Amendments have been made to the Kazakhstan's tax legislation in respect to tax administration effective as of 1 January 2016. Below are some of the amendments that affect the process of registration with the tax authorities.

Prior to the entry of these amendments into force, the Tax Code of the Republic of Kazakhstan allowed taxpayers to participate in tax relations through a representative acting on the basis of a power of attorney.

According to the amendments, from 1 January 2016, taxpayers are not permitted to act through a representative in cases of filing: (i) a tax application for the change of the data about the head of a legal entity-resident, structural unit, structural unit of a legal entity-non-resident and (ii) a tax application for value added tax registration with the tax authority.

According to the amendments made to article 563 of the Tax Code, an application for changes in connection with the change to the head must be filed in person by the chief executive officer. This requirement does not apply to entities who are not payers of value added tax or to members of the information system of electronic invoices.

Therefore, in cases where the chief executive officer of a company - VAT payer is a foreign citizen, who is outside the Republic of Kazakhstan, the process of notifying the tax authority of the change of the head becomes more complicated.

From 1 April 2016, a tax application for value added tax registration must be filed in person by the chief executive officer of the legal entity - resident of the Republic of Kazakhstan, of a non-resident carrying out activities in the Republic of Kazakhstan through a branch, a representative office, an individual entrepreneur at the place of the location. When an application for value added tax registration is filed, the tax authority will take a photo of the chief executive officer of a legal entity-resident of the Republic of Kazakhstan, of an individual entrepreneur.

According to the comments of the bodies of state revenue, these changes are aimed at curbing pseudo-entrepreneurial activities.

About Dentons

Dentons is the world's first polycentric global law firm. A top 20 firm on the Acritas 2015 Global Elite Brand Index, the Firm is committed to challenging the status quo in delivering consistent and uncompromising quality and value in new and inventive ways. Driven to provide clients a competitive edge, and connected to the communities where its clients want to do business, Dentons knows that understanding local cultures is crucial to successfully completing a deal, resolving a dispute or solving a business challenge. Now the world's largest law firm, Dentons' global team builds agile, tailored solutions to meet the local, national and global needs of private and public clients of any size in more than 125 locations serving 50-plus countries. www.dentons.com.

The content of this article is intended to provide a general guide to the subject matter. Specialist advice should be sought about your specific circumstances.