From January to August this year, Kazakhstanis paid 1.96 trillion tenge in personal income tax (PIT) on their earnings. The money goes toward street lighting and courtyard cleanup, roads, public transport and other needs, the website infohub.kz reports.

Economist Ruslan Sultanov, writing in the “Economic Literacy” channel, explained that the 10% PIT is withheld not from the entire salary but from what remains after pension and insurance contributions and the tax deduction. It is this money that forms the state's “income,” which it spends on improving people's lives.

“The state does not earn money. It manages the money you have already earned,” the expert notes.

According to the figures cited, with a gross salary (before all deductions) of 350,000 tenge, PIT comes to 17,825 tenge, and over a year such a worker pays 213,900 tenge. In January–August 2024, PIT receipts totaled 1.96 trillion tenge — 4.6% more than in the same period last year (1.89 trillion tenge).

Almaty and Astana accounted for almost half of the receipts — 868.6 billion tenge, or 44.3% of the total.

“Moreover, in Almaty receipts grew by 37.6 billion tenge, and in Astana by 34.2 billion tenge. Together that is 71.8 billion tenge in additional PIT. Yet nationwide the increase was only 67.3 billion tenge. It turns out that, excluding Almaty and Astana, PIT receipts in the other regions did not grow in total but fell by about 4.5 billion tenge,” the source notes.

According to the economist, PIT receipts stay in local budgets: in the megacities the money goes to the city budget, while in the regions it counts as revenue for district budgets and the budgets of cities of regional significance.

“That is, the tax stays at the local level. But not necessarily where you live: where it is credited depends on the established rules,” the expert notes.

Local budgets finance what Kazakhstanis see around them every day: utility infrastructure, street lighting, cleanup, landscaping and greening, local roads, public transport, libraries, sports clubs, and certain types of social and housing assistance.

Schools are also funded from these sources (from the regional budget in the regions and from the city budget in the megacities). Healthcare has several sources, including budget funds and the social health insurance fund.

“So the familiar complaint ‘I pay taxes, but the school is falling apart’ may well be justified. You just need to understand which budget is responsible for a particular school to get an answer,” Ruslan Sultanov stresses.

As a result, PIT on Kazakhstanis' salaries goes toward maintaining local infrastructure, social welfare, landscaping and so on.