MUSCAT: Individuals who are earning monthly salaries above RO 2,500 (over RO 30,000 income annually) will be subjected to income tax once it is implemented in Oman, according to His Excellency Ahmed Al Sharqi, Chairman of Economic and Financial Committee at Majlis Al Shura.

Oman is in the final legislative stages of adopting a personal income tax on high-income earners. Shura Council has advanced the draft personal income tax law to the Council of State as of late June.

“We have amended more than 29 articles of the draft law on individual income tax, with a comprehensive study on the impact of the law and the economic situation. It will certainly provide an additional source of income to the government for social and development projects,“ Al Sharqi said during the annual media meeting of the Majlis Al Shura on Tuesday.

“Our country still depends 70% of its income from oil. So we should look at these additional sources for income. Once implemented, individual income tax will have 1% impact on the economy, Al Sharqi noted.

Meanwhile, the International Monetary Fund said diversifying revenue sources and implementing tax reforms through taxes remain key priorities for the oil-exporting Gulf countries.

“For the GCC, continuing to diversify revenue sources and implement tax reforms (through the introduction and expansion of value-added, personal income, and corporate income taxes) remain key priorities,” IMF said in the World Economic Outlook.

“For some economies, expanding the tax base to increase the revenue stream could provide the funds needed to meet social and developmental needs,” IMF added.

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