No direct tax on Expats and Kuwaitis

KUWAIT CITY - Secretary- General of the Supreme Council for Planning and Development Dr Khalid Mahdi affirmed that the issue of implementing taxes and reconsidering government services charges and fees listed in the development policies stipulated in the law did not target citizens and individuals directly.

Mahdi explained that implementation of taxes will not be useful to policies on the diversification of sources of revenue without taking necessary prerequisite steps and approval of advanced accounting system. He said the tax system will strengthen nationalism and improve the quality of services, adding “there is no country in the world that doesn’t enforce various forms of taxes and Kuwait is a part of the world. However, the issue is about the timing and necessary pre-planning.”

He stressed that countries rely on three types of revenues from natural resources, investment in those natural resources and various forms of taxes. He pointed out that the mindset while talking about Kuwait is taxes are possible to implement without venturing into taxes related to individuals and citizens directly. He reiterated, “We can’t implement any type of taxes without a comprehensive system that requires upgrading of the accounting system and organized legislation”.