The change will be retroactive starting 1 January 2015.

The Kazakhstan tax blacklist is a list of now 60 jurisdictions that Kazakhstan considers to be countries with privileged tax regimes.

Business relations of Kazakhstan entities with entities in blacklist jurisdictions have various tax disadvantages, including higher withholding taxes on payments to such jurisdictions and increased transfer pricing adjustments/scrutiny. In addition, there can be other adverse legal consequences, including prohibitions in the banking law to provide loans to entities in blacklist jurisdictions and unavailability of statutory exemptions from the state priority right when transferring subsoil use assets.

Luxembourg has long been recognised as a favourable jurisdiction for international holding companies. Its removal from the blacklist means that Luxembourg may now offer a useful entry point into Kazakhstan, offering an alternative to some of the other jurisdictions regularly used for investments into Kazakhstan, such as the Netherlands.