EVERY country has the right to diversify its revenue sources to mobilize funds required for its security, economic and social missions. I don't disagree with it in principle. At the same time I believe that Arab Gulf countries must review their taxation system to meet their development needs. As we discuss the possibility of imposing value-added tax and cutting subsidy for basic goods such as fuel, water and electricity and increase service charges, we have to deal with the issue of tax burden frankly. Can anybody tell me about the tax burden of Saudis? GCC economies are gradually transforming from revenue-based economies with most wealth and economic activities owned by governments into productive economies, thus reducing government hold and expanding the private sector participation. This will definitely make the private sector the biggest and the most efficient partner and the main engine of growth. Some people think that the government's selling of public corporations and properties to the private sector would cut down its revenue. This is not at all true. Some others believe that cutting down on subsidy and imposing of indirect taxes would increase revenue. This is also not true. In Britain, for example, the government does not own any oil company but imposes high revenue tax on petroleum products to receive a net revenue of 75 percent at peak times and 30 percent at off-peak times, without engaging in oil production, refining and marketing. Similarly, the US government does not own any oil field or even oil wells but receives $85 million in oil tax every day and $30 billion annually. The International Monetary Fund believes that GCC countries could save $60 billion annually by reducing or cancelling subsidies with Saudi Arabia getting the lion's share of $17 billion, which is 8 percent percent of the budget spending in 2016. Governments can impose direct or indirect taxes and this can be collected at national, regional or city levels. I would like to point out that most of the foreign consultants of IMF and consulting houses in the region preferred the European tax system, which resulted in reducing liquidity and investment and creating long economic stagnation in those countries. As a result of taxation, prices of essential commodities shot up while the volume of stocks exchange reduced to a great extent due to lack of liquid money in public hands. An economy will not be able to recover from such situations except after adopting effective monetary and financial policies, which may succeed or fail as we witness in European countries. In the American tax system we can find both direct and indirect taxes and it begins from the top. Taxes are imposed on big revenues and major companies and financial firms at federal level. In addition, there are taxes for states, counties and cities. Taxes and fees are not collected as a single fund. On the other hand, they are collected at various levels and used for different purposes. Sales tax and hotel tax are for cities that collect them in order to build roads, parking areas, plantation, run educational institutions and provide various other services. We have to understand that the direct revenue tax, which IMF has avoided, is much better and less harmful to the economy. Surprisingly, none of the so-called economists or financial consultants in the GCC advised their governments to collect this tax. For the IMF, the excuse was that those having high revenues would keep them in Europe or US as bank deposits or investment, providing those countries additional revenue, which they would never allow to lose. Our country should focus on developing the Zakat and Revenue Department and transform it into a central agency for taxes and fees. No government department or agency would impose any tax or fees except through this agency, which determines the tax burden of every group of citizens, considering their revenue. It will be the only agency that would have the right to increase or decrease taxes. I believe the government's continued disregard of the tax burden and central tax management system would have a negative impact on the economy and the country's overall development. We are in need of a clear-cut taxation system, without leaving it to individual or sectoral judgments.
