Starting January 1, 2026, Kazakhstan's new Tax Code has introduced significant changes to the rules for paying individual income tax (IIT) on property sales. According to the Department of State Revenues of Almaty, the key innovation is the extension of the minimum holding period for housing to be exempt from tax, from one year to two years, reports infohub.kz.
The basic principle of taxation remains the same: tax is levied only on the increase in value. If property is sold for more than it was purchased, the difference is recognized as income, on which a 10% tax is paid. This rule applies to all transactions.
To help citizens adapt to the new requirements, a transition period is provided for 2026 and 2027. If housing was purchased before January 1, 2026, the previous rule applies: selling after one year of ownership results in zero tax. For properties bought after this date, to be exempt from IIT, you must own the property for at least two years. Starting in 2028, the two-year period will become mandatory for all transactions.
When assigning rights of claim under a shared-equity agreement (DDU) in new buildings, no tax is levied if one of the following conditions is met: three years have passed since the signing of the agreement, or two years have passed since the registration of property rights.
The tax exemption does not apply to the sale of commercial real estate (offices, warehouses, shops) within the country, nor to any housing outside Kazakhstan. In these cases, tax on the increase in value is always paid, regardless of the holding period.
For cars registered in Kazakhstan, the rule remains the same: selling without tax consequences is possible after one year of ownership. If a car is sold earlier, tax is paid only on the difference between the purchase and sale prices. Vehicles with foreign registration are subject to tax on the increase in value regardless of the holding period.
A similar approach applies to digital assets: tax on the increase in value is paid regardless of the holding period.
If the owner lacks primary documents (purchase and sale agreements, receipts), the tax base is determined based on the appraised or cadastral value of the property. For cars imported from abroad, the initial cost includes customs duties, VAT, excise taxes, and recycling fees, which reduces the taxable base.
The new Tax Code was signed by President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev in July 2025. The reform raised the basic VAT rate to 16%, and the mandatory registration threshold for this tax is set at 10,000 MCI (about 40 million tenge). The number of special tax regimes has been reduced to three: for the self-employed, businesses on simplified declarations, and peasant or farm enterprises.
The Code also introduced a progressive IIT scale and increased the corporate income tax rate for banks and gambling businesses to 25%. The authorities expect the reform to reduce the volume of tax reporting by 30%, the number of taxes by 20%, and make desk control primarily preventive.