Kazakhstan recorded 356,200 sole proprietor deregistrations in the first nine months of 2026. Some entrepreneurs switched to self-employed status, while others had previously earned no income. However, 30,100 ceased operations after switching to the general tax regime or because they could no longer work under the new tax conditions.
Photo: shin rai / Pexels
What sole proprietor deregistrations mean
Deregistering as a sole proprietor does not always mean leaving business. According to Economy Minister Serik Zhumangarin’s response to a parliamentary inquiry, reported by Kursiv, 73,900 of those who deregistered, or 20.8%, switched to the tax regime for the self-employed. For this group, deregistration meant continuing activity under a different tax status. Another 151,800 had effectively earned no income in 2025.
According to the minister, a total of 981,200 individuals used the self-employed regime. Of these, 866,900, or 88%, worked through online platforms. These totals cover all users of the regime, including those who switched from sole proprietor status.
A separate Bureau of National Statistics release covering 1 October 2026 confirms the broader decline in registered and active individual entrepreneurship entities. Their numbers fell by 12.8% and 11.9%, respectively, compared with a year earlier. The bureau links the decline to entrepreneurs switching to the new self-employed tax regime. These figures describe the number of registered and active entities at a particular date, rather than the number of deregistrations during nine months.
How many sole proprietors closed after the tax reform
Between January and September 2026, 356,200 sole proprietors ceased operations, according to the minister’s figures reported by Kursiv. That was approximately 59% more than in the same period of 2025, when 223,600 closed.
Meanwhile, approximately 242,000 new sole proprietorships were registered, down 30% from a year earlier. Registrations therefore fell while deregistrations rose, although entrepreneurs had different revenues and reasons for closing.
Who stopped operating under the new tax conditions
Kursiv reports that 30,100 sole proprietors ceased operations after switching to the general tax regime or because they were unable to continue working under the new tax conditions. The source identifies these entrepreneurs separately; this figure should not be added to the total of 356,200 deregistrations.
This group matters when assessing the reform: changes in tax status and previously inactive registrations do not explain every closure.
How much income the sole proprietors who closed had earned
Zhumangarin gave the following breakdown, as reported by Kursiv:
- 151,800 sole proprietors, or 42.6%, had effectively earned no income in 2025;
- 102,400, or 28.7%, had income of up to 10 million tenge;
- 28,000 had turnover above 10 million tenge.
For comparison, 22,500 sole proprietors with income above 10 million tenge closed in the first nine months of 2025. In the same period of 2024, the figure was 15,000.
Which sectors saw the most closures
According to the figures reported by Kursiv, trade accounted for 36% of all closures, or 128,400 sole proprietors. A year earlier, 74,500 entrepreneurs in this sector closed.
In services, 59,800 sole proprietors ceased operations, compared with 37,700 a year earlier. Zhumangarin acknowledged that the increase in deregistrations requires further monitoring.
What is happening to income and jobs
The income and employment figures concern a different reporting group and period. According to BAQ.KZ’s report published on 27 October 2026, the ministry’s figures cover taxpayers filing form 910.00 under the simplified regime in the first half of 2026.
For that group, declared income rose from 7.89 trillion to 9.38 trillion tenge, an increase of 18.9%. The reported number of employees increased from 445,500 to 508,600, or by 14.2%, while payroll grew from 417.8 billion to approximately 448 billion tenge, or by 7.3%.
These figures provide additional context but do not measure the outcomes of the deregistered sole proprietors themselves.
In plain terms
Assessing the reform requires looking at registrations, income and employment together. Changes in registration alone do not show how many active businesses left the market. According to Zhumangarin, the authorities will draw final conclusions about the reform’s impact after the full 2026 tax period ends.
