Amnesty on tax penalties in Kazakhstan – whose debts will be cleared and whose will not

Tengrinews.kz — As part of an administrative amnesty in Kazakhstan, a portion of unpaid fines imposed by state revenue authorities will be written off. However, the waiver will not apply to all violations or all categories of citizens. Dias Akhmetov, head of the legal department of the State Revenue Committee, provided further details.
According to him, the amnesty applies to Kazakhstani citizens, individual entrepreneurs, and individuals in private practice, such as notaries, lawyers, legal consultants, and private bailiffs.
At the same time, it will not affect legal entities, officials, foreign nationals, or stateless persons.
The amnesty covers administrative fines imposed by tax authorities, including those in the fields of taxation and customs.

"All outstanding orders for administrative penalties issued before the law came into force fall under the amnesty. If a fine has been partially paid, the remaining balance will also be written off," Akhmetov explained during a live broadcast dedicated to the administrative amnesty.

He added that anyone who failed to pay tax fines by July 3 of this year is eligible for the amnesty. According to Akhmetov, enforcement proceedings for such fines will be terminated. If the state revenue authorities were handling the collection, they will also cease the forced execution of those orders.
Which fines will not be written off
The amnesty does not apply to fines:

imposed by a court;
under Articles 275, 277 and the 278 of the Code of Administrative Offenses (CAO).

These involve the most serious tax violations:

concealment of taxable items or property;
evasion of tax obligations;
understatement of tax amounts.

As the State Revenue Committee representative explained, these violations are directly related to the constitutional duty to pay taxes; therefore, no exemptions from liability will be granted for them.
Furthermore, fines under Article 278 ("Understatement of taxes and other mandatory payments") have already been written off as part of the "Clean Slate" campaign, which has been in effect since the beginning of 2026 for micro and small businesses. Under the terms of that campaign, entrepreneurs who paid off their principal debt had their accrued penalties and fines waived.
According to State Revenue Committee data, by April 2026, participants in the campaign had repaid approximately 13 billion tenge in principal tax debt, while the state wrote off 4.9 billion tenge in fines and penalties. Consequently, these violations were not included in the administrative amnesty a second time.
First administrative amnesty
On July 1, President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev signed a law on amnesty following the adoption of the new Constitution. A separate provision of the law establishes the first administrative amnesty in the history of independent Kazakhstan.
The following will be exempt from administrative fines:

Kazakhstani citizens;
individual entrepreneurs;
notaries;
attorneys;
private bailiffs;
legal consultants.

This refers to fines that were outstanding at the time the law came into force and fall under the jurisdiction of the authorized bodies.
The amnesty will not affect:

fines imposed by courts;
fines for offenses posing a threat to the security of citizens and the state.

For the first time in independent Kazakhstan's history, the ongoing administrative amnesty waives fines for offenses covered by more than 260 articles of the Code of Administrative Offenses.
According to the Ministry of Internal Affairs, for offenses handled by internal affairs agencies alone, approximately 1 million fines totaling over 17 billion tenge will fall under the amnesty.

"The amnesty helps reduce the financial burden on citizens. However, the administrative amnesty will not affect individuals who have committed the most serious offenses, including those related to illegal arms and drug trafficking, traffic violations (driving under the influence, driving into oncoming traffic, and other violations resulting in the loss of a driver's license), or repeat offenders," the Ministry of Internal Affairs noted.

We previously reported in detail on who the amnesty will affect, which fines are planned to be written off automatically, whether Kuandyk Bishimbayev and the Perizat Kairat can expect a reduction in their terms, and why the authorities decided to hold the amnesty now. Read more follow the link.