Insights: General

Saudi cabinet approves land tax, foreign investment rules

Saudi Arabia’s cabinet approved a tax on undeveloped urban land and rules allowing foreign investors to own 100 per cent of retail and wholesale businesses, an official said on Monday. The measure aims to help resolve a shortage of affordable housing in Saudi Arabia by putting more unused land on the market where it can

Dubai rent prices at lowest point in 2 years

Residential rates in Dubai are at their lowest since 2014 and will continue to fall this year, according to Dubai-based consultancy Phidar Advisory. Rent declined by 1.3 per cent month-on-month in May, compared with a compound monthly average decline of just 0.3 per cent since the most recent market peak in May 2014, Phidar said

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No income tax on expats, says Oman official

Oman has no plans to impose income tax on expats, an official has reportedly claimed. Salem Al Saadi, an advisor at the Ministry of Manpower, was quoted as telling the Times of Oman that the sultanate “does not encourage such a tax”. It followed reports that Saudi Arabia was planning to introduce income tax on

Riyadh metro 36% complete

The Riyadh metro is 36 per cent complete and is expected to be finalised within a period of two years and a few months, Riyadh Gov. Prince Faisal bin Bandar announced. Prince Faisal, who is also the president of the High Authority for the Development of Riyadh City and chairman of the Higher Committee on

Dubai ruler endorses EC3 project for EXPO 2020

Vice President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, HH Sheikh Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, has endorsed the design of the Roads & Transport Authority’s (RTA) 223 million dirhams ($60.71 million) Enterprise Command & Control Centre (EC3) for EXPO 2020, according to a press statement issued by the RTA. The Enterprise

Saudis may tax the money expats send home

Saudi Arabia’s Shura Council – the king’s consultative assembly – has proposed taxing the remittances being sent home by millions of expatriates working in the country. According to a report in the Arab News, the council’s 150 members, all of whom are appointed by the king, have also recommended the cabinet limits the amount expats

Expats, employers worried over uncertain Saudi tax proposal

Expatriates in Saudi Arabia and their Saudi employers alike voiced unease about a proposal the government is studying to impose income tax on foreign workers to make up for falling oil revenues. Around a third of the 30 million inhabitants of the world’s top oil exporter are foreigners, many of them drawn, despite ultra-conservative social

Unpaid debts can come back to haunt you

Dubai: Running from unpaid debt in the UAE, even as far back as 10 years ago — whether intentional or not — can come back to haunt residents. Philippine Consul-General Paul Raymund Cortes gave this warning to his compatriots after finding out that as many as 20 Filipinos had been detained due to unpaid debt