Kazakhstan

Under Action 14, countries have committed to implement a minimum standard to strengthen the effectiveness and efficiency of the mutual agreement procedure (MAP). The MAP is included in Article 25 of the OECD Model Tax Convention and commits countries to endeavour to resolve disputes related to the interpretation and application of tax treaties. The Action 14 Minimum Standard has been translated into specific terms of reference and a methodology for the peer review and monitoring process. The peer review process is conducted in two stages. Stage 1 assesses countries against the terms of reference of the minimum standard according to an agreed schedule of review. Stage 2 focuses on monitoring the follow-up of any recommendations resulting from jurisdictions' Stage 1 peer review report. This report reflects the outcome of the Stage 1 peer monitoring of the implementation of the Action 14 Minimum Standard by Kazakhstan.

This study’s primary aim is to explore ways to reduce heating-related residential sector emissions using a scenario analysis approach as the basis of a roadmap for Kazakhstan. The purpose of this roadmap is to help Kazakhstan formulate a policy framework and conditions to enable a household energy-use transition. It is intended to support and guide key government authorities as well as other stakeholders.

Kazakhstan has made tremendous progress in ensuring universal access to primary and lower-secondary education. Nevertheless, results international surveys reveal that almost two-thirds of students from Kazakhstan complete schooling without mastering the basic skills needed to be successful, and that student achievement is increasingly inequitable. This policy perspective provides Kazakhstan with recommendations about how to strengthen its initial teacher education and support for early career teachers in order to improve the learning outcomes of all students. It is part of a larger OECD review of Kazakhstan that is published as four policy perspectives, each examining a key policy issue.

Kazakhstan has made tremendous progress in ensuring universal access to primary and lower-secondary education. Nevertheless, results international surveys reveal that almost two-thirds of students from Kazakhstan complete schooling without mastering the basic skills needed to be successful, and that student achievement is increasingly inequitable. This policy perspective provides Kazakhstan with recommendations about how to strengthen its national examinations in order to improve the learning outcomes of all students. It is part of a larger OECD review of Kazakhstan that is published as four policy perspectives, each examining a key policy issue.

Kazakhstan has made tremendous progress in ensuring universal access to primary and lower-secondary education. Nevertheless, results international surveys reveal that almost two-thirds of students from Kazakhstan complete schooling without mastering the basic skills needed to be successful, and that student achievement is increasingly inequitable. This policy perspective provides Kazakhstan with recommendations about how to strengthen its school evaluation system in order to improve the learning outcomes of all students. It is part of a larger OECD review of Kazakhstan that is published as four policy perspectives, each examining a key policy issue

Kazakhstan has made tremendous progress in ensuring universal access to primary and lower-secondary education. Nevertheless, results international surveys reveal that almost two-thirds of students from Kazakhstan complete schooling without mastering the basic skills needed to be successful, and that student achievement is increasingly inequitable. This policy perspective provides Kazakhstan with recommendations about how to strengthen its national assessment in order to improve the learning outcomes of all students. It is part of a larger OECD review of Kazakhstan that is published as four policy perspectives, each examining a key policy issue.

The COVID-19 crisis has had a profound impact on SME access to finance. In particular, the sudden drop in revenues created acute liquidity shortages, threatening the survival of many viable businesses. The report documents an increase in demand for bank lending in the first half of 2020, and a steady supply of credit thanks to government interventions. On the other hand, other sources of finance declined, in particular early-stage equity. This paper, a special edition of Financing SMEs and Entrepreneurs, focuses on the impacts of COVID-19 on SME access to finance, along with government policy responses. It reveals that the pre-crisis financing environment was broadly favourable for SMEs and entrepreneurs, who benefited from low interest rates, loose credit standards and an increasingly diverse offer of financing instruments. It documents the unprecedented scope and scale of the policy responses undertaken by governments world-wide, and details their key characteristics, and outlines the principal issues and policy challenges for the next phases of the pandemic, such as the over-indebtedness of SMEs and the need to continue to foster a diverse range of financing instruments for SMEs.

This report is part of the OECD Tax Policy Reviews publication series. The Reviews are intended to provide independent, comprehensive and comparative assessments of OECD member and non-member countries’ tax systems as well as concrete recommendations for tax policy reform. By identifying tailored tax policy reform options, the objective of the Reviews is to enhance the design of existing tax policies and to support the adoption of new reforms. This report provides an assessment of Kazakhstan's tax system and recommendations for tax reform. Chapter 1 gives an overview of the main findings and Chapter 2 sets the scene for tax reform. Chapter 3 considers tax revenue trends and analysis of the tax mix. Chapter 4 examines equity issues in Kazakhstan and provides recommendations on the personal income tax, social security contributions and value added taxes. Chapter 5 focuses on tax competitiveness issues and provides recommendations on how to strengthen the design of both the corporate income tax and special tax regimes for SMEs.