EI (electronic invoice) is a digital analog of a regular paper invoice used for VAT accounting. In Kazakhstan, this is an official tax document that confirms the fact of a transaction and the amount of tax that the seller has charged to the buyer.
- Legal force. An EI has the same legal force as a paper document. The original is considered to be the electronic file stored in the state information system, not its paper copy.
- Mandatory details. The document is completed in an approved form and contains all the same data as the paper version: names of the parties, their details, list of goods or services, cost, and VAT amount.
- Electronic signature. An EI must be certified with an EDS (electronic digital signature) of the authorized person of the supplier. Without a signature, the document is invalid.
- Registration in the system. The document is issued through a special portal — the Electronic Invoice Information System (EI IS). After verification, the system assigns a unique registration number, and only then the document is considered executed.
Who Is Required to Issue EI
By law, the following must issue electronic invoices:
- VAT payers;
- companies that sell imported goods;
- participants in transactions exceeding 1,000 MCI (monthly calculation index);
- certain other categories of taxpayers.
Types of EI
In addition to the standard invoice, the system allows the issuance of:
- corrected — when it is necessary to change or supplement data in a previously issued document;
- additional — when it is necessary to adjust the turnover amount.
Why Is This Needed
The main function of an EI is to give the buyer the basis to claim VAT as a credit. For businesses, it is also convenient: documents are delivered instantly regardless of distance, there is less risk of errors due to automatic system verification, and there is no need to store mountains of paper.
Deadlines That Cannot Be Missed
Fifteen days for everything.
By default, the law gives you exactly fifteen calendar days from the date of the transaction to issue an invoice. Not a day more. This applies to ninety percent of operations that an ordinary company performs.
Some think that you can wait until the last minute and still make it. In practice, those who delay eventually miss deadlines, because there is always something urgent — an employee gets sick, a server goes down, the director leaves town. The only working method is to set an internal company limit of five business days for issuing an EI. Then you have a buffer of almost a week and a half for force majeure.
For certain categories of businesses, it is permitted to issue invoices once a month, based on period results. Then the deadline is the twentieth day of the following month. But this is not for everyone. Before relaxing, make sure your company actually falls under the exception.
Five days for non-residents
A separate issue is transactions with foreigners. If a non-resident has provided you with a service or performed work, the place of supply of which is recognized as Kazakhstan, you are required to issue an EI addressed to yourself. This must be done within five calendar days after paying the VAT to the budget.
Important nuance: first the payment, then the document. Not the other way around. If you issued an invoice before paying the tax, you have violated the procedure. Formally, the document appeared before the basis for its existence arose.
Payment can be made either with actual money or by offsetting an overpayment. In the latter case, the five-day period begins to run from the moment when the tax authority carried out the offset. Not from the day you submitted the application, but precisely when the officials pressed the button.
Fifteen days to chase the supplier
Previously, a buyer had six months to demand an invoice from the supplier. Now — only fifteen calendar days after the transaction date. Miss it — consider that you have lost the right to demand.
A supplier who receives a demand within this period is required to issue the document no later than thirty days after the transaction date. If the supplier delays — that is your problem. In contracts, it is now mandatory to stipulate that the party delaying the issuance of an EI compensates the other party for all tax losses. Otherwise, you will be left without the credit and without the money.
Ten business days to respond to the tax authority
If a notification regarding comparative control arrives, you have ten business days. Not calendar days, but business days. Either you prove that everything is legitimate, or you revoke the suspicious invoices. There is no third option.
Those who ignore notifications quickly find themselves unable to issue EIs and without access to bank accounts. Moreover, the blocking occurs automatically, without additional warnings.
Confirmation from the Buyer — Now Mandatory
If the buyer is a VAT payer
As of this year, corrected, additional, and revoked invoices are considered executed only after the buyer has confirmed them. The system no longer accepts unilateral actions by the supplier.
The buyer has ten calendar days to either click "confirm" or "reject." If the buyer remains silent for all ten days — a legal uncertainty arises. The tax authority during an audit may consider that the document was not agreed upon and disallow the credit.
Therefore, contracts must now state: the buyer undertakes to check incoming EIs daily and respond within three business days. Otherwise, losses are borne by the buyer.
If the buyer is not a VAT payer
For such entities, the mechanism is simpler. If they do not reject the document within ten days, it is automatically considered confirmed. Nothing needs to be done.
But in practice, it is better not to rely on autopilot. Inexpensively training the counterparty on how to log into the system and check documents pays off by avoiding future problems.
What to Do Inside the Company
To avoid missing incoming confirmations, three things must be done:
- assign a specific person who checks the incoming EI section daily;
- specify in the regulations that the response to an incoming document must be within three business days;
- set up notifications by email or messenger for each new arrival.
It sounds mundane, but it is precisely in these small details that people most often fail.
Biometry — Three Times and You Are Free
When it is required
Biometric identification is required in two cases: during initial registration in the system, and when signing an EI if the taxpayer has fallen into the risk group.
How many times to go through
A total of three successful passes. After the third, the system gives the green light, and invoices can be issued without biometry.
The limit of three times is a gift. But if you have exhausted three passes and continue to undergo biometry every day, it means either you are unaware of the rules or you have configuration issues.
