Taxes and fees soared from 27% to 42%: The dividend window for Central Asia's auto imports is closing

In mid-October 2025, Kazakhstan's 2025 duty-free import quota of 15,000 electric vehicles will be exhausted ahead of schedule. A month later, the total tax on individual imported vehicles jumped from 27% to more than 42%. Two months later, Kyrgyzstan silently increased the duty-free quota for electric vehicles from 10,000 to 15,000.

In between the two, the three Central Asian countries are using their own methods to say the same thing to China used car exporters: the window is still there, but not everyone can enter it.

1. Kazakhstan: From casual entry to exclusive legal person

On December 1, 2024, a new rule in Kazakhstan directly cut off most of the channels for individuals to import new cars.

Core changes-three-pronged approach:

How does 42% come from: 12% value-added tax + 15% tariff + recovery tax + various additional charges.

Officials from the Ministry of Industry and Construction of Kazakhstan themselves admit that if the general import tax used to be 15%, the total tax may now reach 48% or higher.

There is still a price difference between personal importers and dealers, but only if you are OTTS certified, pass SBKTS safety testing, and only make one car a year. For used car dealers exporting on a large scale, personal import channels are no longer a viable business model.

Duty-free quota for electric vehicles: no one will be available when used up

Kazakhstan's duty-free import quota of 15,000 electric vehicles in 2025 will be exhausted in mid-October. Although new quotas may continue to be issued in 2026, the quotas themselves mean ceilings-you never know whether the quotas will be reduced and new conditions will be attached the next year.

A more alarming signal

The Prime Minister of Kazakhstan has made it clear that Kazakhstan should become a powerful automobile country. The government is vigorously promoting localized production, and its attitude towards imports has shifted from welcoming to managing.

From January to October 2024, Kazakhstan registered 143,000 imported cars and paid taxes and fees of 291.4 billion tenge. 80% of them are passenger cars. Kazakhstan obviously does not want foreign car dealers to easily earn this money.

2. Uzbekistan: The Last Friendship Window

Among the three Central Asian countries, Uzbekistan is currently the one with the friendliest policies, but friendship has a shelf life.

According to the June 2023 Presidential Order, the following preferential tax rates apply to new-fuel passenger cars produced before January 1, 2026:

The value-added tax is uniform at 12%, plus customs processing fees and recycling fees.

Key information:Uzbekistan will import 24,095 pure electric cars and 17,480 hybrid cars in 2024, and the proportion of new energy has exceeded that of traditional fuel vehicles. China brands such as BYD are accelerating their deployment in Uzbekistan, and the pace of localized production is getting closer and closer-once local factories are put into operation, the protective umbrella of import tariffs will likely be supported.

3. Kyrgyzstan: The transfer station is still there, but the door is shrinking

Kyrgyzstan will increase its duty-free import quota for electric vehicles from 10,000 to 15,000 in 2026, which is ostensibly a positive thing.

But the real story lies not in Kyrgyzstan itself-the Bishkek market is too small to absorb many China cars. Its value lies inits transshipment: it passes through customs clearance in Kyrgyzstan and is resold to Russia and Kazakhstan.

The problem is that Russia has clearly required since April 2024 that cars entering Russia from Eurasian Economic Union countries (Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan, Armenia, Belarus) must be cleared twice in Russia to make up for the difference in taxes and fees. The game of transit tax avoidance no longer works.

Kyrgyzstan's additional quota of 5000 vehicles is more a sweetness for domestic consumers than a channel for China exporters.

4. Three paths, three styles of play

Looking at the three Central Asian countries together, the direction is clear:

Three core judgments:

First, the golden age of personal imports is over. 42% of Kazakhstan is not an isolated case, but a microcosm of gray import tightening across Central Asia. The model of relying on personal names, customs clearance at low prices, and transit tax avoidance is being systematically blocked.

Second, electric vehicles are the only window left, but there is a quota ceiling. 15,000 vehicles in Kazakhstan, 15,000 vehicles in Kyrgyzstan-the quota will be used up until next year. Will the quota be reduced in 2027? No one knows.

Third, localization is the ultimate variable. BYD has built factories in Uzbekistan, and China car companies are accelerating their deployment in Central Asia. Once local production capacity is up, the increase in import tariffs is almost inevitable. Sell the car before the factory is put into production.

The dividend window will not close suddenly, it will just shrink bit by bit. By the time you come back to your senses, the crack in the door is too narrow to squeeze in.

Source: Xiong Yu, digital automobile export

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