At the 27th meeting of the Project Office for the Implementation of the Tax Code, chaired by Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of National Economy Serik Zhumangarin, the issue of taxation of transactions with quasi-government bonds traded over-the-counter following their acquisition on Kazakhstan stock exchanges was discussed.
As part of expanding the list of Kazakhstan securities available through the international depository infrastructure Euroclear/Clearstream, the possibility of expanding foreign investor access to quasi-government bonds is being explored. It is anticipated that non-residents will become the primary holders of such securities through Euroclear/Clearstream.
However, current tax legislation does not fully regulate the taxation of income from gains on securities upon their subsequent sale outside the Kazakhstan Stock Exchange.
As noted by Aliya Moldabekova, Deputy Chairperson of the National Bank, when quasi-government bonds are sold by a non-resident on the Kazakhstan Stock Exchange, the gains are exempt from taxation. However, when subsequently selling these same securities outside of a Kazakhstani exchange, a similar approach is not provided for by law.
This issue is particularly relevant given the development of transactions through the international depository infrastructure. Transactions between non-residents within the Euroclear/Clearstream systems do not pass through the Kazakhstani trading and settlement infrastructure. Moreover, when executing over-the-counter (OTC) transactions between non-residents and Kazakhstani market participants, the tax exemption provided for transactions on the organized market through Kazakhstani stock exchanges does not apply.
The volume of outstanding tenge bonds of quasi-public sector entities currently amounts to approximately 17.6 trillion tenge. Based on the average share of non-residents in the total volume of government securities over the last eight months of 2026—8.1%—their potential investment in quasi-public sector bonds could reach approximately 1.4 trillion tenge. Thus, differences in the tax regime for exchange-traded and over-the-counter transactions may create an additional barrier for foreign investors and limit the potential for trading quasi-government bonds through the international depository infrastructure.
Following the discussion, the Project Office participants generally supported the approach of exempting capital gains from taxation in relevant transactions conducted outside the Kazakhstan stock exchange.
The Ministry of National Economy, in conjunction with the Ministry of Finance, will develop the necessary clarifications to tax legislation and inform market participants of the results of this work.
https://www.gov.kz/memleket/entities/economy/press/news/details/1287205?lang=en
