Saudi cabinet approves land tax, foreign investment rules

Saudi Arabia’s cabinet approved a tax on undeveloped urban land and rules allowing foreign investors to own 100 per cent of retail and wholesale businesses, an official said on Monday.

The measure aims to help resolve a shortage of affordable housing in Saudi Arabia by putting more unused land on the market where it can be acquired by developers, according to Reuters.

The 2.5 per cent annual tax on the value of undeveloped land designated for residential or commercial use will be applied in stages to owners of plots exceeding 5,000 square metres, SPA quoted a cabinet statement as saying.

The cabinet also approved rules, originally announced last September, permitting full foreign ownership of retail and wholesale operations. Previously, the country’s ownership ceiling was set at 75 per cent.

Source