On 3 September 2026, the Ministry of National Economy published a draft law amending the Tax Code for public consultation, which closed on 25 September.1 The draft is expected to go to the Kurultai. Most of the changes would take effect on 1 January 2027.2 The draft has not yet been adopted, and its provisions may change before it is.
We summarise the main changes below, first those affecting all businesses and then those for subsoil users.
We summarise the main changes below, first those affecting all businesses and then those for subsoil users.
Part 1. Tax administration
The draft is presented as reducing the administrative burden. In practice, many of its provisions would give the tax authorities more data and more scope for automated checks.
More data for the tax authorities
Banks and payment organisations would report quarterly on payments to foreign companies selling through online platforms. For foreign companies not registered with the tax authorities, this would apply only above 100 payments and 1,000 MCI (KZT 4,325,000 in 2026) per quarter.3 Banks would also report card and mobile payments received by certain businesses. The tax authorities could then compare declared turnover with e-invoices and actual receipts. A mismatch is not necessarily a breach, as it may be an advance, a loan or a refund, but businesses should be able to explain it.
VAT on marketplace sales
Where a foreign company sells goods or electronic services to individuals in Kazakhstan through a Kazakh marketplace, the marketplace would account for VAT at the standard rate of 16%, with a quarterly tax period.4 Unlike the EU and Singapore rules, the draft does not say when a marketplace is treated as the supplier. The tax authorities could also order a marketplace to suspend sales by a seller who has not complied with a tax notice. The marketplace would have three working days to do so.5
E-invoices
E-invoice control would expressly target invoices issued without an actual supply. The authorities could also suspend a taxpayer’s right to issue e-invoices if tax debt above the threshold remains unpaid for more than six months.6 For consulting, marketing and other intangible services, a contract, an acceptance certificate and an e-invoice may not be enough. Reports and correspondence showing the work done will matter.
Tax agents
Tax agents would be responsible not only for withholding tax but also for social payments, reporting, and paying penalties and fines. For example, banks would withhold tax and social payments from income that self-employed individuals receive by bank transfer.7
Tax audits
The draft would add a new ground for thematic audits: to confirm tax risks, including those identified by the tax authorities’ automated system. The audit order would have to be issued within five working days after the ground for the audit arises.8
What businesses should do now
Businesses should reconcile declared turnover with e-invoices and bank and card receipts, and record the reasons for any differences. They should keep evidence that intangible and intra-group services were actually performed. Marketplaces should check that their systems can calculate VAT and suspend sellers when required.
Part 2. Subsoil users
Oil: new MET scale postponed
Under the current Tax Code, a new mineral extraction tax (MET) scale for oil would apply from 1 January 2027, with rates linked to both production volume and the world oil price. It is designed to absorb the rent tax on export and the export customs duty. Because the launch of the EAEU common oil market has been delayed, the draft would postpone the new scale to 1 January 2030 and keep the current rates until then. The transitional rule on rent tax on export would also be extended to 2030.9
Other MET changes
The world oil price for MET would be based on Brent Dated less the Brent/KEBCO spread set in the supply contract. MET would apply to technogenic mineral formations sold to third parties without processing. Each low-margin, depleted or similar field taxed at special MET rates would require separate tax accounting and a separate excess profit tax calculation. Parties to a solid minerals processing agreement could not combine it with other CIT, property tax, land tax or VAT reliefs.10
Longer period to reassess CIT
The tax authorities could assess or reassess CIT on the subsoil expenses covered by Articles 303–313 and 315 of the Tax Code at any time during the contract and for five years after it ends.11
Royalty on solid minerals
The draft does not change the start date of the royalty on solid minerals, which is due from 1 January 2027 for new licences in areas not previously licensed. On 17 September, after the draft was published, the Project Office for the implementation of the Tax Code supported postponing it to 1 January 2029. This would require a further amendment.12
What subsoil users should do now
Subsoil users should budget for 2027 on the basis of the law as it stands, while modelling the oil MET and royalty deferrals separately. They should also check the KEBCO spread terms in their oil supply contracts and keep supporting documents for the expenses now open to reassessment for the life of the contract plus five years.