Statuses You Need to KnowNew document statuses have appeared in the system:
- "waiting for biometry" — the document is pending until the responsible person confirms their identity;
- "biometry not completed on time" — you were late, the document did not go through;
- "deleted due to lack of biometry" — the system simply discarded the document, it no longer exists.
If you see the last status, create the document anew. There is nothing left to correct.
What to Do to Avoid Trouble
- check which employees have a valid EDS (electronic digital signature);
- explain to everyone how biometry works and why it is needed;
- keep track of how many times each employee has already undergone the procedure;
- when there is only one pass left before the limit, plan the issuance of large documents so as not to end up in a deadlock.
Non-Residents — An Eternal HeadacheHow to issue a document for a foreigner
You purchase a service from a foreigner, the place of supply is Kazakhstan. You are required to issue an EI to yourself. In the supplier field, you enter the details of the non-resident; in the recipient field, you enter your own details.
You must check the box in the system indicating that the document is being issued in connection with an acquisition from a non-resident. Without this mark, the tax authority may assume that you simply made a mistake and refuse the credit.
The main rule
First pay the VAT, then issue the EI. Five days for everything from the moment of payment.
Payment is either a transfer of money or an offset of overpayment. In the latter case, the date of payment is considered to be the day when the tax authority carried out the offset. Not the day you submitted the application, but the day when they got around to it.
What penalties apply for errors
- did not pay the tax — a fine;
- paid late — a fine;
- issued the EI before payment — violation of procedure, the credit may not be recognized;
- incorrectly filled in the details — redo it, lose time, get stressed.
Control — They Are Watching You
E-Tamga
This is a new service that calculates your balance. If you are in the risk group, you can issue EIs only within the limits of confirmed expenses.
The balance is replenished by depositing money into the treasury account of the SRC (State Revenue Committee). No advance tax is charged on this — which is a plus. Not only suppliers themselves can replenish the balance, but also their buyers.
The control lasts twelve months. If you want to exit earlier, you can submit an application after six months under two conditions: you have regularly replenished the balance every month and have spent at least half of the VAT amount indicated in your EIs.
Comparative Control
This is where they look for those who trade in thin air. If the tax authority finds suspicious transactions in your records, a notification will arrive. Ten business days — either provide explanations or revoke the documents.
If you fail to meet the deadline — EI issuance is blocked, accounts are frozen. Getting out of this situation is long and expensive, so it is better not to let it come to that.
Fines
The first violation in a year — a warning. The second — a fine. The amount depends on who you are: large business, medium, or small.
How to Build a System to Avoid Missing Deadlines
Internal RegulationsTake it and write it down on paper:
- employees responsible for business operations transfer primary documents to the accounting department within a maximum of three business days;
- the accounting department issues an EI within a maximum of five business days from the moment of receiving the documents;
- the person responsible for incoming EIs checks them every day and confirms them within three days;
- if a notification from the tax authority arrives, they report it to the director on the same day.
Without a written document, you are nobody. When regulations exist, you can hold people accountable. When there are no regulations, everyone will do as they please, and in the end, the director will be the one to answer.
AutomationSet up integration of 1C with the EI IS (Electronic Invoice Information System). This is not difficult or expensive, and it provides:
- automatic generation of invoices;
- real-time status tracking;
- deadline approaching notifications;
- batch issuance for similar types of transactions.
Manual work kills time and multiplies errors. Automation pays for itself within a couple of months.
CalendarHang on the wall or keep in your phone a list of dates:
- the 5th, 10th, and 15th of each month — check VAT for non-residents;
- the 15th — reconciliation of all transactions from the previous month;
- every Friday — review of incoming EIs for the week.
When the dates are in front of your eyes, there is less chance of missing something.
Technical FailuresIf the system goes down, and this is confirmed by the SRC (State Revenue Committee), you can issue paper invoices. Later, when the system is back up, you will have fifteen days to register them electronically. Fines do not apply in this case.
The main thing is not to forget to register them afterwards. Otherwise, the paper will remain paper, and the tax authority will not see it.
Mistakes That Everyone Makes
No confirmation from the buyer
- You issued a corrected EI and relaxed. But the buyer did not confirm it because they forgot, did not notice, or their employee left. After a month, the tax authority says — the document does not exist.
- Solution: before issuing the correction, call the buyer and arrange for them to confirm it. In the contract, stipulate the obligation to confirm within three days.
Silence in response to notifications
- A letter arrived from the tax authority, you put it in the drawer, thinking — we will deal with it later. After ten days, accounts are blocked.
- Solution: appoint a person who checks notifications every day. If something arrives, they immediately report to the director. Otherwise, you may not be in time later.
Errors in non-resident details
- For companies from the EAEU (Eurasian Economic Union), a BIN (Business Identification Number) is mandatory. For companies from far abroad — it is not. Get it mixed up — you receive a registration refusal.
- Solution: create a reference sheet with examples of how to fill out the details for each country. Hang it over the employee's desk.
Briefly About the Main ThingTo avoid paying fines and wasting nerves in 2026, you need to do five things:
- meet the deadlines: fifteen days for regular transactions, five days for non-residents;
- make buyers confirm corrected EIs;
- monitor biometry and do not exceed the three passes;
- check notifications from the tax authority every day;
- automate everything that can be automated.
Everything else is a consequence. If these five points are working, you will have no problems with EIs. If at least one point is lacking — expect trouble.