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The Taxation Department of Karaganda Oblast has began a check to confirm the outspending debt of Kazakhstan tax authorities to ArcelorMittal Temirtau, Tengrinews reports citing the head of the Public Revenues Department Azamat Akhmetov.
The Taxation Department of Karaganda Oblast has began a check to confirm the outspending debt of Kazakhstan tax authorities to ArcelorMittal Temirtau, Tengrinews reports citing the head of the Public Revenues Department Azamat Akhmetov.
Earlier this month, ArcelorMittal Temirtau announced a plan to cut wage because of a difficult financial situation in the company caused by uncompetitiveness of Kazakh steel at the Russian market amid 80% devaluation of the Russian ruble.
At the same time, the company applied to the Kazakh government asking to speed up the tax refund, which could probably help the company overcome the current difficulties. "The company has asked the Kazakhstan government to return the 12 billion tenge ($65 million) of VAT payments that the state owes to the company since 2010," ArcelorMittal Temirtau then said.
The Taxation Department began a check to confirm the existence of the debt of the state authorities to the Indian owned steel company since 2010. “Out of 12 billion tenge, today we are ready to pay 4.1 billion tenge. There are documents confirming that ArcelorMittal overpaid this amount of money in taxes. Once the company provides a tax declaration for the fourth quarter, the stated amount will be transferred to its account. According to Article 274 of the Tax Code (of Kazakhstan), the state has 15 days to make the payment (after the company provides the tax declaration),” Akhmetov said.
“We met with the top management of the company and they treated the check to confirm the debt with understanding,” Akhmetov said.
The deadline for the company to provide the declaration is February 15. After that Kazakhstan should transfer 4.1 billion tenge to the company's account by March 6.
Currently, the region's Taxation Department continues checking into the remaining debt, particularly the payments ArcelorMittal Temirtau made in 2012-2013. This check is nearing its completion. So far, it has been confirmed that Kazakhstan tax authorities owe 7.5 billion tenge to the steel giant.
Earlier, the company explicitly declared that once the government made the refund it would be able to resolve the salaries issues. However, the company's profits from sales turned out to be enough to pay the wages in full to its metallurgists and miners before February 17.