A survey shows that Kazakhstan’s new Tax Code with an increased value-added tax (VAT) has led to growing anxiety among the population, with most respondents saying that the tax changes negatively impact their standard of living and cause growing expenses, making a significant portion of the population cut spending on basic items, including food, clothing, and transportation.
The survey was conducted by the Demoscope Public Opinion Monitoring Bureau between February 5 and 15, 2026 among 1,100 respondents in 17 regions and the cities of Astana, Almaty, and Shymkent. The survey analyzed public perceptions of the tax reform and expectations for its implementation among Kazakhstanis.
On January 1, 2026, a new Tax Code came into force in Kazakhstan, increasing the VAT for small and medium-sized businesses from 12% to 16% and revising tax incentives. The new Tax Code has reduced the number of special tax regimes from seven to three.
The survey found that 77.6% of respondents have seen their expenses growing since January 2026: 54.4% reported a significant increase in expenses and 23.2% a slight increase. Another 16% of respondents said their expenses remained unchanged, while 6.3% were unsure what to answer.
Rising expenses have forced Kazakhstanis to cut back on groceries (44.5%), clothing and footwear (36.1%), personal car transportation and taxis (28.3%), cafes, restaurants, and delivery services (25.8%), entertainment and recreation (23.2%), utilities (20.4%), and medicines and medical services (20.2%).
24.2% responded that they have no need to cut back on anything.
After the new Tax Code came into force, respondents faced other difficulties, namely:
- rising prices for goods and services – 53.8%
- concerns about financial stability – 26.3%
- complexity of new tax rules – 16.2%
- decreasing real income – 15%
- fear of losing jobs – 5.1%
16.6% experienced no difficulties, and 11.4% had not heard anything about the new Tax Code.
Asked about the expected impact of the new Tax Code, respondents answered how they believed the VAT increase would affect their standard of living:
- 65% believe their standard of living will worsen
- 40.5% believe it will worsen significantly
- 24.5% believe it will worsen slightly
- 8.2% expect their standard of living to improve significantly or slightly
- 13.3% expect the new Tax Code will have no impact on their standard of living.
According to Demoscope, the 31 March 2026 expiration of the moratorium on utility tariff increases (electricity, heat, and water), introduced in October 2025, could further exacerbate the economic anxiety among Kazakhstanis.
