On 12 December 2023, Kazakhstan published Law No. 45-VIII of 12 December 2023 in the Official Gazette, providing various amendments to its tax laws including digital assets. The key amendments are as follows:
The amendment of the new limit on deducting costs of obtaining specified services from non-resident-related parties, which was introduced on 1 January 2023. This amendment introduces a limit of 3% of taxable income.
Introduced on 1 January 2023, the actively traded requirement for tax exemption on dividends paid to resident taxpayers from shares listed on the Kazakhstan stock exchange has been abolished. However, the actively traded requirement will still be in effect for non-residents.
Starting from 1 January 2030, the tax exemption on income from state securities, including for non-residents, will be repealed.
The amendment made in February 2023, which disallowed the deduction of expenses related to acquiring digital assets if the assets were sold outside the AIFC exchange, has been repealed.
A VAT exemption on turnover generated from digital asset sales has been introduced.
The amendment of the fees for mining cryptocurrencies has been proposed. A single fixed rate of KZT 2/KWh of electricity for digital mining activities would be implemented. In addition, a fixed rate of KZT 1/KWh will be applied when using electricity generated from renewable energy sources or from generating units not connected to the unified power system.
Time limits for new tax exemptions for participants in special economic zones have been enacted. The time limits will be calculated based on a monthly calculation index (MCI).
- Category A – project investment up to 3 million MCI – exemption up to 7 years
- Category B – project investment from 3 million MCI to 14.5 million MCI – exemption up to 15 years (lower threshold of 1 million MCI for specific production sectors)
- Category C – project investment over 14.5 million MCI – exemption up to 25 years
The amendments will go into effect from 1 January 2024.
