King Salman orders new allowances, tax breaks to offset higher cost of living

Saudi Arabia’s King Salman issued a series of royal decrees on Friday ordering payment of several allowances to state employees and military staff, along with exemption from value-added tax (VAT) for some citizens to offset rising cost of living, official state-run SPA reported.

An annual bonus was ordered for the Saudi civil and military personnel for the current fiscal year, effective from Jan. 1, 2018.

The Saudi monarch ordered payment of a monthly cost of living allowance at SAR 1,000 for the government staff and military personnel for one year.

He also directed the state to unify disbursal of public employees' salaries from the 27th of every Gregorian month and always issue utilities bills one week after salary disbursement.

Pensioners will also receive a monthly allowance of SAR 500 for one year from the Public Pension Agency (PPA) and the General Organization for Social Insurance (GOSI).

In addition, a cost of living allowance at SAR 500 will be also paid to beneficiaries of the social security system for one year.

King Salman also ordered the payment of SAR 5,000 in bonus to military personnel serving at the Yemen frontlines.

Another royal decrees included a 10 percent increase in the stipend payments for male and female Saudi students for one year.

For tax breaks, the government was directed to pay VAT for nationals benefiting from private healthcare and private education services and pay taxes for first-time homebuyers at a maximum of SAR 850,000.