Before you start

IIN
Understanding of whether you are tax resident
A local accountant if you run a company

Step-by-step

1
Work out whether you are a Kazakh tax resident
Kazakhstan applies a 183-day test measured over a rolling twelve-month period ending in the current tax period, along with a centre-of-vital-interests limb. Residents are taxed on worldwide income; non-residents on Kazakh-source income only. Anyone spending most of a year in Almaty on a Neo Nomad visa should assume they will cross the line and plan for it — the visa's restriction on Kazakh-source income does not exempt you from residency.
OnlineWho: Everyone staying more than a few monthsAssess before your first full tax yearFree to assess; advice recommended
2
Understand the 2026 rates — the flat 10% is history
The Tax Code adopted in July 2025 and in force from 1 January 2026 introduced progressive individual income tax: 10% up to annual income of KZT 35,258,000 and 15% on the excess, with a 9% rate for certain private practice. VAT rose from 12% to 16%, with reduced rates for medicines and medical services and for printed periodicals. Corporate income tax remains at 20%. Compare Kazakhstan on these figures, not on pre-2026 write-ups.
OnlineWho: All taxpayersFrom 1 January 2026n/a
3
If you run a business, choose the regime deliberately
Kazakhstan has simplified regimes for small business alongside the general regime, and the new Tax Code changed thresholds and eligibility for several of them. Which one you can use depends on turnover, headcount and activity type — professional and certain licensed services are treated differently. Register your entity, get its BIN, and have an accountant confirm the regime BEFORE the first filing period rather than after.
In personWho: Founders and sole tradersAt registrationAccountant fees are modest by Western standards
4
File through the state portals and keep the IIN current
Filing runs through the State Revenue Committee's electronic systems, keyed to your IIN or the entity's BIN. Employees are withheld at source and generally have nothing to file; the obligation bites for founders, sole traders and anyone with foreign income while resident. Missed filings attract penalties and, more practically, block other state services that check your tax standing.
OnlineWho: Founders, sole traders, residents with foreign incomePer the filing calendarAccountant fee

Documents you’ll need

IIN (and BIN if you have an entity)
Income records and contracts
Evidence of days present in Kazakhstan (for the residency test)
Foreign tax returns, where treaty relief is in play

Things most newcomers don’t know

The AIFC exemption running to 1 January 2066 is genuine, unusual and geographically specific — and it is not available to an Almaty employer.

The Astana International Financial Centre gives participants and their foreign employees an exemption from defined taxes, including individual income tax on AIFC earnings, until 2066. It attaches to AIFC participants and bodies operating in the Centre in Astana. Relocation content routinely presents it as a Kazakhstan-wide feature. If the exemption matters to your decision, the city you move to is Astana, not Almaty.

Source: AIFC

Kazakhstan's flat 10% income tax — the number every comparison site still quotes — stopped being the law on 1 January 2026.

The flat rate held for roughly two decades, which is exactly why it survives in secondary sources: it reads as settled background knowledge. The new Tax Code replaced it with a 10%/15% split and raised VAT to 16% in the same instrument. Anyone modelling a move on the old figure is understating both their income tax above the threshold and their cost of living.

Source: New Tax Code of the Republic of Kazakhstan, in force 1 January 2026

Being on a Neo Nomad visa does not keep you outside Kazakh tax residency.

The visa restricts you from earning Kazakh-source income; it says nothing about residency. Cross 183 days in a rolling twelve months and Kazakhstan can tax you on worldwide income, including the foreign salary the visa is premised on. Whether that bites depends on your home country's treaty with Kazakhstan — check the specific treaty rather than assuming one exists.

Almaty being the commercial capital while the tax authority's policy centre sits in Astana is a practical nuisance, not just trivia.

Ministries, the AIFC regulator and much of the policy apparatus moved north in 1997. Complex rulings, AIFC questions and some registration matters route through Astana even for Almaty businesses. Local accountants handle it routinely, but budget more elapsed time than you would for a comparable question in a single-capital country.

Common mistakes to avoid

Modelling a move on Kazakhstan's old flat 10% income tax, replaced on 1 January 2026
Assuming the AIFC exemption applies to an Almaty employer — it attaches to AIFC participants in Astana
Treating a Neo Nomad visa as a shield against the 183-day residency test
Choosing a small-business regime without checking the eligibility changes in the new Tax Code
Budgeting with 12% VAT when the rate rose to 16% on 1 January 2026

Some of this may be out of date. Spotted something inaccurate? Help us keep it right for the next newcomer.