Dog tax proposal sparks debate in Kazakhstan

Tengrinews.kz – The government has responded to a proposal by Mazhilis deputy Magerram Magerramov to introduce a tax for dog owners in Kazakhstan.
Speaking at a government briefing, vice ministers of national economy and finance said that such an initiative would require thorough analysis, especially given the lack of a comprehensive system for registering pets in the country.
First Vice Minister of National Economy Azamat Amrin noted that while the proposal has been put forward, introducing a new tax raises many questions.

“Any proposal, especially one involving a new tax, requires in-depth analysis. First, it needs to be discussed. Second, we need to understand its purpose — for example, reducing the number of stray dogs. But introducing a tax could have the opposite effect, discouraging people from keeping pets,” he said.

Amrin also emphasized that the government’s current policy is aimed at reducing the number of taxes.

“We have reduced taxes by 30 percent. Therefore, introducing a new tax now would likely be impractical,” he added.

Vice Minister of Finance Yerzhan Birzhanov expressed a similar position, noting that implementing such a system would be complex.

“It would require registering all dogs and regularly conducting inventories. We must clearly understand the goal — whether it is to increase budget revenues or address other issues. At present, there is no objective to expand the tax base through pet ownership,” he said.

According to Birzhanov, such a measure could also discourage people from owning pets, making it counterproductive.

“At this stage, there is no discussion about supporting this initiative,” he concluded.

The proposal was raised last week during discussions on amendments related to responsible treatment of animals, when Magerramov asked whether Kazakhstan could introduce a dog tax similar to those in some European countries.