Saudi Arabia tripled VAT to address needs of every stage, may review in future: official

Saudi Arabia recently tripled value-added tax (VAT) and may review its decision in the future. The decision came as part of the government’s efforts to address the needs of every stage, in light of the prevailing local and global economic conditions, Saad Alshahrani, Deputy Minister for Macroeconomic and Fiscal Policies, Ministry of Finance, told Al-Ekhbariya TV. 

The government is committed to certain financial and social targets, mainly the financial stability and sustainability. The planning of state budget is not restricted to the current or upcoming year, as the Kingdom aims to keep the existing and previous gains for future generations.

It also seeks to cushion against any risks that might arise during or post-COVID-19 pandemic. 

As uncertainty looms following global coronavirus outbreak, the Kingdom has to find sustainable revenue sources to finance various social and economic projects, without sacrificing the financial stability, Alshahrani explained.

The Saudi government worked on reprioritizing the aspects of spending to ensure economic balance and face any possible crisis in the oil market.

Accordingly, the Kingdom needs to find sources or take less harmful measures on the society to finance the economy, he added.