A Guide to Universal Declaration in Kazakhstan in 2024
Who must file a mandatory declaration in 2024
The third stage of universal declaration starts in 2024. At the third stage, the so-called “entry” declaration of assets and liabilities (form 250.00) will be filed for the first time by individuals who, as of January 1, 2024, are heads or founders (participants) of legal entities (LLPs, JSCs, etc.) or individual entrepreneurs (including those with “inactive” status), as well as by their spouses.
The amount of income, turnover and scale of business do not matter. Nor does the legal entity’s field of activity.
Contents:
- Who must file a declaration
- Must heads and founders (participants) of legal entities registered with the AIFC file a declaration
- Must heads of branches and representative offices file a declaration
- Must a declaration be filed by those who bought shares in a joint-stock company (e.g., KEGOC)
- Are foreign citizens (and their spouses) who are heads and founders (participants) of legal entities subject to universal declaration
- Do former spouses need to file a declaration
- How and where to file a declaration
- What must be reported in the initial declaration (Form 250.00)
- What does not need to be included in the declaration
- Do you need to declare an existing loan from a Kazakhstani bank or microfinance organization
- Does a debt need to be notarized
- Do cultural valuables, jewelry and other property need to be declared
- Do you need to re-register in your name a car bought under a power of attorney
- How to check your assets and liabilities
- What to do if you have cash exceeding 10,000 MCI
- Must property transferred into trust management be reported
- Which year and period to specify when filing the declaration
- What to do if you filled out the declaration incorrectly
- What happens if you do not file the declaration on time
Must heads and founders (participants) of legal entities registered with the AIFC file a declaration
Heads and founders (participants) of legal entities registered with the AIFC must also file the “entry” declaration in 2024, because:
- legal entities (for example, a private company) established under the applicable law of the AIFC are legal entities of Kazakhstan;
- the Tax Code of Kazakhstan applies to AIFC participants, except for the tax exemptions set out in the Constitutional Law “On the Astana International Financial Centre”.
Must heads of branches and representative offices file a declaration
No, because a branch or a representative office is merely a separate structural subdivision of a legal entity.
Must a declaration be filed by those who bought shares in a joint-stock company (e.g., KEGOC)
According to the position of the State Revenue Committee (hereinafter, the SRC), taking into account the position of the Agency of the Republic of Kazakhstan for Regulation and Development of the Financial Market, shareholders are not subject to the obligation to file a declaration of assets and liabilities in 2024.
The SRC holds that since the Law “On Joint-Stock Companies” does not contain the concept of a “participant”, persons who have acquired shares or become their owners are shareholders of the joint-stock company.
Are foreign citizens (and their spouses) who are heads and founders (participants) of legal entities subject to universal declaration
Yes, foreign citizens (and their spouses) who are heads and founders (participants) of legal entities are also required to file a tax declaration. This obligation also applies to persons who do not reside in Kazakhstan permanently or have never crossed the border of Kazakhstan. In that case, they will need to obtain an IIN and file a declaration.
Do former spouses need to file a declaration
If an entrepreneur/head/founder (participant) divorces their spouse during 2024, both of them will have to file a declaration of assets and liabilities, since their marriage was still registered as of January 1, 2024.
How and where to file a declaration
The universal declaration is filed at the place of residence (stay), while individual entrepreneurs and persons engaged in private practice file it at their place of business (Article 632 of the Tax Code).
Please note that the filing deadline may differ depending on the filing method (on paper or electronically):
- if filed on paper – from January 1 and no later than July 15, 2024, in person or by registered mail with acknowledgment of receipt from the postal service or another communications organization;
- if filed electronically – from January 1 and no later than September 15, 2024.
The declaration can be filed electronically via the Taxpayer’s Account (cabinet.salyk.kz), the e-Government portal (egov.kz), as well as the e-Salyq Azamat, eGov mobile and Halyk mobile apps.
What must be reported in the initial declaration (Form 250.00)
The declaration of assets and liabilities (form 250.00) is intended for individuals to report the following (Article 631 of the Tax Code):
- Property outside Kazakhstan:
- real estate, land plots and (or) land shares, aircraft and sea vessels, inland navigation vessels and river-sea vessels registered with a competent authority of a foreign state;
- vehicles, special machinery and (or) trailers registered with a competent authority of a foreign state;
- an equity interest in the authorized capital of a legal entity established outside Kazakhstan;
- money in accounts with foreign banks located outside Kazakhstan, if the aggregate amount across all bank deposits exceeds 1,000 times the MCI (i.e., 3,692,000 tenge).
- Property in Kazakhstan and (or) abroad:
- a share in a residential building under a shared construction participation agreement;
- securities, derivative financial instruments, digital assets (bitcoins, etc.);
- investment gold (gold bullion);
- intellectual property and copyright objects;
- cash within 10,000 times the monthly calculation index (MCI), i.e., 36,920,000 tenge;
- notarized receivables/payables, except for debts to banks and organizations carrying out certain types of banking operations;
- other property, at the individual’s discretion, if the unit price of such property exceeds 1,000 times the MCI, i.e., 3,692,000 tenge (for example, antiques, fur coats, paintings, etc.) – such property must be appraised as of December 31, 2023.
What does not need to be included in the declaration
There is no need to include movable and immovable property registered in Kazakhstan (for example, land plots, houses, trailers, cars), as information about these assets is already available in state databases.
Tax authorities also have information about citizens’ accounts in Kazakhstani banks (for example, deposits).
