Pilot Project on Digital VAT in Public Procurement

Dear Readers,

On 2 February 2026, the Ministry of Finance launched¹ a Pilot Project introducing the digital tenge with VAT marking for public procurement participants. The Project aims to ensure transparency and traceability of settlements in the public procurement sector, increase the completeness and timeliness of budget revenues, and limit the use of fictitious schemes.

Below we outline the Pilot Project implementation procedure.

Participation in the Project is voluntary. A taxpayer confirms participation by:

1. Submitting an application to a second-tier bank to open a digital account in the digital tenge system;
2. Signing an agreement with the state revenue authority consenting to the transfer (exchange) of data between the Project participants;
3. Confirming payments in digital tenge in accordance with the established procedure.

The Project applies to public procurement suppliers and second-tier banks that voluntarily join the Project.

The taxpayer opens a digital account in the digital tenge system through a servicing second-tier bank. To fund the digital account, the Project participant purchases digital tenge using funds received under a public procurement contract. The taxpayer must notify the State Revenue Committee (in paper and/or electronic form) of the purchase of digital tenge within three business days from the date of such purchase.

Project participants conduct settlements using digital accounts. When transferring digital tenge to a supplier, the taxpayer indicates the registration number of the relevant electronic VAT invoice. The accounting system or remote banking interface automatically generates payment documents.

Before executing a payment, the digital tenge system verifies online that the payment is correctly linked to the electronic VAT invoice (within 10 minutes). The system then either confirms or rejects the payment and specifies the reason for rejection. If the system rejects the payment, the taxpayer may correct the identified discrepancies and resubmit it.

When a taxpayer initiates a payment, the system automatically marks the portion of digital tenge corresponding to the VAT amount. Marked digital tenge may be used exclusively:

• to pay VAT to the state budget (under the relevant budget classification codes);
• to pay the VAT amount under an electronic VAT invoice to another VAT payer.

The taxpayer may not use the marked amount for any other purpose. The taxpayer may freely convert unmarked digital tenge back to its current bank account.

The taxpayer transfers VAT in digital tenge to the digital account of the State Revenue Committee and indicates the relevant payment details. The system then transfers the amount to the digital account of the State Treasury Committee, redeems the digital tenge, and credits the funds to the Single Treasury Account, ensuring full traceability of funds until they reach the state budget.

The Pilot Project runs from 2 February through 31 December 2026.

¹Order No. 38 of the Minister of Finance of the Republic of Kazakhstan On Approval of the Rules and Deadlines for the Implementation of the Pilot Project on the Introduction of the Digital Tenge with Value Added Tax Marking for Public Procurement Participants, dated 22 January 2026