Riyadh - Decypha: The government of Saudi Arabia is considering allowing expatriates to invest in free trade in return of an annual income tax of about 20%, reported Saudi Gazzette.

Saudi Ministry of Trade and Investment is planning to modify regulations to attract quality foreign investment and contribute to transfer of knowledge to Saudi Arabia, said Majed Al Qassabi, Kingdom's Minister of Trade and Investment, according to Trade Arabia.

New regulations may include two types of tax on expatriates. The first will be on the accounts expatriates present including revenues, expenditures and profits. Estimated profits will be the second tax in case no dividends are announced, it will be 15% for contracting sector and 25% on consultancy services.

Saudi government currently limits various transactions to Saudi nationals only, leading to the 'cover-up' phenomenon where Saudi's conduct business for expats against a certain fee.

“The expats will no longer need to hide behind a Saudi to practice trade,” added Al Qassabi.

Saudi Arabia currently has 200,000 cases of cover ups including 86,000 in the contracting and 84 in retail sectors.

By Decypha News Editorial Team