Dear Readers,

A draft governmental resolution defining the criteria for active trading of securities on the stock exchanges in Kazakhstan was published on the Open Legislative Acts portal for public discussions. The criteria apply to exempt from taxation income from dividends and interests on securities listed on the stock exchanges in Kazakhstan.

Criteria for Dividends

Dividends on securities traded on the stock exchanges in Kazakhstan qualify for the tax exemption, if the following criteria met simultaneously:

  1. The volume of the securities transactions is at least 25 million tenge per calendar month;
  2. The number of securities transactions is at least 50 transactions per calendar month.

A taxpayer is required to estimate the securities transactions for the three consecutive months preceding the period for which dividends on the securities are paid.

Criterion for Securities

Interest on securities traded on the stock exchanges in Kazakhstan qualifies for the tax exemption, if the number of the securities traded through open trading is at least 10 million.

General Provisions

The above criteria are applicable to all securities within a particular release characterized by consistent features and specifications, issued and circulating under standardized conditions for securities of that release.

Taxpayers are entitled to take combined trading indicators on the stock exchanges in Kazakhstan to estimate if the securities transactions meet the established criteria.

The Kazakhstan Stock Exchange and Astana International Financial Centre Exchange are required to publish information on securities meeting the established criteria on their websites quarterly, by the 15th day of the month following the reporting quarter.

Upon approval, the new criteria will replace the existing version of the criteria signed in 2022. It is planned that the new criteria will apply to relationships arising from 1 January 2024.