Google Tax in Kazakhstan: Statistics, Payers, and Economic Potential

Google Tax in Kazakhstan: Statistics, Payers, and Economic Potential

In 2022, Kazakhstan became one of the first countries in Central Asia that introduced a tax on digital services, widely known as the "Google tax." This tax aims to fairly tax international companies providing digital services to Kazakhstani consumers. Since the introduction of the tax, Kazakhstan's budget has received significant revenues, which continue to grow year by year.

Tax Revenue Statistics

In 2022, 10.4 billion tenge was received into Kazakhstan's budget.

In 2023, the amount increased to 24.3 billion tenge, highlighting the importance of this tax for the state budget.

As of today, in 2024, revenues totaling 23.3 billion tenge have already been ensured. These indicators will continue to grow and confirm the effectiveness of the implemented measures.

Since the introduction of the Google tax, a total of 58.1 billion tenge has been collected.

Largest Tax Payers. Among the international companies subject to this tax are global leaders in digital technology and media. As of today, over 80 international companies have registered, including:

• Google: the tax is levied on advertising services, sales of apps, and media content through Google Play.
• Apple: the company pays tax on content sales through iTunes and the App Store, as well as subscriptions to Apple Music and iCloud services.
• Netflix: the tax applies to streaming services.
• Amazon: taxation covers sales of digital goods and cloud services through the Amazon Web Services (AWS) platform.

 This year, 21 companies have joined the list of payers. These are such international giants as Temu, Garmin, Amazon, and IVI.

Economic Potential and Ongoing Efforts.The introduction of the digital services tax has allowed Kazakhstan not only to strengthen its tax base but also to create fairer conditions for local companies that were previously in unequal conditions with the international giants.