From January 1, 2026, a special tax regime (STR) for self-employed individuals has been in effect in Kazakhstan. It is designed for individuals with small and irregular income and allows them to work legally without registering as individual entrepreneurs.
The regime operates through the E-Salyq Business mobile application and provides a simplified procedure for income tracking and payment of mandatory contributions.
How many self-employed individuals are there in Kazakhstan?
As of February 1, 2026, there are 193,000 registered self-employed individuals in Kazakhstan. These figures reflect officially recorded individuals working under the special tax regime.
Permitted types of activities
Self-employed individuals may engage in 40 types of activities approved by a government resolution. These include, for example:
• residential property rental
• taxi services
• shoe repair
• plastering and painting works
• household and minor services
It is permitted to carry out one or several types of activities simultaneously. Self-employed individuals may work with both private individuals and businesses.
Is individual entrepreneur registration required?
No. Registration as an individual entrepreneur is not required. An individual is considered self-employed if they:
• complete authorization in the E-Salyq Business application
• record income for the relevant month
The date of the first generated receipt is considered the start date of self-employment.
How to become self-employed
To start working as a self-employed individual:
1. Download the E-Salyq Business application (Play Market, App Store, or App Gallery)
2. Log in using an electronic digital signature (EDS)
3. Record income by generating receipts
No additional applications or visits to tax authorities are required.
Taxes and mandatory contributions
A single payment is established for self-employed individuals:
• Personal income tax (PIT) — 0% (no income tax is paid)
• Social contributions — 4% of income, including:
• Mandatory pension contributions (MPC) — 1%
• Social contributions (SC) — 1%
• Mandatory social health insurance (MSHI) — 1%
• Employer mandatory pension contributions (EMPC) — 1%
No other taxes or mandatory payments apply.
Reporting and income accounting
No tax reporting is required. Income is recorded automatically:
• based on generated receipts
• using data from government information systems
The application independently calculates the amount of social contributions.
If there is no income
Self-employed status applies only to months in which income is received:
• if there is no income, self-employed status does not apply for that month
• if there is no income, no social contributions are paid
The application calculates the required contributions automatically.
Transition from individual entrepreneur to self-employment
For individual entrepreneurs who worked under the patent regime or through a special mobile application in 2025, a transition period has been established from January 1 to February 28, 2026.
To switch to self-employment:
• deregister as an individual entrepreneur
• do so before generating the first receipt in the E-Salyq Business application
If an individual entrepreneur does not deregister and does not switch to the simplified declaration regime, tax authorities will automatically deregister them on March 1, 2026.