In September, Saudi Arabia published a resolution in the Official Gazette calling for a review of the provision that applies to income tax on payments to non-residents. This is the tax withheld by the tax agent on the payment of income to a person who is not a permanent resident of Saudi Arabia.
What has changed?
The innovations provide for taxation of any income of non-residents received from sources in Saudi Arabia. Depending on the type of earnings, the following tax rates will apply:
- dividends – 5%;
- interest income – 5%;
- royalty or rental income – 15%;
- technical and consulting services – 5%.
Local legislation establishes the following rules for determining residence in Saudi Arabia:
- the individual has a permanent residence in Saudi Arabia and resides in the jurisdiction for a total period of at least 30 days in the tax year;
- the individual resides in Saudi Arabia for at least 183 days in the tax year.
If any of the above rules do not apply to an individual, then he has non-resident status.