Conclusion
The draft would give the tax authorities more data and new tools for automated control, and would postpone the new oil MET scale in line with the timetable for the EAEU oil market. It remains a draft. Its provisions, including the dates for the oil MET scale and the royalty, may change in the Kurultai. We will continue to monitor its progress.
This article is for general information only and does not constitute legal or tax advice. It reflects the draft law as published on 3 September 2026. Specific advice should be sought for particular circumstances.
The draft is presented as reducing the administrative burden. In practice, many of its provisions would give the tax authorities more data and more scope for automated checks.
More data for the tax authorities
Banks and payment organisations would report quarterly on payments to foreign companies selling through online platforms. For foreign companies not registered with the tax authorities, this would apply only above 100 payments and 1,000 MCI (KZT 4,325,000 in 2026) per quarter.3 Banks would also report card and mobile payments received by certain businesses. The tax authorities could then compare declared turnover with e-invoices and actual receipts. A mismatch is not necessarily a breach, as it may be an advance, a loan or a refund, but businesses should be able to explain it.
VAT on marketplace sales
Where a foreign company sells goods or electronic services to individuals in Kazakhstan through a Kazakh marketplace, the marketplace would account for VAT at the standard rate of 16%, with a quarterly tax period.4 Unlike the EU and Singapore rules, the draft does not say when a marketplace is treated as the supplier. The tax authorities could also order a marketplace to suspend sales by a seller who has not complied with a tax notice. The marketplace would have three working days to do so.5
E-invoices
E-invoice control would expressly target invoices issued without an actual supply. The authorities could also suspend a taxpayer’s right to issue e-invoices if tax debt above the threshold remains unpaid for more than six months.6 For consulting, marketing and other intangible services, a contract, an acceptance certificate and an e-invoice may not be enough. Reports and correspondence showing the work done will matter.
Tax agents
Tax agents would be responsible not only for withholding tax but also for social payments, reporting, and paying penalties and fines. For example, banks would withhold tax and social payments from income that self-employed individuals receive by bank transfer.7
Tax audits
The draft would add a new ground for thematic audits: to confirm tax risks, including those identified by the tax authorities’ automated system. The audit order would have to be issued within five working days after the ground for the audit arises.8
What businesses should do now
Businesses should reconcile declared turnover with e-invoices and bank and card receipts, and record the reasons for any differences. They should keep evidence that intangible and intra-group services were actually performed. Marketplaces should check that their systems can calculate VAT and suspend sellers when required.
Part 2. Subsoil users
Oil: new MET scale postponed
Under the current Tax Code, a new mineral extraction tax (MET) scale for oil would apply from 1 January 2027, with rates linked to both production volume and the world oil price. It is designed to absorb the rent tax on export and the export customs duty. Because the launch of the EAEU common oil market has been delayed, the draft would postpone the new scale to 1 January 2030 and keep the current rates until then. The transitional rule on rent tax on export would also be extended to 2030.9
Other MET changes
The world oil price for MET would be based on Brent Dated less the Brent/KEBCO spread set in the supply contract. MET would apply to technogenic mineral formations sold to third parties without processing. Each low-margin, depleted or similar field taxed at special MET rates would require separate tax accounting and a separate excess profit tax calculation. Parties to a solid minerals processing agreement could not combine it with other CIT, property tax, land tax or VAT reliefs.10
Longer period to reassess CIT
The tax authorities could assess or reassess CIT on the subsoil expenses covered by Articles 303–313 and 315 of the Tax Code at any time during the contract and for five years after it ends.11
Royalty on solid minerals
The draft does not change the start date of the royalty on solid minerals, which is due from 1 January 2027 for new licences in areas not previously licensed. On 17 September, after the draft was published, the Project Office for the implementation of the Tax Code supported postponing it to 1 January 2029. This would require a further amendment.12
What subsoil users should do now
Subsoil users should budget for 2027 on the basis of the law as it stands, while modelling the oil MET and royalty deferrals separately. They should also check the KEBCO spread terms in their oil supply contracts and keep supporting documents for the expenses now open to reassessment for the life of the contract plus five years.
