Vitamins to be freed from VAT since 2005 in Kazakhstan

[09:43] 21/12/2004, Kazakhstan Today
http://engNews.gazeta.kz/art.asp?aid=306038

By a government order as of 4 December, 2004, the list of medicines to be freed from the Value Added Tax (VAT) now includes vitamins, a press release circulated by the Ministry of Health yesterday, December 20, says.

As per the Tax Code this decree comes into force as from 1 January, 2005.

Earlier it was reported that suppliers of vitamin containing medicines were encountering problems with the tax registration of cargoes since 1 January, 2004, when a unitary commodity nomenclature for the foreign economic activities (CN FEA) of EurAsEC had been introduced on the territory of RK. To unify procedures of customs registration all EurAsEC countries took the commodity nomenclature of Russia as a basis. The introduction of new codes caused a division of a single group of medicines in Kazakhstan (not subject to VAT) into three. Moreover, the vitamin containing medicines were included in the group of biologically active substances subject to taxation (VAT - 15%) and state dues (10%). As a result tens of tons of vitamin containing medicines recommended for the treatment and prevention of a number of diseases, including TB, anemia, and ARD, have been accumulated in temporary warehouses.

The press release observes that despite the current situation there is not any acute scarcity of vitamins on the Kazakhstani pharmaceutical market.