Kazakhstan to End Price Caps on Utilities and Gas, Launch Tax Amnesty in April 2026

Significant changes are set to take effect in Kazakhstan starting April 2026, impacting household budgets and the business environment. The government will lift the current moratorium on increases for utility tariffs and the price of socially significant AI-92 gasoline. Concurrently, a tax amnesty program for entrepreneurs will commence.

The tax amnesty, introduced alongside the new Tax Code effective this year, will allow for the write-off of accumulated fines and penalties for businesses. To qualify, entrepreneurs must settle their principal tax debt by April 1, 2026. The relief applies to micro and small businesses with tax arrears incurred before January 1, 2026.

The amnesty covers penalties related to taxes and other mandatory payments but does not forgive the principal debt itself. Once the core debt is repaid by the deadline, the associated fines and penalties will be automatically canceled through standard tax administration procedures, without requiring a separate application or triggering audits of past periods.

Separately, the moratorium on raising utility service rates, enacted as an anti-crisis measure in October of last year, will expire on April 1. Authorities have clarified that tariffs will not rise uniformly across the board immediately after this date.

Instead, each utility company must apply for a tariff review and substantiate that its operational costs have genuinely increased. Regulators will consider factors such as infrastructure maintenance and repair expenses, its current condition, and the economic situation in a given region when reviewing applications.

Consequently, any potential increase will be case-specific. However, a key restriction is in place: any approved tariff hikes must remain within the government's projected inflation corridor for 2026, which is set at 9–12 percent.