KUWAIT CITY: Expats should pay 5 percent tax on remittances from Kuwait, a pro-government MP has proposed.
Kamel Al Awadhi said the collected fee would contribute towards the “highly subsidised” services foreigners receive.
The state had a right to “a share in the money transfers by expatriates obtained against services offered by the state to them including education, health in addition to highly-subsidized services and commodities like petrol, gas, electricity and water,” Al Awadhi said, according to Kuwait Times.
However, the daily said expats did not have access to public education and had to pay KD50 ($165) per person annually for health insurance.
Al Awadhi’s proposal said those who fail to pay the tax will be fined double the amount.
Expats had sent home about KD21 billion ($69.5 billion) during the past five years, he claimed.
That means a 5 percent tax would provide the state with KD200 million of additional revenue each year.
