dividend tax exemption. However, MPs supported their stand only in relation to the dividend tax exemption for small-size businesses.

Yelena Tyureikina believes that the repeal of the current dividend tax exemption (i) is ill-founded and might worsen the financial standing of natural persons by increasing a tax burden on individual income thereof, (ii) discourages businessmen from increasing profitability of their companies, (iii) compels entrepreneurs to seek new ways of tax optimisation, (iv) encourages moving to the shadow economy, and (v) causes outflow of investments.

Furthermore, Yelena emphasized that the initiators of such critical and socially sensitive amendments to the Tax Code have not made a clear and cogent argument in their favour. Apparently, their main objective is to replenish the national budget rather than to prevent capital outflows from the country.

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