Fatima Muhammad Saudi Gazette JEDDAH — A well-known economist and columnist in Saudi Arabia has sparked a heated debate in the social media with his call to tax expatriates owning vehicles in the Kingdom. Rashid Al-Fawzan wrote in his column that he believed expatriates who are benefiting from inexpensive petrol prices should pay some fees on their cars. The suggestion, in the column, called for imposing taxes on all cars of expatriates in the Kingdom. It is estimated that expatriates own 30 percent of the cars in the Kingdom. The suggested fees, said Al-Fawzan, should be strictly implemented as the expatriates also benefit from the relatively low cost of cars in the Kingdom. He also suggested that movement of expatriates between cities should be restricted if they default in paying the suggested fees. Sami Al-Nuwaisir, another Saudi economist, was quick to come to the expatriates' defense. He said the suggestion gives an impression that the Kingdom does not welcome qualified workers that the Arab and Gulf region sorely need. The Kingdom, he said, will need generations in order to reform its education and thus replace these workers. Al-Nuwaisir said: “If we look at this suggestion from an international perspective it will be considered as discriminatory and unfair; it is an arbitrary and hasty suggestion.” He added the Kingdom already lacks qualified workers and such suggestions will just worsen the situation by deterring such workers from coming to the Kingdom. According to him only 19 percent of petrol in the Kingdom is being spent on transportation while 40 percent is being spent on electricity. “These expatriates are using cars because there is no public transportation in the first place,” added Al-Nuwaisir. Isam Al-Khalifa, an analyst, however, was for the decision. He said that expatriates constitute a heavy load on the Saudi economy, especially as they are benefiting from the subsidies on petrol, food, electricity, and water. “Expatriates are benefiting from all these subsidies without paying any taxes.” He believes that this levy would also help ease the traffic problem, adding the taxes would restrict the number of cars owned by expatriates. With no taxes currently, the expatriates are adding to congestion on the Kingdom's roads, he said. The suggestions or decisions that recommend adding this fee on expatriates do not aim to dismiss foreigners, said Al-Khalifa, but was being made only to balance the job market and create a framework that gives priority to citizens in the job market. Al-Fawzan's suggestion published by Al-Sharq local newspaper has triggered a heated debate among the users of social media. According to Mohammad Awad, a Yemeni expatriate living in the Kingdom since his birth 30 years ago, such a fee would put more pressure on his already tight budget. “The recent decision to impose SR2,400 fees (on expatriates working for un-Saudized companies) was just another suggestion that turned into a regulation. We are afraid, as expatiates, that this suggestion too could be implemented any time soon,” said Awad. Loai, a Palestinian father of two, said expatriates would always find ways to work around such rules. “It is a difficult suggestion; the first thing that came to my mind if this suggestion is implemented is to sell my car and buy a car under any of my Saudi friends' name, for they will never hesitate to help me out.” Loai believes that all financial restrictions can be worked out and “whoever wants to stay in the Kingdom will do so, regardless of how difficult it becomes. We can always find work to do and ways to fix our budgets.”
