Since 2022, foreign marketplaces, social networks, streaming platforms and other digital services have paid 178.8 billion tenge ($388.8 million) to Kazakhstan’s budget. In the first seven months of 2026 alone, revenue reached 51.5 billion tenge ($112 million) — almost as much as the state collected for all of last year, Kazinform reported.
Foreign companies made all these payments under the so-called «Google tax,» a value-added tax (VAT) they pay when selling goods online to Kazakhstanis or providing electronic services in the country.
There are currently 133 foreign VAT payers registered in Kazakhstan. They include Apple, Amazon, Alibaba and its affiliated platforms such as AliExpress, Google, Meta, Microsoft, Netflix, OpenAI, Ozon, Temu, TikTok, Samsung, Sony and other major foreign companies.
Temu outpaces Apple and Steam
In 2025, foreign internet companies paid a combined $125.3 million into Kazakhstan’s budget. The largest single payer was Elementary Innovation Pte. Ltd., a Singapore-registered company affiliated with the Temu marketplace, which paid $28.9 million. Apple followed with $24.3 million, and Valve, which owns the Steam gaming platform, paid $22.4 million.
Google transferred another $15.8 million, while online retailer iHerb paid $10.6 million. The top 10 foreign taxpayers also included Meta, TikTok, AliExpress and other foreign online retailers.
Together, the five largest payers accounted for $102.2 million, or more than 80% of all revenue collected from foreign digital businesses in 2025.
How much did Netflix and Spotify pay?
Among the other well-known services on the list, Netflix paid the most, transferring $769,669 by the end of 2025 — though still far less than the top payers named above.
Spotify paid $637,440, Zoom paid $398,427, Nintendo paid $117,440 and the online learning platform Coursera paid $72,204. Samsung Electronics reported $19,573 in taxes, while IMDb.com paid just $817.
Revenue from foreign internet companies has grown steadily over the past four years. Kazakhstan collected $22.6 million from them in 2022, $52.8 million in 2023, $76 million in 2024 and $125.3 million in 2025. With $112 million already collected in the first seven months of 2026, foreign digital companies have paid roughly 89% of the amount they transferred in all of 2025. This suggests this year’s total could set a new record if the pace holds.
