No VAT on expat remittances

KSA Banks confirmed : No VAT on expat remittances

Senior bankers clarified on Sunday that money sent home by expatriate workers will not be taxed under the value-added tax (VAT) reform initiative to be launched by the Saudi government on Jan. 1 next year.
It was also announced that companies and businesses have only three days left to register and obtain their dedicated VAT account numbers.
Saudi Arabia’s General Authority for Zakat and Income Tax (GAZT) has urged businesses with annual revenues of more than SR1 million ($266,640) to register for VAT before the deadline of Dec. 20, 2017.
“The deadlines for companies with annual revenues between SR1 million and SR375,000, however, has been extended by a year until Dec. 20, 2018,” according to a GAZT statement.
“All businesses including commercial organizations and banks have been advised to make sure they understand the VAT rules and be ready for their implementation after 15 days from now,” said Syed Ahmed Ziauddin, a senior banker who heads the financial institutions and public sector group at Bank Al-Jazirah in Riyadh.
He said: “Aljazirah Bank is fully ready to start from Jan. 1 ... and we are going to apply VAT on our service charges.”
He said that all commercial banks have geared themselves to comply with the VAT regulations. “The banks have also educated their customers about VAT besides advising them about various services that will come under the purview of VAT,” said Ziauddin, while adding that the remittances will not be taxed under the VAT system.