On 30 March 2016 the 10th Practical Conference for the businessmen of the Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU) took place within the framework of the annual Kazakhstan’s International Exhibition “Promstroy-Astana”, Korme exhibition centre, Astana, RoK[1], dedicated to the topic: “Development of economic relations within the EAEU. The ways to harmonize tax relations”.
The conference was traditionally organized by the Chamber of Commerce of the Russian Federation (RF CoC) and the Akimat of Astana city.
At the opening of the conference the participants were welcomed by the RF CoC, Astana Akimat, RF Trade Representation and Atameken National Chamber of Entrepreneurs of the RoK (RoK NCE). The conference was moderated by Mr. Andrey Khorunzhiy – Honorary Representative of RF CoC in the RoK, Vice President of “Chamber of Tax Consultants of the RoK” PA, Managing Partner of MinTax Group.
The establishment of the EAEU greatly stimulated development of mutual relations between entrepreneurs of the member countries.
During the plenary session, the Deputy Chairman of the RF Trade Representative Office in the RoK –Mr. Konstantin Zlygostev spoke about trade and economic cooperation between Russia and Kazakhstan presenting analytical data, as well as about the ongoing and planned work for the development of interconnection between the business communities of the two countries.
The Director of the Investors’ Service Centre of Astana Akimat – Mr. Abay Kozhamzharov presented investment opportunities of Astana city, covered the planned events of EXPO-2017 “Energy of Future” international exhibition, spoke about ASTANA International Financial Centre that is going to start functioning from 1 January 2018, about investment opportunities of the special economic zone “Astana-New City” as well as about the scope of services available through the Investors Service Centre.
Mrs. Saltanat Akhanova – Deputy Chairman of the Board of the Kazakhstan Chamber of Foreign Trade spoke about inter-regional cooperation between Kazakhstan and Russia, in particular, between businessmen, as well as events planned by the RoK NCE aimed at the development of cooperation between the RF and RoK communities and creating favourable business environment in the EAEU countries, in particular, about the forthcoming entrepreneurs’ Forum to be held on 15-16 April 2016 in Aktobe city, RoK, which is going to be attended by heads and prosecutors of frontier regions of the RF and RoK.
Tax relations and their harmonization within the single economic space is one of the important issues in planning the investment activity.
Mr. Ruslan Khambarov, the Head of the Indirect Taxes Administration Office of the SRD of Astana city was the spokesperson of the State Revenue Committee of the RoK Ministry of Finance. He made a report on the topic “Kazakhstan’s accession to the WTO”. In his report Mr. Khambarov spoke about the effective procedure of tax administration, including tax control procedures, about creation of logistic centres with uniform procedures of controlling bodies allowing to reduce the time of customs clearance and control, and ensuring the lower cost of supplies, as well as the system of goods accounting within the EAEU.
The planned changes in the RoK tax policy were covered by Mr. Zhanat Musabayev – the Deputy Director of the Tax Department of RoK NCE. The main innovations introduced to the tax legislation of Kazakhstan are: introduction of the sales tax instead of the value added tax in 2017, replacement of the Vehicle tax with the excise duty on petroleum products, the reform of special tax regimes for small and medium-sized businesses with a transition to the accounting of income and expenses, and also highlighted the key issues of the introduction of universal declaration for individuals.
The importance of accounting principles in the RoK and their impact on tax relations was the subject of a report made by Mrs. Saule Sultanova – Certified Auditor, Senior manager of Mintax Audit LLP. Also, her report covered capabilities of an auditing company in assisting those EAEU companies that intend to conduct business in Kazakhstan, in respect of organization of bookkeeping and tax accounting, in particular – by means of outsourcing.
Andrey Khorunzhiy spoke about the tax planning implemented by the Government and business and its impact on the organizational structure of the business. He emphasized the importance for the business of obtaining timely information concerning tax implications of business decisions made, in particular, on issues related to minimizing tax risks in respect of application of the law on government control in transfer pricing.
In conclusion, Mr. Andrey Artyushin, Executive Director of the State Fund of Kaluga Region and Mrs. Irina Tekhay, Representative of Ugra Export Support Centre presented economic and investing opportunities of Russia’s regions and their enterprises.
[1] Republic of Kazakhstan.
