Senate returns Tax Code with amendments to MajilisThe Senate, the upper house of Kazakhstan’s parliament, voted Monday after review of the new Tax Code to send back the bill to the Majilis, the lower house, with amendments.“During deliberations on the Tax Code ahead of its second reading and taking into consideration the previous comments and proposals made by the main committee and the Senate’s committees, it became obvious that amendments needed to be made to the Code that had earlier been approved by the Majilis, namely the need to introduce a progressive scale for the individual income tax (IIT) for peasant or farm households,” the Senate’s Committee on Finance and Budget said in a report.The government had earlier proposed introducing a progressive individual income tax rate of 15% for citizens with total annual income exceeding 8,500 monthly calculation index (MCI, which was equivalent to 33.4 million tenge in 2025) and for self-employed entrepreneurs operating under the standard taxation regime with income above 230,000 MCIs (over 904 million tenge in 2025)."To ensure equal tax treatment and recognizing the fact that peasant and farm households are, in essence, entrepreneurs similar to individual entrepreneurs but operating in different economic sectors, it is proposed to apply the same IIT rate of 15% to the peasant and farm households whose annual income is above 230,000 MIC. However, given the existing tax exemption of 70%, the actual IIT rate for peasant and farm households will be at 4.5%,” the committee’s report says.Other amendments proposed by the Senate aim to prevent arbitration between Kazakhstan Stock Exchange (KASE) and Astana International Exchange (AIX) of Astana International Financial Center (AIFC), namely the exemption of dividends earned by individuals playing on KASE from individual income tax.Senators also recommended retaining tax exemptions for non-residents trading government securities."Attracting foreign investors to the government securities market remains crucial for diversifying the investor base and ensuring sustainable budget deficit financing. Imposing taxes on non-residents' income from transactions involving government securities could trigger capital outflows," the report says.Additional proposals include VAT exemptions for businesses employing at least 10 people with disabilities and a reduced 10% VAT rate for domestic print media.Berik Beisengaliyev, a member of the Majilis, said earlier while presenting the bill that the initially proposed VAT rate of 20% had been reduced to 16%, and the mandatory VAT registration threshold had been raised from 15 million to 40 million tenge.Reduced VAT rates would be introduced for medicines and medical services, at 5% starting 2026 and 10% from 2027. VAT exemptions would apply to goods and services under guaranteed free medical care, mandatory health insurance, treatment of orphan and certain other diseases, and socially significant food products, he said.The bill includes measures to reduce the burden on agricultural producers, replaces permissive lists of activities with prohibitive ones, and expands special tax regimes for business-to-business transactions. Reduced corporate income tax (CIT) rates are set for social sector organizations - 5% from 2026 and 10% from 2027.Meanwhile, CIT rates for gambling businesses and banks will increase to 25%, though banks will retain a 20% rate for income from business lending.The new Tax Code also introduces a progressive scale for individual income tax. "This structure avoids increasing the tax burden on low- and middle-income citizens while maintaining fairness and proportionality in taxation," Beisengaliyev said.The legislation implements phased excise tax increases on alcohol, tobacco, heated tobacco products, and introduces excise taxes on energy drinks.Inefficient use of agricultural land will face rates up to 100 times higher. Subsoil use fees will also be revised based on license duration and number of plots.The bill revises the IIT rates for non-residents, which will be 10% if their annual income is below 600,000 MCIs (about 2.4 billion tenge in 2025). A 17% rate will apply to any amount above the 600,000 MCIs.One monthly calculation index (MCI) for 2025 is set at 3,932 tenge. (ICE ALMATY)

Fonte notizia: INTERFAX