JEDDAH — Saudi Arabia has rejected some media reports suggesting that it is planning to introduce income tax on Saudis and expatriates. Ibrahim Al-Assaf, Saudi minister of finance, has denied alleged reports that the Kingdom will impose taxes on either Saudis or foreign residents, pointing out that imposing taxation on residents was an old proposal, which will be discussed later, reported Arab News.
Nothing so far has been approved in this regard, he said, adding that it is among initiatives proposed by the Ministry of Finance.
He was answering journalists’ questions at a press conference on Tuesday regarding the National Transformation Program 2020.
Al-Assaf emphasized the role of his ministry in the NTP 2020, saying that its implementation would lead the economy to a new stage of growth and stability.
Waleed Al-Samaani, justice minister, called the NTP the main mechanism to realize the vision of the Kingdom, based on attested methodology, following pinpointing the challenges ahead of the Kingdom, in the economic and development domains.
Al-Samaani said that the draft of the Code of Fiqh Rulings has been completed, and is under review.
Sulaiman Al-Hamdan, minister of transport, said he wants to lower the Kingdom’s “painful” road death toll under the NTP.
“The percentage of car accidents is very high and the percentage of deaths is very high,” he said. “This is catastrophic.”
He said Saudi ports in the Red Sea have excess capacity and that more than 30 percent of the global trade passes through the Red Sea. He reiterated the ministry’s efforts to raise the operational efficiency of the ports.
