Kazakhstan plans to increase mining taxes

Recently, Kazakhstan's Minister of Economy, Alebek Kuantlov, stated that Kazakhstan plans to increase mining and value-added tax rates, and reduce fuel subsidies to balance the government budget.

Kazakhstan is rich in oil and mineral resources, and many foreign companies are mining minerals in the country. In recent years, in response to the impact of the epidemic, the government's expenditure has increased significantly. In order to increase government revenue and make Distribution of wealth more equitable, President Tokayev introduced a series of reform measures, including tax reform.

Earlier this year, Kazakhstan had increased the mining tax rate for tradable metals by 50%, and the mining tax rate for other solid minerals by 30%. Kuantlov stated that there is still room for further increase in the mining tax rate in the new tax law draft. He believes that Kazakhstan's mining tax rate is relatively low worldwide and can be increased by another 10% to 20%. The tax burden of mineral refining and processing companies in Kazakhstan will be reduced, and the tax will be levied on the sales side rather than the production side. The new tax law draft will be submitted to parliament next year.

The Kazakh government also plans to increase the value-added tax rate for most industries from the current 12% to 16%, 18%, or 20%, while reducing the value-added tax rate for industries related to people's livelihoods such as food and medicine. The government will also impose heavier taxes on banks and continue to reduce fuel subsidies. Kuantlov said that the fuel price will rise by 10-20 tenge (about 445 Kazakhstani tenge) every six months.