Kazakhstan will postpone a new payment for subsoil users by two years: royalties on solid minerals, originally planned for 2027, have been proposed to take effect from January 1, 2029. This was reported by infohub.kz.
The decision was discussed at a 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 new provisions of the Tax Code call for royalty payments from January 1, 2027, on the sale of mineral raw materials and solid minerals, including those that have undergone processing. The rule was to apply to raw materials extracted under licenses issued after December 31, 2026, in areas where subsoil use rights had not previously been granted," the government said.
The Ministry of Industry and Construction believes that a number of issues still require further work. These include, in particular, calculating the tax base for technogenic mineral formations, administering the royalty, and setting the rates.
It is also necessary to take into account the specifics of new licenses, the capital intensity of projects, and the profitability of extracting associated components. These issues are to be coordinated across industries and tested against the financial and economic models of enterprises.
Earlier, Kursiv reported that the Kazakh government had allocated 40.7 billion tenge for geological research and the search for promising mineral deposits. The work covers 2026-2028 and will target gold, copper, lithium, rare earth elements, and other strategically important resources.