Kyrgyzstan: Only 40 bloggers pay taxes on advertising income

In Kyrgyzstan, only 40 bloggers generate income from advertising, according to Almamet Shykмамтов, chairman of the State Tax Service. He stated that these bloggers collectively paid 1.2 million soms in taxes, a sum he considers insignificant compared to the 37 billion soms the service aims to collect this year.

Shykмамтов made these remarks during a meeting in Bishkek discussing tax reforms, specifically the potential exemption of the creative sector from taxes. He noted that the number of advertising-earning bloggers was calculated after criticism of the tax exemption initiative.

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We sat down and calculated. Do you know how many bloggers earn from advertising? Only 40 people. And all of them paid 1 million 200 thousand soms in taxes.

Daniyar Amanaliev, co-founder of the ololo group of companies and a board member of the Creative Industries Park, clarified that the proposed exemption would not eliminate all taxes. While a single tax might be waived, income tax and social contributions would remain. He explained that for residents of the Creative Industries Park, even after a reduction in the single tax to 1 percent upon registration, their total tax payments increased in subsequent quarters as their income grew.

Amanaliev also emphasized that the presidential decree on tax exemptions extends beyond bloggers, who represent less than 1 percent of the creative industry. The decree aims to support various creative professions such as architecture, film production, design, and creative education.

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Bloggers are less than 1 percent of the creative industry. There are many other professions in the Creative Industries Park – representatives of architecture, film production, design, creative education, and so on.