Kazakhstan cracks down on suspicious mobile payment patterns

A sweeping financial probe targets citizens receiving payments from 100+ sources. Will this new tactic uncover hidden tax evasion?

, and Administrator

2026 April 23 . 6:12 AM

1 min read

The image shows a blue background with a bar chart depicting the share of income after transfers... — The image shows a blue background with a bar chart depicting the share of income after transfers and federal taxes from 1979 to 2007. The chart is accompanied by text providing further information about the data.

Kazakhstan cracks down on suspicious mobile payment patterns

All second-tier banks in Kazakhstan have already submitted data on citizens' mobile transfers to tax authorities, Deputy Finance Minister Yerzhan Birzhanov announced during an informal discussion in the Mazhilis, according to our correspondent.

He noted that tax officials are currently processing and cross-referencing the vast amount of information received, making it too early to specify the exact number of notifications or categories of individuals affected.

"As of today, all banks have provided the data, as I previously mentioned. We have received this information and are now processing it. We cannot yet draw any conclusions—such as which categories will be involved or what measures will be taken—because the first notifications will only be sent in May," Birzhanov stated.

The deputy minister explained that tax authorities still need to analyze the data and categorize it—determining whether the transfers involve individual entrepreneurs, self-employed workers, non-residents, or other groups. Additionally, information from different banks must be cross-checked, as the same individuals may appear in multiple datasets.

"It is still premature to say that a certain number of people will receive notifications. We will begin sending them in May," Birzhanov reiterated.

Earlier, we reported that banks were required to submit data on mobile transfers for the first quarter of 2026 to tax authorities by April 15. Fiscal agencies will focus only on cases meeting three criteria: transfers received from 100 or more different individuals, occurring over three consecutive months, with a total amount exceeding 12 times the minimum wage—equivalent to 1,020,000 tenge.