Keeping your Astana Hub status: the 2026 rules and the risks for existing participants
In short:
In short: existing participants must sign up to the standard agreement by 1 July 2026. Non-core income is allowed up to 10%, but it is taxed.
One of the critical conditions for keeping participant status is signing up to the Astana Hub standard agreement in time. Anyone who missed that step when the rules were updated, or who did not sign it on registration, risks losing their status and every tax relief that comes with it. Many participants still do not know this, or put it off as a formality.
It is not a formality: missing the deadline means losing the status and all of the tax relief the company joined the technology park for in the first place.
In 2026 Astana Hub is actively checking whether participants are genuinely trading, and a number of companies have already had their status withdrawn. Below: what to do before 1 July, why companies lose their relief, and what changed in the rules in 2026.
Urgent: sign the standard agreement by 1 July 2026
Changes to the rules of participation and to the conditions for tax relief used to be made piecemeal, and participants had to track each one. Astana Hub has now introduced a single standard agreement that consolidates all the current requirements. The logic is convenient: a participant signs up once, and any later changes to the conditions apply automatically, without signing again.
- Who this affects: companies that obtained participant status before 14 March 2026. They are the ones who need to sign up to the standard agreement.
- The deadline: everyone who applies in time will be treated as having joined the agreement from a single date — 1 July 2026. For companies that became participants after 14 March 2026, the technology park will set out the procedure separately.
How to sign up. There are two routes, both through your account on the portal. The first is to select the standard participant application under “My applications”. The second is that when you file your first-quarter report for 2026, a notice with a signing button will appear under “Reports”. The text of the standard agreement itself is available on astanahub.com.
The consequence of missing it is direct: failing to file the application in time can end your participant status, and with it the relief on corporate income tax, VAT, personal income tax and social tax.
What losing status actually means, and what it costs
Astana Hub membership is not an entry on a register — it is an agreement with obligations. The company undertakes to carry on precisely the activities set out in its application, to meet the criteria for an IT product, and to report regularly on revenue and headcount. Breaching those obligations costs you the status.
When status is lost, the tax authority reassesses every relieved tax for the whole period in which it was claimed, together with interest and penalties under the Tax Code. This is not a fine for being late — it is repayment of everything the company saved, with interest on top.
Why companies lose their status
- Activities that do not match the priority list: the most common reason. Relief applies only to income from accredited IT activities. Where what the company actually does drifts from what it declared, that is grounds for withdrawal.
- No separate accounting on mixed activities: where a company has both IT revenue and non-core revenue, the two must be accounted for separately. Otherwise the tax authority is entitled to refuse relief on the whole turnover.
- Errors and late filing in reporting: the portal has no automatic button to withdraw or correct a report. Being late hurts immediately too — a formal delay turns into a real loss.
- Not notifying changes in time: a change of participant or director, or opening a branch — if those are not recorded promptly, they are grounds for withdrawal.
- Missing the mandatory audit: companies with income above 100,000 MCI must provide an independent auditor’s report.
What eased in 2026
Not all of the 2026 news is about tightening. A strict rule used to apply: 100% of income had to come from ICT activities.
The easing: you will not be removed if non-core income is under 10% of total income for the calendar year — but you must pay tax on that 10% in full, at the standard rates (20% corporate income tax and so on).
Conclusion
Astana Hub delivers substantial savings, but it is a tool for companies genuinely doing qualifying IT work and prepared to keep transparent records. The immediate action for existing participants is to sign up to the standard agreement before 1 July 2026.
The lawyers at Osmar Group run compliance reviews for existing participants: checking contracts and the revenue mix for exposure, helping with the standard agreement, and structuring the accounts so that status is not at risk at the next inspection.
Frequently asked questions
By when must I sign the Astana Hub standard agreement?
By 1 July 2026. This applies to companies that obtained participant status before 14 March 2026. Missing the deadline can end your status and your tax relief.
What happens if I do not sign in time?
Failing to file the application in time can end your participant status — and with it the relief on corporate income tax, VAT, personal income tax and social tax.
Can an Astana Hub participant earn non-IT income?
From 2026, yes: up to 10% of income may come from outside the priority ICT activities while keeping status and relief. If the share of non-core income rises materially above 10%, the company loses both.
How many companies actually lose their relief?
On Astana Hub’s figures for 2024 and 2025, one company in nine loses or temporarily has its relief restricted because of errors in reporting.
Can I correct a mistake in an Astana Hub report?
No. The report is filed once and cannot be refiled. That makes checking the reporting before submission essential — an error can cost you a suspension of relief.