VAT Rate Increase: Atameken Chamber Holds Meeting

Following the government's announcement to increase value-added tax rates, the National Chamber of Entrepreneurs "Atameken" held an extraordinary expanded meeting, reports Orda.kz.

Raimbek Batalov, the Atameken Chair, shared the meeting outcomes, which gathered 800 business representatives from different regions of the country. Entrepreneurs expressed concerns about the VAT increase and shared ideas regarding the new Tax Code.

According to Batalov, they are engaged in a constructive but tense dialogue with the government. The Tax Code should be simplified, and businesses should have equal rights - this is the national chamber's position.

We believe that any rate increase must be justified by calculations, and we oppose a one-time increase to 20%. The VAT threshold also needs detailed consideration. We are against 15 million! It's important to analyze the consequences this will have on business profitability and growth rates, especially in the context of more complex administration.

Atameken also disagrees with the proposal to lower the threshold for applying the special tax regime.

It's important to us that such decisions are based on specific figures and supported by analytical data.

The National Chamber has already developed a bulletin with proposals for tax reform.

The initiative to increase VAT to 20% and reduce its business threshold to 15 million tenge was first announced at an expanded government meeting on January 28.

Original Author: Igor Ulitin