New rules of VAT refund: simplification of procedures for grain exporters

 

The Ministry of Finance of the Republic of Kazakhstan made changes to the Rules of Value Added Tax (VAT) refund, which became effective on March 13 of this year. These changes are aimed at simplifying procedures for domestic producers, which will significantly reduce the number of disputes and speed up the process of tax refunds.

 

As part of the simplification of procedures, Prime Minister Olzhas Bektenov emphasized the introduction of a pilot project, which concerns the participants of the grain market. This project provides for tracing the path of grain from the field to the border of the country and provides an opportunity for simplified VAT refund without the need for a tax audit for exporters who have signed the Memorandum on compliance with the rules in the field of handling grain and grain products.

 

Prime Minister also emphasized that within the framework of preparation of the new Tax Code, the Ministry of Finance is developing an analytical system e-Tamga, which will facilitate prompt VAT refund and significantly reduce the number of control measures. Proposals to reduce the time of VAT refund from 75 to 55 working days and the introduction of a simplified procedure of tax refund for all categories of taxpayers who apply zero rate are discussed.

 

In addition, Bektenov reported on the program of reimbursement of part of the transportation costs in the export of processed products, which is in effect this year. Under this program, 68 applications from 47 exporters were approved for the amount of 2.2 billion tenge. To speed up the process of reimbursement of expenses, the Ministry of Trade and Integration is introducing a new automated system for processing applications, which will provide integration with external databases and automation of all procedures related to the formation of documents and reports.

 

Prime Minister confirmed that within the framework of the new Tax Code, changes are being introduced that will simplify and accelerate the procedures for reimbursement of export costs, including optimization of the package of documents in the application and transfer of the service to a more projective mode of operation. This will maximize the speed of processing applications and increase the efficiency and transparency of export operations.