Based on the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud's keenness to mitigate the financial and economic impact of Coronavirus pandemic (Covid-19) on individuals, private sector enterprises and investors, a royal decree was issued to extend a number of government initiatives for an additional period, in order to achieve full benefit from the initiatives which were launched since the beginning of the pandemic. The extended initiatives focused on supporting Saudi employees, suspending imposition of fines and postponing payment of some government services fees. This step comes as an extension of urgent government measures that contribute to supporting individuals, investors and private sector enterprises, and to enhance their roles as partners in developing the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia's economy. The extended initiatives include: - Supporting Saudi employees in private sector enterprises affected by impact of Coronavirus through unemployment insurance (SANED). - Suspending fines related to recruitment. - Lifting the temporary suspension of private sector facilities to correct activity status. - Calculating the employment of Saudis in Nitaqat Program immediately for all enterprises. - Lifting the suspension of wages protection during the pandemic. - The continuity of providing services for elite enterprises around the clock. - Postponing the collection of customs duties on imports for a period of thirty days against the submission of a bank guarantee. - Accepting instalment requests without applying the condition of advance payment. - Postponing the payment of value-added tax. - Accelerating payment of VAT refund requests. - Partial exemption from the financial compensation for the expiring visas of residence and extending the period of using Exit and Re-Entry Visas for one month, with an additional month if needed. - Enabling business owners, for a period of two months, to postpone the payment of value-added tax, excise tax, income tax, and the submission of Zakat declarations during coronavirus pandemic. Since the beginning of the Coronavirus pandemic, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia's government has announced a set of urgent initiatives amounting to 142 initiatives targeting individuals, private sector enterprises and investors, with a value exceeding SR 214 billion, in addition to forming a number of ministerial committees with continuous follow-up from His Royal Highness Prince Mohammed bin Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud, Crown Prince, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Defense as these committees aim to study the impact of Coronavirus crisis and its challenges, in a number of sectors and regions to address them, either with support or the extension of initiatives or others.
