Business | Oil & Gas
Kuwait wants to tax personal income
Kuwait's ruler said in comments published yesterday that the Gulf Arab oil exporter would eventually have to impose taxes on personal income, but gave no timeframe.
- Reuters
- Published: 23:30 September 2, 2007
Kuwait: Kuwait's ruler said in comments published yesterday that the Gulf Arab oil exporter would eventually have to impose taxes on personal income, but gave no timeframe.
"The service provided to nationals comes at a very high cost which can be shouldered by the state for some time but not all the time. There will come a day when the state will find itself obliged to impose taxes," Emir Shaikh Sabah Al Ahmad Al Sabah told local newspaper Al Nahar in an interview.
"No doubt the situations of people with low income will be taken into consideration," said Shaikh Sabah in the interview picked up by news agency KUNA.
Kuwaitis have long been accustomed to a cradle-to-grave welfare state with benefits ranging from large long-term housing loans and marriage grants to free education and health services.
As in other Gulf oil-producers, petrodollars have buoyed the welfare system that many economists say cannot be sustained as a growing population puts increasing pressure on state coffers.
"Oil will not last forever," Shaikh Sabah said in the interview.
Kuwaiti MPs have long said they would reject taxing the income of Kuwaitis until the government prevents the waste of public funds and stamps out corruption.
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