RIYADH: Saudi Arabia may allow foreigners to invest in self-employed professions in return for paying taxes at an estimated annual rate of 20 percent in a bid to curb commercial cover-up, Al-Eqtisadiah daily reported.
Saudi authorities are reportedly studying procedures of imposing taxes of two types. One would be in the form of financial statements provided by a foreigner in terms of revenues, expenses and profits, the daily said. The second form of tax will be imposed on estimated profits for certain professions in which profits cannot be easily verified such as the contracting sector, which will run to 15 percent, while the rate of tax on consulting professions may go to 25 percent, the daily said.
The new procedures will treat foreigners as investors in self-employed professions without the need to have sponsors after having obtained the required licenses in areas such as workshops, groceries and contracting.
The new drive comes in conformity with statements made by Minister of Commerce Majid Al-Qassabi on the sidelines of the opening of the parallel market (Nomu) last month where he said commercial cover-up is an unhealthy phenomenon and harmful to the nation’s economy.
He said his ministry has developed a study on the causes and solutions for commercial cover-up, including allowing foreigners to invest within certain regulations, and payment of tax without need to conceal their activities.
Last month, the commerce minister called for the elimination of commercial cover-up to improve the national economy and create new jobs for Saudis.
Addressing a workshop, the minister emphasized that anti-commercial concealment is an important and vital issue to improve the economy and to create new jobs. Consequently, he said, it was one of the most important initiatives of the ministry in the National Transformation Program (NTP) 2020.
Foreigners may be allowed to invest in taxed jobs
Foreigners may be allowed to invest in taxed jobs
Saudi Arabia launches initiative to reroute Gulf cargo to Red Sea ports
- The initiative comes as shipping through the Strait of Hormuz has been severely disrupted by the widening conflict in the region
- Since the US and Israel struck Iran last month, Tehran has moved to restrict passage through the waterway
RIYADH: Saudi Arabia has launched an initiative to redirect shipping from ports in the Arabian Gulf to its Red Sea ports amid the ongoing US-Israel-Iran war.
Transport Minister Saleh Al-Jasser, who also chairs the Saudi Ports Authority (Mawani), launched the Logistics Corridors Initiative alongside Zakat, Tax and Customs Authority Governor Suhail Abanmi, Mawani President Suliman Al-Mazroua, and other officials, the Saudi Press Agency reported.
The initiative will establish dedicated operational corridors to receive containers and cargo redirected from ports in the Kingdom's Eastern Region and other Gulf Cooperation Council states to Jeddah Islamic Port and other Red Sea coast ports.
Al-Jasser said the Kingdom was committed to ensuring supply-chain stability and the smooth flow of goods through global trade routes. Jeddah Islamic Port and other west coast ports, he added, were already playing a key role in accommodating shipments redirected from the east, while also linking Gulf cargo to regional and international markets.
The initiative comes as shipping through the Strait of Hormuz has been severely disrupted by the widening conflict in the region. Iran has long threatened to close the strait — the world's most critical oil and gas chokepoint, through which roughly a fifth of global oil supplies pass — in the event of a war.
Since the US and Israel struck Iran last month, Tehran has moved to restrict passage through the waterway, sending freight rates soaring and forcing shipping companies to seek alternative routes.
Saudi Arabia's Red Sea ports offer a viable bypass, connecting Gulf cargo to global markets without passing through the strait.
