KUWAIT CITY: Kuwaiti parliamentary committee has rejected four proposals to impose taxes on remittances, saying they were unconstitutional. One proposal said taxes should be imposed only on foreigners transferring money to their home countries Kuwait is home to around 3.1 million expatriates, mainly from South Asia, who transfer around $14 billion annually to their families in their home countries. Several lawmakers said the state should impose taxes to boost its non-oil revenues and help finance the budget. MP Safa Al Hashem spearheaded the campaign to press for taxing remittances by foreigners, repeatedly arguing it would limit the amount of cash transferred out of the country. In her proposal, Al Hashem, the only woman in the 50-member parliament, said the tax should be between three and five per cent in order to take into consideration the differences between foreigners with low income, such as drivers and domestic helpers, and others who usually remit higher amounts. However, her calls failed to convince the governor of Kuwait’s Central Bank. while another said they should be applied to both expatriates and Kuwaitis, the Legal and Legislative Committee said. Another proposal stipulated prison terms for those who do not comply with the law, the committee added. In such cases, who is the violator? Is it the financial company that allowed the transfer or is it the applicant? Since the punitive measures were not clear, the proposal was rejected as unconstitutional,” the committee was quoted by Kuwaiti daily Al Jareeda as saying on Tuesday.
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