Light on specifics...maybe. Its what is written between the lines which is troublesome.
Since it is a UAE paper and any such news is tightly controlled, I think we can all see what is coming over the horizon, actually the natives have been banging this drum for quite a while. The remittance tax would in effect be a double taxation assuming there would be an income tax as well.
If you run the numbers, for every AED 100,000 earned, you'd send home AED 80750 thus giving AED 19250 to the government...thats not including the effect of the (now) 5 % VAT possibly 10% if they elect to double it.
The impact would be disastrous.
QUOTE:
According to S&P analysts, the rollout of more corporate, personal and remittance taxes GCC countries could boost the government revenues up to 4.5 per cent as the region has some room to broaden the tax base due to low tax revenues by international standards.
"We estimate that even if the GCC authorities were to significantly expand the tax base, for example by implementing a 15 per cent corporate tax, a 15 per cent personal income tax, and a 5 per cent remittance tax, this would increase government revenues only by about three to 4.5 per cent of GDP," Cullinan said in a note released on Sunday.
S&P expects implementation of new corporate tax or income tax on expats and locals will be only gradual because of the economic and social pressures that could ensue.
Some GCC countries may prefer not to roll out fresh taxes to try to gain a competitive economic advantage, it said.
According to International Monetary Fund (IMF) estimates, a 15 per cent corporate tax on all GCC non-oil companies, both domestic-and foreign-owned, could generate government revenues of three per cent of GDP on average.
In addition, a 15 per cent income tax on expatriate workers could generate government revenues of two per cent of GDP on average, depending on the size of their expatriate communities.