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Expats worried over remittance tax plan

By Rashid Hassan, Arab News, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia on

Published in Senior Living Features

RIYADH -- The proposed 6 percent tax on remittances has expatriates worried about their future in the Kingdom.

Speaking to Arab News, expatriates of different nationalities were unanimous in their opinion that it will be unfair to levy a hefty tax on their hard-earned money and requested the government to reject the proposal.

"We, by and large, are spending the earnings in the Kingdom, and sending only a small amount of our earnings back home as savings to be used for post-retirement days or to deposit fees for our children pursuing higher studies. If 6 percent is charged on that remittance, it would be like taxing something on our hard work," said Ghaffar Khan, an IT professional from Pakistan working in the capital.

Nonie Sagadal, a Filipino who works here at a remittance facility, said that this proposal is "shocking to us as we are not taxed by our government in the Philippines.

"This is not good news for us. We are exempted from taxation as our government has kept overseas Filipino workers away from taxation and hence we request the host government also to reject a proposal ... Hopefully the Saudi government will not accept it," he said.

Mohammad Quaiser, a veteran Indian expatriate in the capital, said the proposed tax citing rise in remittances is unfair as the number of expatriates have also increased substantially with new arrivals; hence the remittances will go up.

A salary hike has also been cited as a reason for the proposed tax. However, there are only a small number of expatriates whose salaries have been raised in 2015. Most are working without a salary hike, he added.

 

Mohammad Taha Sulaiman, an Egyptian who works as a senior sales executive, seconded the opinion, saying, "I do not know any of my colleagues who received a salary hike."

Bushara Ali, a Sudanese veteran who works for a travel agency was shocked to learn that such a proposal is even under discussion and a tax could be imposed on remittances.

Arab News reported last week that the Shoura Council's Finance Committee is backing a proposed tax on remittances of expatriates, starting from 6 percent in the first year and gradually reducing to 2 percent permanently from the fifth year onward.

(c)2016 Arab News (Jeddah, Saudi Arabia)

Visit the Arab News (Jeddah, Saudi Arabia) at www.arabnews.com

Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.


(c) Arab News, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia

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