Astana, 27 October. As of 1 October 2026, 981,200 Kazakhs were using the self-employed regime, 866,900 (88%) of them working through online platforms, National Economy Minister Serik Zhumangarin said in reply to a deputy's inquiry.
The state is now using the same platforms to trace the income of alimony debtors, according to Prime Minister Olzhas Bektenov's reply to another inquiry.
Most of the self-employed work in taxi services, 519,683 people (53%), and courier delivery, 292,509 (30%); together that is 83% of the regime's participants. Of them, 807,300 had not previously used the regime. For those working through platforms, 16.1 billion tenge in social payments has been transferred: 4.4 billion in compulsory pension contributions, 3.8 billion in employer pension contributions, 3.9 billion in social contributions and 4.1 billion in health insurance contributions.
To trace debtors' income, an automated enforcement-proceedings system linked to state databases, banks and employers is now used. "In addition, bailiffs have been given the right to request information from operators of online platforms, platform-employment services and gambling businesses. Integration of data on income from passenger transport, delivery services, gambling and e-money transactions is also being worked out," Bektenov said. The government did not back tougher criminal penalties for non-payers: in its view, prison terms in themselves do not guarantee payments to children.
What it means: Nearly a million people work through taxi and delivery platforms under a special tax regime, and their income is now visible to the state; the government intends to use this data to collect alimony as well.
Who benefits: Children and alimony recipients, as bailiffs gain information on income that previously went undetected. The self-employed on platforms, who get pension and health contributions they would not have without the regime. Debtors earning from taxi and delivery work will find it harder to hide their income.
Background: The special tax regime for the self-employed paying through online platforms allows people to work without registering as sole traders: the platform transfers the tax and social payments on the worker's behalf.
