Journalists inquired whether the increase in fines and account seizures due to late tax payments would lead to mass protests from the population.
“Every working citizen is required by law, according to the Tax Code, to pay taxes on time. However, if there are valid reasons preventing them from fulfilling this obligation, I believe the tax authorities will provide a more competent response. Everyone should work with the tax inspector. Regarding fines – to avoid fines, one must not break the law. If you do not break the law, no one will impose fines on you,” said Tamara Duyssenova.
However, media representatives pointed out that people are complaining about their disproportionate nature.
“I maintain my stance – the issue is not whether they are fair or not, whether there are many or few, but rather that one should not violate the law. Then, the size of the fines will not be a concern for anyone. In this case, there will be no questions about whether they are proportional to the population's income; the focus should be on the fact that laws must not be violated. Our goal is not to impose fines, but to motivate people to follow the law. Law-abiding citizens are not fined. I find it incorrect to frame the question in terms of whether they are proportional to our income,” stated the Deputy Prime Minister.
Taxes are a different matter.
“But when it comes to taxes, yes, they should be proportional to income. We certainly cannot, for instance, give away 90% of our income in taxes?” concluded Duyssenova.