Olzhas Bektenov discusses tax reform and answers topical questions with entrepreneurs of North Kazakhstan region

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At the moment it is necessary to work on increasing the revenue part of the budget. In previous years there was a low level of development budget. The earlier decision to reduce tax rates and introduce numerous exemptions led to a budget imbalance, with government expenditures significantly exceeding revenues," Olzhas Bektenov said.

The optimal option is to work with the revenue side of the budget: adjusting tax rates and reviewing tax regimes," Olzhas Bektenov said, noting that the Government is following this approach. The upcoming changes are expected to achieve budget balance and strengthen the country's economic sustainability.

Our task is to create conditions for sustainable growth of business and economy. Additional budget revenues will be used to finance projects that business itself will propose. Without modern infrastructure - energy sources, heat and electricity networks - business will not be able to develop. Capacity constraints often become a barrier to the implementation of new projects," Olzhas Bektenov explained.

The main suppliers of means of production are VAT payers. VAT exemption will have a positive impact only if this measure is applied along the whole chain - from the producer to the end consumer - and should be applied to a nomenclature group of goods, not to a business entity. It is important to look into this issue in more detail," Sergei Domaev said.

The government is setting the tone and prioritising: companies engaged in deep processing and development of new types of finished products will receive tax breaks. At the same time, exports of raw materials and low-value-added products will be subject to higher taxes," Olzhas Bektenov explained.

We have made significant progress in the issue of protection of domestic production in public procurement and procurement in the quasi-public sector. The list of goods that must be purchased exclusively from Kazakhstani producers has been increased 3 times," the Prime Minister said.

This is an important measure of state support, which will allow to develop national production and strengthen the position of Kazakh enterprises," the head of the Government concluded.

Retail tax, it's like it was for retail, for any shop, these are the examples you mentioned, retail is traded. No one will deprive you of these benefits. There should be a clear understanding," Olzhas Bektenov emphasised.

I believe that light industry is an industry that is vital for our country. If we buy everything abroad, it does us no honour," Aliya Basheyeva said.

Regarding false manufacturers is a serious problem in our country, when under the guise of production is actually imported: glued the label that "made in Kazakhstan" and get all the privileges as for Kazakhstani goods. We are just now working in this direction. The bill is in Parliament. I think that with its adoption, we will largely solve this problem," Olzhas Bektenov answered the question.

As for taxation, we heard today. How many different undercurrents we have, how many of these shops, IEs, peasant farms, which are trying to avoid taxes by any means, we know about it very well. But we already see today, we have only just started talking about the Tax Code, and the prices have already gone up. These are not just words, as they say, scare someone. But people are already preparing. They may be right, because tomorrow, they realise, they will be asked for it. That's why we need to be quick, less discussions, we need to be specific, the manager to the accountant: "Are we OK with it? It's fine. Work." Our region has always been in the vanguard. So you can always rely on us. With reason we will do everything to make our state rich and our people happy," Gennady Zenchenko said.

Business has expressed its concerns, business has expressed its proposals. We see that almost all industries, without exception, want a differentiated rate. This is obvious from every single business, so, of course, it is a difficult task. We have to think very carefully here. We are now doing a lot of serious work with all the regions as part of a working group - the National Chamber together with the ministries of economy and finance. We are not just collecting proposals, not just emotions, the most important thing is calculations. We are now doing these calculations with the Institute of Economics and the Ministry of Economy. I think that in the last week or two we will summarise everything," Raimbek Batalov said.

We receive a lot of proposals, options for solving certain issues. All of them will be taken into account. Next week we have to enter the Parliament with our version of amendments to the Tax Code, and further discussion will continue on the platform of the Majilis. I think the business community will take the most active part there. It is in our interests, as the Government, that we eventually adopted a balanced, balanced decision, which will not drive anyone into the shadows, will not crush tax burden, but will allow businesses to develop, while providing a certain financial liquidity to the state," Olzhas Bektenov summarised.