Tax-free days ending for Saudis after oil slump

AFP, RIYADH: Tax-free living will soon be a thing of the past for Saudis after cabinet on Monday approved an IMF-backed value-added tax to be imposed across the Gulf following an oil slump.
Residents of the energy-rich region had long enjoyed a tax-free and heavily subsidised existence but the collapse in crude prices since 2014 sparked cutbacks and a search for new revenue.
Saudi Arabia is the world’s biggest oil exporter and the largest economy in the Arab region.
It froze major building projects, cut cabinet ministers’ salaries and imposed a wage freeze on civil servants to cope with last year’s record budget deficit of $97 billion. It also made unprecedented cuts to fuel and utilities subsidies.
The kingdom is broadening its investment base and boosting other non-oil income as part of economic diversification efforts and aims to balance its budget by 2020. Cabinet “decided to approve the Unified Agreement for Value Added Tax” to be implemented throughout the six-member Gulf Cooperation Council, the official Saudi Press Agency said

Tax-free days ending for Saudis after oil slump

AFP, RIYADH: Tax-free living will soon be a thing of the past for Saudis after cabinet on Monday approved an IMF-backed value-added tax to be imposed across the Gulf following an oil slump. Residents of the energy-rich region had long enjoyed a tax-free and heavily subsidised existence but the collapse in crude prices since 2014 sparked cutbacks and a search for new revenue. Saudi Arabia is the worlds biggest oil exporter and the largest economy in theArab region. It froze major building projects, cut cabinet ministers salaries and imposed a wage freeze on civil servants to cope with last years record budget deficit of $97 billion. It also made unprecedented cuts to fuel and utilities subsidies. The kingdom is broadening its investment base and boosting other non-oil income as part of economic diversification efforts and aims to balance its budget by 2020. Cabinet decided to approve the Unified Agreement for Value AddedTax to be implemented throughout the six-member Gulf Cooperation Council, the official Saudi Press Agency said