Kuwait MPs submit proposal to impose fee on money transfers out of country. Lawmakers have called for a 2.5 per cent fee on all money transfers out of the country.
Event Location
Kuwait , Kuwait
Start Time
21 February 2021, 12:00 AM
End Time
31 March 2021, 12:00 AM
A proposal to levy a tax on remittances by expatriates in Kuwait has resurfaced after a failed attempt at the country’s previous parliament, Al Qabas newspaper has reported.
The legislative Committee at the current Kuwaiti legislature, elected in December, has requested that a tax on transfers should be confined to those of migrant workers and that transfers involving Kuwaiti citizens should be exempted.
Lawmakers have submitted similar laws in the past, urging the imposition of a 5 per cent tax on expat remittances. However, it was rejected by the Kuwaiti government, the Central Bank and the assembly’s legal and legislative committee. They argued that it will adversely impact the economy and create a black market for transferring money.
In a report presented to the present assembly, the Legislative Committee has welcomed a proposal to impose fees on transfers to outside the country. However, the report said that the envisaged tax should not be the same on all transfers and should make distinction depending on the transferred sums of money.
In this regard, the panel suggested that the small transfers carried out by foreign domestic workers should be exempted from the proposed tax.
Kuwait tax on expat remittances
