We would like you to know that the government has made changes to a program that allows Kazakhstan residents to declare previously undeclared income without paying a penalty.

Those changes make the process easier.

The income-amnesty program, which began September 1, 2014, and ends December 31, 2016,  is available to Kazakhstan citizens, permanent residents and oralmans — ethnic Kazakhs from other countries who are in Kazakhstan under a special immigration program.

The objective of the program is to make hidden funds part of the legitimate financial system.

Originally, the program required a person wanting to declare hidden income to open a savings account at a bank, and to keep the newly declared money in the account for five years.

A recent change to the program allows newly declared money to be put in a current account instead of a savings account — and abolishes the requirement that money stay in the account for five years.

In addition, the government is no longer requiring a legalization fee for those opening an account in order to declare previously undeclared money.

The no-fee provision will apply to those who open a current account. Those who use a different kind of account to declare money will still have to pay a fee.

Under this change, those who paid a legalization fee in the past can request reimbursement of the fee.

Additional information on legalizing undeclared funds can be found here.

Regards,

Eurasian Bank