RIYADH — The Ministry of Commerce announced on Sunday the decision of the higher authorities to extend the implementation of the Regulation to correct the status of violators of the Anti-Concealment (tasattur) Law for an additional six months, starting from Aug. 23 and ending on Feb. 16, 2022. Minister of Commerce and Chairman of the Supervisory Committee of the National Program for Combating Commercial Concealment Majed Al-Qasabi said that the leadership's approval to extend the six month-corrective period embodies the state's keenness and interest in providing the opportunity to correct the status. "This also stimulates the turnout for correction requests and benefit from the advantages of the corrective period so as to exempt from the penalties prescribed under the law and the consequent other penalties, as well as from the retroactive payment of income tax," he said. Al-Qasabi revealed that a number of large and medium-sized enterprises, whose annual revenues exceeded more than SR6 billion, have benefited from the last corrective period through the two options — partnership between Saudi and non-Saudi at the firm; and registration of the firm in the name of a non-Saudi. He said that the ministry continues considering requests to correct the status of establishments engaged in various activities and sectors from all parties, including Saudis and non-Saudis, since the beginning of the corrective period. The National Program for Combating Commercial Concealment revealed that the correction requests received by the Ministry of Commerce included various economic activities, most notably wholesale and retail trade, contracting, accommodation and food services, downstream industries, transport and storage, and other service activities. The program clarified that the received requests varied between six correction options specified in the regulation of correcting the status of violators of the Anti-Concealment Law. These are partnership between Saudi and non-Saudi in the firm; registration of the firm in the name of a non-Saudi; the Saudi continuing to engage in economic activity by introducing a new partner in the firm; Saudi's disposal of the firm; the non-Saudi obtaining the Premium Residency; and the non-Saudi's permanent departure from the Kingdom. The program renewed its call to all those who wish to correct their status to take advantage of this opportunity to apply to the Ministry of Commerce with a request for correction before the end of the corrective period on Feb. 16, and to take advantage of the benefits offered in the regulation. The benefits include exemption from the penalties prescribed in the law and other consequent penalties, and exemption from paying income tax retroactively so as to ensure the uninterrupted continuation of the economic activities. Correcting the status enhances the stability, expansion and growth of economic and commercial activities while the monitoring mechanisms after the corrective period will be stringent. New technology methods based on artificial intelligence will be followed in analyzing and controlling the data of the violating establishments and inflicting severe penalties on them, and these include up to 5 years of imprisonment or a fine of up to SR5 million or of both. Correction steps are available via multiple options through the website of the Ministry of Commerce or through business centers and branches of the ministry in all regions of the Kingdom. It is noteworthy that the program announced the start of the six-month corrective period on Feb. 27 this year and the regulation's primary mission is to regulate financial transactions and eliminate the illegal remittance of funds with combating all types of commercial concealment.
