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The General Authority of Zakat and Tax (GAZT) announced that all lease-to-own and rent-to-own (Ijara) contracts of assets like real estate or cars concluded before January 1, 2018 will not be liable to pay Value Added Tax (VAT). GAZT clarified that such contracts are viewed as non-continuous supplies and therefore VAT will not be collected […]

The General Authority of Statistics (GaStat) Q3 labor report indicated a drop of 5.8 percent in the Kingdom’s overall unemployment rate among Saudis during the third quarter of 2017 in comparison to the second quarter. Although there has been an increase in the number of new jobseekers in the Saudi market, the Kingdom’s unemployment rate […]

Saudi Arabia announced plans to grant tourist visas for visitors from 65 nations under the Saudi Arabia Muslims’ Destination initiative. The initiative, launched by Saudi Commission for Tourism and National Heritage (SCTH) is another vision of Kingdom’s National Transformation Program 2020. Being the cradle of Islam and a major destination for Muslims, Saudi Arabia, through […]

Saudi Arabia raised fuel prices with effect from January 1, 2018. The initiative is part of a program that aims at gradually eliminating energy subsidies as the Kingdom seeks to overhaul its economy and balance the budget. The price of Octane 91 increased from 0.75 riyals to 1.37 riyals per liter while that of Octane […]

Global tech giants Apple Inc. and Amazon.com are engaged in licensing discussions with Saudi Arabia as part of Crown Prince Muhammed bin Salman’s move to give the Kingdom a high-tech look. SAGIA, Saudi Arabia’s foreign investment authority, is expected to complete licensing agreement with Apple in February and Apple targets to open its first retail […]

The Saudi Real Estate Refinance Company (SRC) has signed a strategic deal of SR1 billion with Bidiya Home Finance to purchase a portfolio and provide mortgage refinancing facility. This is the second strategic deal signed by SRC in two weeks. Earlier, SRC entered into another refinancing partnership of SR1 billion with prominent real estate financing […]

The General Authority of Zakat and Tax (GAZT) announced that tourists and Hajj and Umrah pilgrims from non-Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries will be provided with a refund of Value Added Tax (VAT) amount they paid on purchases made in the Kingdom. However, GAZT is still working on the mechanism to reimburse VAT to tourists […]

Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Salman unveiled Saudi Arabia’s biggest ever budget in history, demonstrating the Kingdom’s optimism towards economic diversification and private sector expansion. The budget is projected at $260.8 billion in 2018, which is slightly higher than Saudi Arabia’s 2017 budget of $250 billion. King Salman announced that dozens of programmes […]

The General authority of Zakat and Tax (GAZT) confirmed that more than 80,000 businesses in Saudi Arabia have registered for Value Added Tax (VAT) which will be implemented on January 1, 2018. Earlier, GAZT called upon companies and businesses operating in the Kingdom with an annual revenue exceeding SR 1 million to register for VAT […]

Saudi Arabia’s King Salman approved the allocation of 72 billion Saudi riyals ($19.2 billion) to boost the Kingdom’s private sector, Saudi Press Agency reported on Thursday. The measures which primarily focus on housing and SMEs are part of a four-year, 200 billion riyal stimulus programme announced earlier by the government to support private companies, said […]