Al-Jadaan says no plans to impose income tax on individuals

Finance Minister Mohammed Al-Jadaan

Saudi Arabia does not intend to impose an income tax on individuals, said Finance Minister Mohammed Al-Jadaan.

"Our position is very clear. We have VAT, income tax on companies and foreign investors, as well as Zakat for the locals, and no intention for changing this," Al-Jadaan told Bloomberg on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum held in Davos.

"We are trying to rationalize some of the burden on the economy to make it even more business friendly," he added.

The minister indicated that the bonds worth $12 billion (SAR 45 billion) issued in January will go for financing deficit, in addition to accelerating spending on major projects. He stressed that the Kingdom plans to finance the deficit that reaches 2% of GDP but seeks to accelerate the expenditure.

Commenting on the possibility of delaying some Vision 2030 projects, Al-Jadaan said efficiency and economic value are the main factors in this issue. "We want to make sure that every dollar we spend does not leak. This means that you don’t need to import too much for your own development but rather for the development of your economy," he noted.

"Even if you have the capacity to spend, you don’t want to spend so much as this will cause more inflation," Al-Jadaan said, adding that the Kingdom is just prioritizing what needs to be done now, what needs to be done by 2026 and 2030, and what can be extended until 2035.