The tax reform announced by the government has attracted the attention of both entrepreneurs and experts. Economists have expressed opinions about the possible negative consequences of the reform, particularly on the Orda.kz platform. Among those who spoke out were Almaty businessmen operating under the B2B (business-to-business) model. The main problem for them has become not so much the introduction of VAT, but rather the lowering of the threshold and the ban on B2B offsets.
Now they are required to pay a value-added tax (VAT) of 16% on total turnover, even if their profit is less than 10%. Additionally, they must allocate 20% of their net profit to the budget, which makes the business practically unprofitable. To avoid such tax consequences, they will have to reduce their enterprises to a minimum, making it difficult to employ more than three people.
It is also important to note that it does not matter how much money goes to salaries – everything is taxed. For example, with a turnover of five million and a payroll fund of 4.7 million, VAT will be calculated not on the difference, but on the total turnover, that is, on five million. This results in a situation where, with a net profit of 300 thousand, they need to pay 700 thousand in VAT, putting the business at a loss.
This is the opinion of Zhanna Nursaitova, head of the research agency New Decision Group. She operates under the general taxation regime (GTR), as her services do not allow for the use of a simplified taxation system, and she has contractors working under the simplified system. These small companies do not have individual clients and only work with other businesses.
Typically, such companies have a staff of three to five people and a monthly turnover of up to five million tenge, with 80-90% of their expenses going to labor costs. They usually do not have offices, and employees work remotely. Now they are being offered to switch to the general taxation system, which will require more complex reporting and the necessity to hire an accountant.
Zhanna explains: "If a company has a turnover of 60 million tenge in a year, they will automatically become VAT payers, but the payroll fund is not taken into account. Thus, they will have to pay VAT on the full amount, which makes their business unprofitable." She adds that under such conditions, she will be forced to turn to large companies, which will raise service prices, while small contractors will be on the verge of closure.
Market monopolization
According to Zhanna, this will ultimately lead to market monopolization, and many small enterprises will disappear. She observes a similar situation among her acquaintances from various fields – everyone is refusing small suppliers to avoid complications with taxation. For example, her friend Dinara had a small production and used an individual entrepreneur for product delivery. However, switching to the GTR will mean additional costs, and Dinara has already decided to move production to Kyrgyzstan, as it is more profitable.
