Kazakhstan approves tax code overhaul with progressive income tax, investor incentivesPresident Kassym-Jomart Tokayev has signed into law sweeping amendments to Kazakhstan’s Tax Code, introducing progressive income taxation, adjusted VAT rates, and incentives for investors and agricultural producers.A key change establishes a 15% individual income tax (IIT) rate for earnings of farmers or farm households, though a 70% exemption reduces the effective rate to 4.5%. To prevent arbitrage between the Kazakhstan Stock Exchange (KASE) and the Astana International Financial Center (AIFC) exchange, dividends from KASE-traded securities will be exempt from IIT.The amendments also retain tax exemptions for non-residents investing in government securities, a measure aimed at attracting foreign capital and stabilizing budget deficit financing. Senators warned that taxing such income could trigger capital flight.Additionally, VAT exemptions will apply to businesses where at least 10% of employees are people with disabilities. Socially essential goods—including domestically published books and certain food items—will also be VAT-free, alongside medical services, orphan drug treatments, and state-guaranteed healthcare.Under the revised IIT structure, annual income below 8,500 monthly calculation indexes (approx. 33.4 million tenge) will be taxed at 10%, while earnings above that threshold face a 15% rate. Dividend taxes are set at 5% for payouts under 1 billion tenge and 15% above that.The government initially proposed a 20% VAT rate but settled at 16%, with higher registration thresholds. Agricultural producers will benefit from expanded VAT deductions, while corporate income tax rates drop for social sector entities but rise to 25% for banks and gambling businesses.As of 2025, one monthly calculation index equals 3,932 tenge. The official exchange rate stands at 524.24 tenge per U.S. dollar as of July 15. (ICE ALMATY)

Fonte notizia: INTERFAX