RIYADH: Saudi Arabia’s Cabinet has approved the introduction of the “selective tax” that is being rolled out across the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) member countries. The tax is to be levied on luxury items and products that are “harmful to human health and the environment.” Its scope and rates will be the same for all GCC states – Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, the United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Bahrain, and Oman.
At a meeting on June 16, 2016, the GCC ministers of finance approved a common framework for the development of national regimes for customs duties and value-added tax. The agreement paved the way for the introduction of harmonized excise duties on these specific goods from January 1, 2017, the implementation of which has now been delayed, and a pan-GCC value-added tax (VAT) framework from January 1, 2018.