Conclusion
The draft would give the tax authorities more data and new tools for automated control, and would postpone the new oil MET scale in line with the timetable for the EAEU oil market. It remains a draft. Its provisions, including the dates for the oil MET scale and the royalty, may change in the Kurultai. We will continue to monitor its progress.
This article is for general information only and does not constitute legal or tax advice. It reflects the draft law as published on 3 September 2026. Specific advice should be sought for particular circumstances.
Footnotes
1 Draft Law of the Republic of Kazakhstan ‘On Amendments and Additions to the Tax Code of the Republic of Kazakhstan’, published on the Open NPA portal on 3 September 2026 with a comparative table and explanatory materials (the ‘Draft Law’).
2 Draft Law, Article 2. Certain provisions, including the abolition of the additional VAT offset under Article 490 of the Tax Code, would take effect on 1 January 2035.
3 Draft Law, amendments to Articles 54(9) and 55(2) of the Tax Code. The threshold would be calculated using the MCI in effect on 1 January of the relevant year.
4 Draft Law, new Articles 826-1 to 826-4 of the Tax Code. The rate is set by Article 503(1) of the Tax Code.
5 Draft Law, new Article 89-1 of the Tax Code.
6 Draft Law, amendments to Articles 88(1) and 138(1) of the Tax Code.
7 Draft Law, amendments to Articles 3(13) and 721(3) of the Tax Code.
8 Draft Law, new Article 154(1-1) and new subparagraph 37) of Article 156(2) of the Tax Code.
9 Draft Law, amendments to Articles 778(1) and 835 of the Tax Code.
10 Draft Law, amendments to Articles 744, 757, 776(3), 781, 784-1 and 798 of the Tax Code.
11 Draft Law, new Article 65(5-1) of the Tax Code. It would not apply to subsoil users operating only under the contracts listed in Article 303(3)(1)-(3).
12 Tax Code, Articles 773 and 845. Official website of the Prime Minister of the Republic of Kazakhstan, ‘Introduction of royalty on solid minerals to be postponed to 2029’, 17 September 2026: https://primeminister.kz/ru/news/vvedenie-royalti-na-tverdye-poleznye-iskopaemye-perenesut-na-2029-god-31896
1 Draft Law of the Republic of Kazakhstan ‘On Amendments and Additions to the Tax Code of the Republic of Kazakhstan’, published on the Open NPA portal on 3 September 2026 with a comparative table and explanatory materials (the ‘Draft Law’).
2 Draft Law, Article 2. Certain provisions, including the abolition of the additional VAT offset under Article 490 of the Tax Code, would take effect on 1 January 2035.
3 Draft Law, amendments to Articles 54(9) and 55(2) of the Tax Code. The threshold would be calculated using the MCI in effect on 1 January of the relevant year.
4 Draft Law, new Articles 826-1 to 826-4 of the Tax Code. The rate is set by Article 503(1) of the Tax Code.
5 Draft Law, new Article 89-1 of the Tax Code.
6 Draft Law, amendments to Articles 88(1) and 138(1) of the Tax Code.
7 Draft Law, amendments to Articles 3(13) and 721(3) of the Tax Code.
8 Draft Law, new Article 154(1-1) and new subparagraph 37) of Article 156(2) of the Tax Code.
9 Draft Law, amendments to Articles 778(1) and 835 of the Tax Code.
10 Draft Law, amendments to Articles 744, 757, 776(3), 781, 784-1 and 798 of the Tax Code.
11 Draft Law, new Article 65(5-1) of the Tax Code. It would not apply to subsoil users operating only under the contracts listed in Article 303(3)(1)-(3).
12 Tax Code, Articles 773 and 845. Official website of the Prime Minister of the Republic of Kazakhstan, ‘Introduction of royalty on solid minerals to be postponed to 2029’, 17 September 2026: https://primeminister.kz/ru/news/vvedenie-royalti-na-tverdye-poleznye-iskopaemye-perenesut-na-2029-god-31896
The content of this article is intended to provide a general guide to the subject matter. Specialist advice should be sought about your specific circumstances.
