More than 4,000 electric cars
have been imported into Kazakhstan duty-free since the start of the year, ten
times more than in 2022, the Finance Ministry reported. According to the State
Revenue Committee, last year, by the decision of the Eurasian Economic
Commission, the quota for the preferential import of green cars amounted to 10,000.
This year, it increased by 5,000. Thus, the country’s residents are eligible to
bring another 11,000 electric vehicles under the same conditions by year-end
2023. The thing is a buyer can use this opportunity once a year for the
purchase of only one such vehicle. Just as important, the electric car must be
imported for personal use.
“It is necessary to submit a
passenger customs declaration in order to get customs clearance of an electric
vehicle with an exemption from payment. Kazakh citizens can apply to the
customs office and submit primary supporting documents, as well as goods-accompanying
documents to a customs inspector. Of course, they can use paid services rendered
by brokerage companies and sign a contract with them if they don’t have time,” said
Magzhan Iskakov, spokesperson for the State Revenue Committee of the Kazakh
Finance Ministry.
Electric car owners are also
exempt from paying the recycling fee, but they will have to pay for its state
registration. The rate is based on the age of the electric car. The older the
vehicle, the higher the rate. For example, the payment for an electric car no
older than two years will amount to only a quarter of one monthly calculation
index. Registration fee of an electric car, which is two to three years old,
will cost ten times more, slightly over 86,000 tenge, whereas an older electric
car will require a little over 862,000 tenge.
“Exemption from customs duties
and taxes was introduced in 2022, according to the decision of the Council of
the Eurasian Economic Commission. Also, to date, the tax code provides for the
exemption of individuals from paying vehicle taxes. So that the tax does not
apply to electric cars,” Iskakov informed.
Despite the most favorable
conditions, cars with an electric engine are still rare in the country. They
need new special filling stations and a well-developed infrastructure. To this
end, a special roadmap, designed until 2029, was drawn up last month.
“The roadmap has 15 paragraphs
related to the establishment of regulatory and technical standards for the
design and construction of the necessary infrastructure. The latter concerns
domestic equipment production for charging electric vehicles, identifying the
needs of charging stations and their installation sites. The roadmap also
envisages the introduction of various incentive measures and mechanisms for the
development of the electric vehicles use and the relevant infrastructure. The
document will outline further work terms,” noted Meruyert Ibrayeva,
spokesperson for the Kazakh Ministry of Industry and Infrastructure
Development.
Meanwhile, a new Chinese manufacturer
of electric vehicles taps into the domestic market, planning to put on sale the
first cars in the fourth quarter of this year. The parties have recently signed
an agreement, as per which a whole network of dealer centers will appear in
eight cities of the country.