Do you need to declare an existing loan from a Kazakhstani bank or microfinance organization
Debt to a Kazakhstani bank or microfinance organization does not need to be declared, as government agencies already have this information.
Does a debt need to be notarized
To declare debts of an individual to other persons (payables) and debts of other persons to an individual (receivables), these obligations must be notarized.
So if you have lent someone a large sum of money, you need a supporting document certified by a notary (before December 31, 2023), so that later you do not have to prove where this money came from. The same applies to those who borrowed money. This information must be reported in the initial declaration of assets and liabilities (form 250.00).
Do cultural valuables, jewelry and other property need to be declared
An individual has the right to include expensive property in the declaration. An important nuance: the value of the item must be officially determined by an appraisal. For example, if an individual owns antiques, paintings or fur coats with a unit price exceeding 1,000 MCI (i.e., 3,692,000 tenge) and wishes to include them in the declaration, they must have them appraised by an appraiser in accordance with the legislation of the Republic of Kazakhstan on appraisal activities, that is, obtain an appraised value. The appraisal must be made as of December 31, 2023.
Do you need to re-register in your name a car bought under a power of attorney
Yes, you will need a sale and purchase agreement so that in the future the tax authorities do not have any questions about the origin of the money when you buy another car to replace the current one.
How to check your assets and liabilities
- securities - https://portal.kacd.kz;
- shared construction participation agreements - https://homeportal.kz; https://www.gov.kz/services/3910?lang=ru;
- intellectual property and copyright objects - https://gosreestr.kazpatent.kz;
- property transferred into trust management - https://egov.kz/cms/ru/services/pass077_mu.
To check for receivables/payables (loan agreements), you need to send a request to the Republican Notary Chamber via the Doculite system.
What to do if you have cash exceeding 10,000 MCI (36,920,000 tenge)
No more than 10,000 MCI (36,920,000 tenge) can be shown as cash in the declaration. Anything above this amount must be deposited in a bank or converted into other assets.
Must property transferred into trust management be reported
Yes. You will need to specify the name of the property, its identification number, the IIN/BIN of the trustee, and the start and end dates of trust management.
Which year and period to specify when filing the declaration
Universal declaration provides for two declaration forms. If a taxpayer belongs to the category of persons covered by the second stage of universal declaration and files the “entry” declaration of assets and liabilities (form 250.00) for the first time in 2023, the tax period “2023” must be specified when filing it (information is reported as of December 31, 2022).
The declaration of income and property (form 270.00) is filed annually after form 250.00 has been filed, as of December 31 of the reporting tax period, i.e., in 2025 for 2024, specifying the year “2024”, and so on.
What to do if you filled out the declaration incorrectly
If the declaration was filled out incorrectly, you can withdraw it and file a new, correctly completed one, provided the filing deadline has not yet passed. Alternatively, you can file an additional declaration with the correct information.
What happens if you do not file the declaration on time
The Code of the Republic of Kazakhstan “On Administrative Offenses” establishes that if the initial tax declaration is filed late or contains incomplete or inaccurate information, the tax authorities will limit themselves to a warning the first time.
A repeated violation by an individual within a year after an administrative penalty has been imposed will result in a fine of fifteen MCI (15*3,692 = 55,380 tenge, based on the 2024 MCI).
In addition, individuals who conceal taxable items may lose their own money by paying a fine of 200 percent of the unpaid taxes, and 300 percent if the violation is repeated.
What are the penalties for failing to file a declaration
- Failure to file a declaration results in a warning the first time; a repeated violation within a year results in a fine of 15 MCI, i.e., 55,380 tenge (15 MCI * 3,692 tenge = 55,380 tenge).
- Submitting incomplete or inaccurate information in the declaration results in a warning the first time; a repeated violation within a year results in a fine of 3 MCI, i.e., 11,076 tenge.
- Concealing taxable items for the first time within a year results in a fine of 200% of the unpaid taxes; a repeated violation results in a fine of 300%.
- Individuals who have concealed information about property they own outside Kazakhstan, as well as about money held in foreign banks located outside Kazakhstan, will pay a fine of 100 MCI, i.e., 369,200 tenge.
- The website of the State Revenue Committee of the Ministry of Finance of Kazakhstan has all the information in its “Universal Declaration” section, including step-by-step instructions for filling out the declaration and a video guide on checking your assets in Kazakhstan.
Can tax authorities find out about foreign accounts and assets if they are concealed
Yes, because the tax authorities of different countries exchange data.
What will need to be reported in subsequent declarations (Form 270.00)
After that, a declaration of income and property (form 270.00) is filed annually. It reports income received during the calendar year, information on the acquisition or disposal of property both in Kazakhstan and abroad, as well as the sources of funds used to acquire it:
- income (from renting out or selling real estate, vehicles, securities, digital assets, income from abroad, etc.);
- tax deductions (for example, expenses on medical services, education, mortgage payments);
- acquisition/disposal of property, including property received free of charge (real estate, vehicles, securities, digital assets, etc.);
- sources of funds for acquiring expensive property;
- securities, digital assets (bitcoins, etc.);
- shared participation agreements (a share in a residential building);
- investment gold (gold bullion);
- notarized loan agreements between individuals;
- an equity interest in a foreign company;
- real estate and vehicles abroad;
- money in a foreign bank exceeding 1,000 MCI, i.e., 3,692,000 tenge.
Assets held abroad and in Kazakhstan should be declared as accurately as possible. In the future, the value of these assets will be taken into account when determining taxable income.
