Saudi Arabia's New Rules Set to Raise Islamic Tax for Some Banks

(Bloomberg) -- Saudi Arabia set out new rules for the calculation of an Islamic tax on banks that’ll result in them paying between 10 percent to 20 percent of net profit.

The General Authority of Zakat & Tax set limits for the taxable asset base of between four times and eight times net profit, according to a statement on its website. That’s equivalent to a corridor of between 10 percent and 20 percent of net income, Bloomberg Intelligence analyst Edmond Christou said.

Most of the kingdom’s major banks will end up paying the lower limit, he wrote in a note.

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Saudi Arabia was in talks with local banks to increase the tax rate to as high as 20 percent of net income, Bloomberg News reported this month, citing people with knowledge of the matter. The tax authority denied it had plans to raise the levy. The current rate is 10 percent after deducting returns on government bonds.

Major banks in Saudi Arabia reached settlements worth a combined 16.7 billion riyals ($4.5 billion) with the tax authority in December, ending a dispute over accounts stretching back as far as 2002 in some cases.

To contact the reporter on this story: Matthew Martin in Dubai at mmartin128@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Stefania Bianchi at sbianchi10@bloomberg.net, Alaa Shahine, Shaji Mathew

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