PROF.TALK | Taxes, once and for all | Dana Tokmurzina and Olzhas Kassenov

What was discussed:

• Where we are now — the digitalisation of the tax service, compared with other jurisdictions including the UAE.
• Negotiating tax treaties, and how differently taxation is regarded from one country to another.
• Taking part in drafting legislation — and why it amounted to routine maintenance rather than a genuine overhaul.
• Working for large holdings: where optimisation ends and abuse begins.
• The mistakes taxpayers most often make today, and cases where the law is on the client's side but fairness is not.
• Whether business is winning more disputes against the state than it used to.
• Unreliable suppliers — the most pressing issue in tax practice.
• Cases won: royalties, transfer pricing, VAT refunds. And cases lost: management and administrative expenses.
• Formalism in action: the story of a residency certificate.
• How the path into international taxation took shape, and whether Olzhas would return to public service.
• The Bolashak scholarship at thirty: Heathrow, English from scratch in ten months, and later Arabic.

Watch the full episode: https://youtu.be/NXfDELWKo_k