Thirty-two foreign Internet companies paid a total of 2.6 billion tenge of digital services tax (DST) in the first quarter of 2022 in Kazakhstan, Qazmonitor reports.
Head of the digital assets department Nurzhan Kuandykov noted in a live broadcast that the digital services tax is also known as the "Google Tax", which, despite the name, works as a value-added tax for all companies pay at 12%.
The tax is widely used in many countries around the world: in France from 2017, the UK from 2020, Italy from 2021, Turkey from 2020, Russia from 2017, Belarus from 2018, Uzbekistan from 2021.
The tax code regarding obligations of foreign Internet companies to pay VAT on goods and services sold came into force in Kazakhstan on January 1, 2022.
Nurzhan Kuandykov also explained on what grounds foreign companies are exempt from paying the "Google Tax":
1) when the value or weight of goods imported into Kazakhstan exceeds the norms, in which case the duties and taxes are paid as total customs duty and are non-refundable;
2) when the cost of such goods or services is included in the amount of taxable import;
3) when the buyer of goods or internet-service is a legal entity;
4) when the buyer of Internet services is an individual entrepreneur.
The list of the foreign Internet companies that paid tax in Kazakhstan includes Facebook, Netflix, iHerb, Zoom, Huawei, Coursera, Google, Amazon, Audible, Aliexpress Russia, Apple, Vimeo, and eBay among others.
