Kazakhstanis told about important change to personal income tax — what to know

Kazakhstan is implementing a new Tax Code designed to reduce the tax burden on its citizens through an updated system of tax deductions. A significant change is the introduction of a basic monthly tax deduction amounting to 30 Monthly Calculation Indices (MCI), which equates to 129,750 tenge in 2026. This deduction is capped annually at 360 MCI, or 1,557,000 tenge in 2026.

This new provision aims to lower the taxable income for individuals, thereby decreasing the amount of personal income tax they owe. Existing deductions for mandatory pension contributions, social contributions, and compulsory social health insurance will remain in effect. The government stated that these changes are intended to provide monthly support, particularly for low-income workers.

However, a notable departure from the previous Tax Code is the handling of unused deduction amounts. Previously, any portion of the basic deduction not utilized in a given month could be carried over to subsequent months within the same calendar year. The new code eliminates this provision, meaning that if an employee's income falls below the basic deduction amount in a particular month, the unused portion will not be transferable to the following month. Each calendar month's deduction will be calculated independently.

Representatives from the Atameken National Chamber of Entrepreneurs had proposed retaining the previous mechanism for carrying over unused deductions. Despite these suggestions, the State Revenue Committee clarified that the basic tax deduction is structured as a monthly support measure and is therefore applied on a separate monthly basis. The committee plans to issue official clarifications confirming that the unused portion of the basic tax deduction will not be carried over to future tax periods.