On November 5, Deputy Minister of Finance of the Republic of Kazakhstan Yerzhan Birzhanov took part in the Astana ESG Forum 2026, entitled “From Recommendations to Action: Assessing Kazakhstan’s Progress on the ESG Agenda”, held at the Astana International Financial Centre. During the thematic session “ESG Corporate Governance: From Compliance to Competitiveness”, he spoke about the transition to a service-oriented model of tax administration, the development of digital solutions and strengthening trust between the government and businesses. “Our goal is to make it easier for compliant businesses to meet their legal obligations. It is important to identify tax risks in a timely manner. Interaction between the government and businesses should be simple and predictable,” Yerzhan Birzhanov noted. The service-oriented approach is based on digital services and the prevention of violations. During the first nine months of 2026, the state revenue authorities provided 12.9 million public services, 99.8% of which were delivered electronically. The average processing time for the most widely used service — the acceptance of tax returns — is just one to two minutes. Services for pre-filling tax declarations and remotely resolving identified discrepancies are also being developed. One of the key instruments for building trust-based cooperation is horizontal monitoring. Companies participate in this process voluntarily by providing online access to their accounting data. This approach enables businesses to receive advance clarifications on planned transactions and recommendations for addressing identified violations. Its key requirements include accurate accounting records, effective internal controls and timely identification of tax risks. To make participation easier for small and medium-sized businesses, digital interaction through the 1C accounting system is being explored. The digital transformation of tax and customs administration is supported by the ISNA, KEDEN and Smart Data Finance analytical platforms. These solutions automate document processing, integrate data and help identify risks in business relationships and supply chains. For example, preparing the “Pyramid” analytical report now takes approximately five minutes, compared to up to 20 days previously. The Deputy Minister emphasized that, within the ESG agenda, the quality of corporate governance and data reliability are particularly important for tax administration. An ESG rating in itself does not provide tax benefits or exempt a company from mandatory requirements. In addition, pursuant to the instructions of the Head of State, the Ministry, together with members of the Kurultai and the National Chamber of Entrepreneurs “Atameken”, is working on a proposal to introduce a three-year moratorium on inspections of micro and small businesses starting January 1, 2027. The experience gained from the previous moratorium is being taken into account in developing the proposals. Reducing the shadow economy and protecting compliant businesses remain key priorities of the Ministry of Finance.
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