Saudi Budget: Success of financial reforms includes tax revenues approach a third of revenues at 366 billion

Data on the expected Saudi budget for the year 2024, issued today, revealed a 2.7% increase in tax revenues to record about 366 billion riyals expected by the end of this year, in an indication of the continued improvement in economic activity in the Kingdom.

The data shows that tax revenues of various types represented about 29.8% of the total revenues of the Saudi budget during the year 2024, approaching a third of the revenues in an explicit indication of its importance in restructuring and disengaging from oil revenues, thus becoming the most prominent financial reforms witnessed by the Saudi budget after the launch of the Kingdom’s Vision 2030.

Tax revenues on goods and services accounted for about 76.5% of total tax revenues after recording about 280 billion riyals during the year 2024, an increase of about one billion riyals over the budget target of 279 billion riyals, and an increase of 6.6% over the year 2023, which recorded 262 billion riyals.

Tax revenues on income, profits and capital gains witnessed a significant decrease of 22.4% to reach 30 billion riyals in 2024 compared to 31 billion riyals targeted in the budget and 39 billion riyals in 2023. Tax revenues on international trade and transactions grew by about 0.3% to reach 22 billion riyals compared to 21 billion riyals targeted in the budget. The growth in tax revenues during 2024 reflects the continued improvement in non-oil activities, in addition to the efforts and initiatives undertaken by the government, including the continued development of tax administration, and the extension of the initiative to cancel fines and exemptions from financial penalties for taxpayers subject to all tax systems until December 31, 2024. It is noteworthy that in recent years, the non-oil sector in the Kingdom has witnessed major shifts until it became a basic driver of the Saudi economy alongside the oil sector in light of the momentum witnessed by the Saudi economy in all sectors, to confirm international institutions, most notably the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank, that the strong growth of the non-oil sector around 5% greatly supports the continued recovery of the Saudi economy away from developments in global oil markets.