Over 688,000 self-employed register in Kazakhstan since start of year
More than 688,000 people have registered as self-employed in Kazakhstan since the beginning of the year, officials said during a meeting of the Project Office overseeing the implementation of the new Tax Code, chaired by Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of National Economy Serik Zhumangarin, Qazinform News Agency reports, citing the Government's press service.
The new tax regime is available to individuals who are not registered as sole proprietors, engage only in approved types of activities, do not employ workers and earn no more than 300 monthly calculation indices (MCI) per month. Participants in the regime pay only social contributions totaling 4%.
According to the State Revenue Committee, 688,800 people have registered as self-employed since the start of the year. Of those, 597,000 (87%) work through digital platforms such as Yandex, inDrive and Wolt, while 91,500 (13%) operate independently.
Among those registered, 84,200 were previously individual entrepreneurs, while 546,400 had never been officially registered as entrepreneurs. As a result, more than 500,000 people have entered the formal labor market and tax system for the first time.
Participants noted that the legal status of self-employed individuals remains unresolved. Authorities must decide whether self-employment should be treated as an independent form of economic activity, a transitional stage toward entrepreneurship or a separate category of employment. The outcome will shape future regulation under the Entrepreneurial and Social Codes.
The Ministry of National Economy also reviewed international practices. In Belarus and Uzbekistan, self-employed individuals are not permitted to hire employees, although Uzbekistan does not classify them as business entities. Armenia operates a microenterprise regime, while in Russia, individuals subject to the professional income tax are included in the country's small and medium-sized business sector, even though the term "self-employed" is not used in tax legislation.
Following the discussion, participants decided not to include amendments defining the legal status of self-employed individuals in the current package of changes to the Social and Entrepreneurial Codes. The issue will be revisited next year after authorities have accumulated sufficient experience with the new regime.
The meeting also reviewed taxation issues related to transactions in Kazakhstan's real-time balancing electricity market for companies operating under production-sharing agreements.
Since July 1, 2023, the balancing electricity market has operated in real time with hourly accounting. Settlements for deviations between planned and actual electricity volumes are processed through the Kazakhstan Electric Energy and Capacity Market Operator (KOREM).
Participants noted that, under current rules, companies operating under production-sharing agreements may not receive compensation in certain cases when the cost of negative imbalances exceeds their electricity purchase expenses. They said the issue requires additional legislative regulation.
Earlier, the Ministry of National Economy announced that real salaries in Kazakhstan had increased by 41% over nine years.
