Governments are not returning to broad corporate tax increases. Instead, tax competition is taking a different form. Countries are using targeted incentives more often than across-the-board rate cuts. They are also changing deduction rules and adding levies for selected industries.
This shift is described in the OECD’s Tax Policy Reforms 2026 report. The report covers reforms announced or implemented in 2025 across 92 jurisdictions. However, its corporate tax rate data use a separate sample of 145 jurisdictions.
In that sample, the average combined corporate income tax rate was 21.2% in 2025. It stood at 28% in 2000. The OECD says the long-term decline has stalled. Meanwhile, the average rate edged up slightly in 2025 compared with 2024. That does not signal a broad return to high corporate taxes.
Rates are steady, but tax rules are changing
Rather than raising headline rates across the board, governments are changing the tax base, deductions and incentives. They are also using accelerated depreciation. In 2025, measures that narrowed the corporate tax base outnumbered measures that broadened it.
These benefits increasingly target investment, research and development, and new technologies. For example, Japan expanded a tax credit for strategic technologies. The list includes artificial intelligence and quantum computing. Mexico, meanwhile, introduced additional deductions for increased innovation spending.
Such measures do not cut taxes for every business. Companies must meet specific conditions to qualify. Those conditions often depend on the investment, expenditure or project.
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Selected industries face additional levies
At the same time, some countries introduced special taxes and corporate income tax surcharges. These measures affected financial institutions and other industries. Governments viewed them as potential sources of additional revenue.
France introduced a temporary surcharge for large companies. As a result, their effective tax rates rose above the standard rate. Elsewhere, special charges targeted the financial sector. Some measures also applied to specific types of high income.
Therefore, the headline rate no longer shows a company’s full tax burden. Deductions, incentives, special regimes and sector-specific levies also matter. In practice, companies in the same country may face different tax rules.
Tax systems are reaching new areas of activity
This selective approach extends beyond corporate taxation. In 2025, countries changed personal income taxes, social contributions, VAT, excise duties and environmental charges. Yet the report does not show one common direction across every tax and country. Some reforms raise revenue, while others preserve relief for selected groups.
Digital trade is another area of change. More than 116 countries have implemented reforms based on OECD approaches to VAT on digital goods and services. A further 22 countries are implementing or considering such measures.
A similar approach is spreading to low-value goods ordered online from abroad. Increasingly, sellers or digital platforms must collect the tax. This allows governments to broaden the tax base without necessarily raising the main rate.
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What the shift means for business
The OECD report compares announced and implemented reforms. However, it does not prove that every incentive generates additional investment. Nor does it show that new levies have no effect on business activity. Those outcomes depend on each measure’s design and require separate assessment.
For Kazakhstan, the review offers an international reference point. It is not an assessment of the country’s tax system. The OECD compares reforms across jurisdictions, so its findings cannot automatically be applied to Kazakhstan.
When comparing countries, businesses need to look beyond the standard rate. Deductions, incentives and investment rules also matter. In addition, special regimes, sector-specific levies and administrative requirements can affect the final tax burden.
Global tax competition has not disappeared. Instead, it has become more complex. Governments are choosing which investments to support and which income sources to tax more heavily. Consequently, headline rates may change little while the conditions for particular companies and industries diverge.
Alen Serik, EconomyKZ Research expert, exclusively for EconomyKZ.org
