Legal Alert. Recognition of the Russian Tax Residence Certificates by Kazakhstan

On 26 November 2016, the Republic of Kazakhstan put into effect Law “On Ratification of the Agreement on the Exchange of Notes Concerning the Recognition of Official Residence Certificates Issued by the Competent Authorities of the Republic of Kazakhstan and Russian Federation under the Convention between the Government of the Republic of Kazakhstan and the Government of the Russian Federation on Avoidance of Double Taxation and Prevention of Tax Evasion on Income and Capital” No. 21-VI of 14 November 2016.

The Agreement referred to in the Law provides for reciprocal recognition of the documents issued by Kazakhstan and Russian authorities under the Convention between the Government of the Republic of Kazakhstan and the Government of the Russian Federation on Avoidance of Double Taxation and Prevention of Tax Evasion on Income and Capital of 18 October 1996 and affixed official seals without any particular attestation, e.g. apostilization or consular legalisation.  The provided recognition procedure has been applied to all official documents issued by the Kazakhstan and Russian authorities since 1 January 2011.

Hence, all tax residence certificates issued by the Kazakhstan and Russian authorities and affixed their official seals after1 January 2011have the evidential effect of official documents within the specified states and require neither apostilization nor consular legalization.