In Kazakhstan, certain types
of economic offenses have been
decriminalized
of economic offenses have been
decriminalized
October 2024
On 5 July 2024, the President of the Republic of Kazakhstan
(“RK”) signed Law No 113-VIII on Amendments and Additions
to Certain Legislative Acts of the Republic of Kazakhstan
on Decriminalizing Certain Types of Economic Offenses and
Improving the Legislation of the Republic of Kazakhstan on
Combating the Legalization (Laundering) of Criminally Obtained
Proceeds and Financing of Terrorism (the “Law”).
The Law came into force on 3 September 2024.
The Law, inter alia, provides a range of measures aimed at
preventing the unjust prosecution of entrepreneurs and ensuring
the protection of the interests of citizens and businesses.
The Law introduces the following changes to the regulatory legal acts of the RK:
The following articles of the Criminal Code of the RK (the “Criminal Code”) have been fully decriminalized
• Article 219 has been excluded, which implies the abolition of criminal liability for the illegal receiving of loan or the misuse of budget loan.
• Article 241 has been excluded, which implies the abolition of criminal liability for violations of the legislation of the RK on accounting and financial reporting.
The aforementioned articles have been transferred to the Code of the Republic of Kazakhstan on Administrative Offenses No. 235-V of the RK dated 5 July 2014.
The following articles of the Criminal Code have been partially decriminalized
The threshold for the amount of damage that triggers criminal liability has been increased.
The following changes have been made:
• In Article 234 (Economic Smuggling), the threshold for criminal liability has been increased to 20,000 monthly calculation indices (“MCI”), i.e., up to KZT 73,840,000.
Additionally, it is noted that now the illegal movement of goods or other items across the State border of the Republic of Kazakhstan, for which a ban or restriction on movement across the State border of the RK has been established, will be equated to economic smuggling.
• Article 236 — the threshold for the amount of damage regarding the evasion of customs duties, customs fees, taxes, special, anti-dumping, and compensatory duties has been increased from 5,000 to 10,000 MCI, i.e., from KZT 18,460,000 to KZT 36,920,000.
Additionally, it is noted that now the illegal movement of goods or other items across the State border of the Republic of Kazakhstan, for which a ban or restriction on movement across the State border of the RK has been established, will be equated to economic smuggling.
Amendments have been made to the procedure for registering cases
in the field of tax crimes within the Criminal Procedure Code
Law enforcement agencies will not register cases related to tax offenses in the following cases:
• without an act or conclusion indicating the presence of signs of a criminal offense;
• when appealing acts to a higher authority or in court;
• when there is full voluntary repayment of the assessed tax amounts (except cases where the assessments were made for transactions without the actual performance of work,
provision of services, shipment of goods, or non-submission of a declaration).
The following articles of the Criminal Code of the RK (the “Criminal Code”) have been fully decriminalized
• Article 219 has been excluded, which implies the abolition of criminal liability for the illegal receiving of loan or the misuse of budget loan.
• Article 241 has been excluded, which implies the abolition of criminal liability for violations of the legislation of the RK on accounting and financial reporting.
The aforementioned articles have been transferred to the Code of the Republic of Kazakhstan on Administrative Offenses No. 235-V of the RK dated 5 July 2014.
The following articles of the Criminal Code have been partially decriminalized
The threshold for the amount of damage that triggers criminal liability has been increased.
The following changes have been made:
• In Article 234 (Economic Smuggling), the threshold for criminal liability has been increased to 20,000 monthly calculation indices (“MCI”), i.e., up to KZT 73,840,000.
Additionally, it is noted that now the illegal movement of goods or other items across the State border of the Republic of Kazakhstan, for which a ban or restriction on movement across the State border of the RK has been established, will be equated to economic smuggling.
• Article 236 — the threshold for the amount of damage regarding the evasion of customs duties, customs fees, taxes, special, anti-dumping, and compensatory duties has been increased from 5,000 to 10,000 MCI, i.e., from KZT 18,460,000 to KZT 36,920,000.
Additionally, it is noted that now the illegal movement of goods or other items across the State border of the Republic of Kazakhstan, for which a ban or restriction on movement across the State border of the RK has been established, will be equated to economic smuggling.
Amendments have been made to the procedure for registering cases
in the field of tax crimes within the Criminal Procedure Code
Law enforcement agencies will not register cases related to tax offenses in the following cases:
• without an act or conclusion indicating the presence of signs of a criminal offense;
• when appealing acts to a higher authority or in court;
• when there is full voluntary repayment of the assessed tax amounts (except cases where the assessments were made for transactions without the actual performance of work,
provision of services, shipment of goods, or non-submission of a declaration).
Contacts
- Dinara TanashevaPartner, Head of Tax & Law Practice in
Kazakhstan and Central AsiaTel.: +7 (727) 258 5960
Dinara.S.Tanasheva@kz.ey.com - Dilfariz SharipovSenior Associate, Tax & Law ServicesDilfariz.Sharipov@kz.ey.com