Saudi: No income taxes on citizens or foreigners

Saudi Finance Minister Mohammed Al-Jadaan yesterday denied media reports claiming the kingdom intends “to impose new taxes on Saudi citizens, foreigners and Saudi companies”.

The minister made his remarks during a press conference in Riyadh after announcing the 2017 budget.

According to the General Authority for Statistics, some 10.07 million foreigners worked in Saudi Arabia in 2015, making up 33 per cent of the country’s population of 30.6 million.

Arab media yesterday reported that Saudi Arabia intends to impose income tax on expatriate labourers and their families. The percentage of tax would increase annually until 2020, reports said.

The minister also announced that for the first time in a decade, the kingdom has been able to reduce its deficiet and achieve higher than expected non-oil revenues, Al-Arabiya news channel reported.