In Kazakhstan, there are calls to cancel two phases of the universal declaration process.

A petition addressed to the Ministry of Finance of the Republic of Kazakhstan has appeared on the portal epetition.kz, reports inbusiness.kz.

The authors of the petition are calling for the cancellation of the 3rd and 4th stages of universal declaration in Kazakhstan or for their postponement for five years until issues with tax legislation are resolved.

In their view, the grounds for total declaration are lacking, as Kazakhstan is already "sufficiently digitalized" for the revenue authorities to monitor all banking transactions within the country. Furthermore, as of January 1, 2024, tax authorities will also serve as currency control bodies.

"What is the point of declaring a population that spends half of its income on food and is heavily indebted?" – states the document.

Instead of implementing universal declaration, the petition suggests reviewing tax norms that, according to the authors, do not benefit Kazakh society and contribute to abuses.

For instance, it addresses the benefits provided to the Astana International Financial Center (AIFC) and controlled foreign companies (CFCs).

The creators of the petition also propose reinstating deductions that allow for a reduction in tax amounts, which were included in the Tax Code of 2008 but have not been incorporated into the current Tax Code or the draft of the new code.

"Cancel or postpone the 3rd and 4th stages of universal declaration for five years until the legal discrepancies mentioned in the petition are resolved and the results of improved administration of foreign income and assets are awaited. Restore norms on deductions for large families, deductions for education expenses, and rewards as an option for reducing personal income tax, provided that universal declaration is postponed," – the petition proposes.

The complete version of the document is available here.

It is worth noting that the third stage of universal declaration begins in Kazakhstan on January 1, 2024; all heads, founders (participants) of legal entities and individual entrepreneurs, as well as their spouses, will start submitting declarations on assets and liabilities (form 250.00). The fourth stage will commence next year, during which universal declaration will affect all citizens.

For the petition to be officially considered by government bodies, it must gather 50,000 votes.