Kazakhstan Expands Tax-Free Benefits To Drive Tourism And Trade

(MENAFN- Trend News Agency) ASTANA, Kazakhstan, January 26. In Kazakhstan, the tax-free system is being extended in order to develop inbound tourism and increase trade turnover between enterprises by attracting foreign tourists, and will be in effect until December 2025, Trend reports, citing the Ministry of Finance of Kazakhstan.

The pilot project outlines the procedure for reimbursing VAT (value-added tax) to tourists when exporting non-food and non-excise goods with a total value of at least 78,640 tenge ($148.4) outside the Customs Union territory of the EAEU.

This program is implemented in stationary retail outlets located in Astana, Almaty, Shymkent, and Turkestan.

Reimbursement of VAT to foreign tourists is made under the following conditions:

- The foreign country is not a member of the EAEU;

- The buyer presents a correctly completed "Tax-Free" receipt with the mark (personal numbered seal) of the state revenue authority;

- The total value of the goods purchased by the buyer, as reflected in the "Tax-Free" receipts, is not less than 20 MCI (minimum calculation index), as established by the national budget law effective on January 1 of the relevant financial year;

- The buyer has exported the goods outside the customs territory of the EAEU (except for exports through the territories of EAEU member states) via a checkpoint at the state border of Kazakhstan, located at the international airports in Astana, Almaty, Shymkent, and Turkestan, as confirmed by the mark (personal numbered seal) of the state revenue authority on the "Tax-Free" document;

No more than three months have passed since the issuance of the "Tax-Free" receipt, excluding the month of issuance.

MCI is the minimum calculation index used in Kazakhstan to determine various fines, tax rates, and other economic figures. MCI is set annually and can change. One MCI is a conditional unit, typically tied to the size of the subsistence minimum or another economic indicator.

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