Starting from September 1, 2026, Kazakhstan will officially strengthen the supervision of "gray imported" cars. This time, no new car taxes, import tariffs or scrap recycling fees have been introduced, but will strengthen existing customs, technical certification and implementation of personal import rules...

According to Kazakhstan's 24.kz TV station, starting from September 1, 2026, Kazakhstan will officially strengthen supervision of "gray imported" cars. It needs to be noted first that no new automobile taxes, import tariffs or scrapping recycling fees have been introduced this time, but the implementation of existing customs, technical certification and personal import rules has been strengthened.

Previously, the market was widely rumored that "all cars will increase prices from September 1," but both the State Income Committee of Kazakhstan and the Ministry of Industry and Construction denied it. The government has not announced an increase in scrapping recycling fees, nor has it increased the first registration fees, let alone the so-called unified "September vehicle surcharge".

What is really affected are the vehicles that enter Kazakhstan through personal names, independent importers and parallel channels. Among them, cars from China are undoubtedly one of the key targets of attention.

Individual imports of "one car per person a year" will be strictly investigated, and commercial cars can no longer be passed off as personal use.

The Ministry of Industry and Construction of Kazakhstan emphasized that relevant laws actually exist for a long time. Individuals can import vehicles for their own use, but the restriction of "one vehicle per person per year" continues to be implemented; if it is actually purchased in bulk and subsequently resold, it must be handled as commercial import.

In the past, some "gray import" businesses were to distribute batches of vehicles to multiple natural persons, complete the import for personal use, and then sell them in the Kazakhstan market. After September 1, regulatory authorities will more strictly distinguish between "personal use" and "commercial operations", and at the same time strengthen the review of vehicle technical standards and import data.

Taxation is not the only reason for the government to strengthen regulation. The local government has repeatedly found that unofficial imported vehicles do not meet technical standards, and there are also transaction fraud problems.

Automotive expert Alexey Alexeev cited as an example that a large car dealer in Almaty used the method of "paying a 30% deposit upfront-the vehicle is transported to Horgos-the customer pays off the car and all taxes" for a year and a half, but then the company suddenly disappeared after collecting a large number of orders. Although the people involved were eventually found, the funds could no longer be recovered, and many consumers suffered losses as a result.

Against this background, the focus of the Kazakhstan government's rectification this time is largely to make the source of the vehicle, importer and sales responsibilities traceable.

Parallel import price advantage may shrink, and China needs to re-calculate its "departure by order"

Although there are no new taxes, there is still the possibility of price increases for "gray imported cars". The reasons are not complicated: a large part of the low prices in the past came from the cost difference between different customs clearance identities and declaration methods.

Private importers are worried that in the future, natural persons may need to use the Passenger Customs Declaration Form (PENTARDIS) to import vehicles. According to the report, for some vehicles within three years, the corresponding comprehensive taxes and fees may reach 48%-54% of the customs value; commercial imports may involve a 15% tariff and a 16% value-added tax.

It is this cost difference that makes the market expect that some parallel imported vehicles may increase by 10%-15%. However, this is only an industry forecast and does not mean that all models will rise uniformly.

Local automobile experts gave a very realistic example: a certain China model sold for 10 million tenge at official dealers in Kazakhstan, but in China it may only need 5 million tenge, while gray importers could previously achieve about 7.5 million tenge. For more expensive models, the price difference is more obvious-a vehicle that sells for 32 million tenge through official channels may only need about 26 million tenge for parallel imports.

But low prices also have costs. Unofficial imported models may not have manufacturer warranty or formal after-sales sales, and some smart cars cannot even complete the normal handover of the master account. If there is no official local distributor of the brand, subsequent software, repairs and accessories issues will be borne by the consumer.

From the perspective of China's export companies, this is precisely the focus of competition after the policy change: in the future, it may not be enough to just quote a price several million tenge lower than official channels. It is also necessary to explain clearly the car "who is responsible for the import, what method is customs clearance, whether there is a warranty, and how to hand over the car account."

Regular dealers and local assemblies are temporarily not directly affected

The new regulations in September will not directly increase the cost of Kazakhstan's official dealers and locally assembled vehicles. The government has made it clear that there will be no new September taxes on these vehicles.

However, the market may still have indirect effects. If the number of gray imported cars declines and the price advantage shrinks, the competitive pressure on young used cars that have been formally registered in Kazakhstan, as well as official channel vehicles, may be reduced.

Some experts therefore judged that the most likely situation in the short term is not a "surge in the entire market", but a rise in parallel imported cars by about 10%-15% first, and then gradually spread to some popular used car models. As for locally assembled and officially imported cars, prices are more determined by inventory, competition and manufacturer policies.

written in the end

The changes in Kazakhstan on September 1 can be summarized in one sentence: taxes have not increased, but the space for using the difference in rules between personal imports and commercial imports to set prices in the past is shrinking. For China's second-hand car exporters, especially those who do quasi-new car and parallel import business in China through channels such as Horgos, they need to clearly state the import entity, PENTU or commercial customs declaration method, final tax-inclusive price and after-sales responsibilities before departure in the future. The Kazakh market has not closed, but is just shifting from "who can bring cars in cheaply" to "who can deliver cars to customers legally, transparently and stably."

Source: Guangdong Good Car

[Disclaimer] The content of this website (including pictures and texts) originates from the Internet, and the copyright belongs to the original author. Respect the rights and interests of originality, and select content is only used for information sharing. If copyright disputes are involved, please contact us to handle them in a timely manner