Tengrinews.kz - Prime Minister Olzhas Bektenov called on entrepreneurs to pay fair amounts of taxes within two weeks.
Bektenov held a working meeting with Deputy Prime Minister - Minister of National Economy Serik Zhumangarin and Minister of Finance Madi Takiyev.
Finance Minister Madi Takiyev reported that as part of the analysis, facts were established of the use of special tax regimes, previously introduced to support and develop small businesses during their formation, as legal schemes for optimizing tax liabilities by unscrupulous taxpayers.
According to the government, 2.3 million taxpayers are registered in Kazakhstan. Of these, only 8%, or 137 thousand, are VAT payers. In general, 81% of the total number of entities operate in a special tax regime under a simplified declaration, while 85% of them indicate income of up to 15 million tenge.
"From the information of the Minister of Finance, it is clear that unscrupulous entrepreneurs, using various schemes to optimize the tax burden, behave inappropriately. With billions in turnover, they pay amounts to the budget that are absolutely inconsistent with their profits. We have a complete list of such large companies. There are also large well-known construction companies, such as BI Group, BAZIS and many others. Well-known and popular restaurants, fitness clubs and various companies operating in other sectors of the economy.
Taking this opportunity, I would like to now address the owners and managers of large companies using various schemes to optimize the tax burden. Today or tomorrow, your companies will receive notifications from tax authorities about the need to pay additional taxes.
I ask everyone to submit additional tax returns to the tax authorities within two weeks and pay fair amounts of taxes," Bektenov said.
According to him, if these actions are not taken, the state reserves the right to use all resources at the disposal of the state, including fiscal and law enforcement.
"The conversation will be tough, but we are ready for dialogue if business is ready to behave fairly towards the state," he added.