One of the joys of being a columnist is the feedback one receives following the publication of his or her piece. Mind you, it is not always flattering and can occasionally be threatening, but in any case, these letters make for interesting reading. Then there are requests to publish the reader’s concerns regarding an issue that is bothering them.
One such email is from Mohamed who kindly requests that I write an article about dependent fees. He wants to know whether the fees imposed on expatriate dependents will continue or cease after 2020 and requests that I put forth this question to those behind the law. He adds: “Because we have paid a huge amount of dependent tax for the years 2017, 2018 and 2019, I now need to know whether this shall continue or stop in 2020. Accordingly, we shall decide to pay next year’s levy to support Saudi Vision 2030. If it continues with the same amount or is increased, we will be forced to send our loving family back to our country, because we cannot afford to pay SR16,000 plus for our dependents. Also, we are not getting any benefits for the paid dependent tax. Because this year is very crucial, we have to decide whether our children’s studies will continue in the Kingdom or we should send them back to our country. Thank you for your excellent article. – Mohamed.”
Now I have to add that the dependent tax has taken a big bite out of the earnings of mid and lower salaried expatriates. Hundreds of thousands of expatriates have already left, unable to cope with the financial demands of the levy. Executive expats do not worry too much about it as they are making much more money or their companies are footing the bill. However, the majority are at Mohamed’s economic level and can ill afford the steady annual increases.
