By stringently pursuing defaulters, the Zakat and Income Tax Department has collected SR16 billion in revenues in the last nine months, equalling the total amount earned in the whole of last year, the official body said at a press conference here Tuesday. The department used new measures like scrutinizing the commercial and investment records of contracts from the Ministry of Finance besides conducting field follow ups, said Dr. Ibrahim Muhammad Al-Muflih, Director of the Zakat and Income Tax Department, according to a report published in Al-Watan newspaper Wednesday. Data on imports, workers and visas, and data on the size of the company from the ministry and other sources were also collected, he said. Al-Muflih expects a 10 percent increase in Zakat and tax revenues this year. He said the department has precise verification mechanisms if it suspects that a company's figures do not reflect the real data. He pointed out that all revenues earned are given to the General Organization for Social Insurance (GOSI). The Ministry of Finance pays the rest of the amount that GOSI needs. The details were divulged while announcing that the deliberations of the 8th Technology Conference for Tax Authorities in Muslim countries will begin Sunday. The meetings will be held under the patronage of Ibrahim Al-Assaf, Minister of Finance. “Most big companies submit their undertakings within four months of the new year because according to the companies law, companies must submit their undertakings within 120 days following the end of the fiscal year. We expect the growth to reach 10 percent next year,” Al-Muflih said. “If the department is not convinced about the submitted undertaking, a field check is carried out by sending a team to inspect the office's information, and we have certain criteria for that,” he said. Last year's revenues reached SR16.1 billion, a 13.5 percent rise when compared to the previous year. Of the amount, SR9 billion were from Zakat revenues of commercial transactions and SR7 billion from taxes. The SR9 billion of Zakat revenues are part of the total SR360 billion Zakat fund, he said. The department has signed over 28 agreements to prevent dual taxation besides other agreements currently being negotiated with two major partners. Al-Muflih expects a large number of negotiations to be settled in the coming period. In the last five years, the department has deposited SR33 billion for social insurance, he said.
