Saudi Arabia imposes high taxes on harmful products
Saudi Arabia has announced the implementation of new taxes on harmful products, primarily it regards soft drinks and cigarettes. The authorities also completely invalidate the income tax for migrant workers, contrary to previous reports.
The Fiscal Balance Program 2020 report, published by the Saudi government last week, said the kingdom would impose a 50 percent tax on soft drinks and a 100 percent tax on tobacco and energy drinks from the second quarter of 2017.
The taxes were proposed by the six-nation Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) in December 2015, but Saudi Arabia’s Finance Ministry only signed the agreement this month, the report said.
No other Gulf country has yet announced a date for implementation of such taxes, although they have been mulling them since 2012. Studies in the GCC have found regional beverage prices to be the lowest when compared to the rest of the world and a key factor behind high rates of childhood obesity and diabetes. For example, soft drinks are priced at around AED1 (US0.27) in the UAE.
Source: arabianbusiness.com
