The Ministry of Finance continues to install and operate the integrated tax management system and ITAS electronic services, despite a massive wave of rejection and disapproval of draft laws related to imposing taxes and increasing fees included in the government’s work program, Al Qabas reported.
The Tax system will be put up in a public tender soon. It is expected that expertise will be sought from abroad to train national cadres to use and manage the new program, especially since this project is the first of its kind in the country.
The sources said to the daily that the new system includes maintenance and employee training, and aims to implement an integrated tax administration system through electronic portals, as an alternative to the current tax system in Kuwait. The main goals are digitization, integration and speed of implementation according to the latest global tax systems.
The sources indicated that the laws that will be implemented and monitored through the new system are:
- Income Tax Decree No. 3 of 1955, as amended by Law No. 2 of 2008.
- Law of Income Tax in the Designated Region No. 23 of 1961.
- Law 19 of 2000 regarding support and encouragement of national manpower to work in non-governmental entities.
- Law No. 46 of 2006 regarding zakat and the contribution of public and closed joint-stock companies to the budget.
There are 16 advantages and benefits that the Ministry of Finance is expected to gain from the project:
- Providing an integrated central system for tax administration.
- Establishing a mechanism for registering and approving taxpayers and audit offices, and issuing a unified tax number to the registrants during the registration process electronically.
- Providing the possibility of recording tax revenues and examining tax returns.
- Providing historical financial data and all correspondence with taxpayers.
- Providing a collection mechanism and multiple payment methods.
- Providing a mechanism for analyzing risks by classifying taxpayers ’behavior using their historical data and assessing risks in the process of collecting tax claims.
- Providing a high degree of electronic work through the system and avoiding manual interference.
- Providing a mechanism to urge taxpayers to pay tax dues as soon as possible, and to provide the possibility to recover the amounts paid in excess.
- Assisting in counting unregistered taxpayers.
- Providing tools to detect tax fraud and report suspicious tax returns to avoid losing government revenues.
- Reducing labor costs and increasing revenues, through efficiency in work, increasing tax compliance, and improving work performance in the tax administration.
- Providing a mechanism for organizing internal work, a plan for automatic tax examination and examination.
- Providing artificial intelligence in tax operations.
- Providing the service of issuing certificates and tax cards electronically.
- The ability to prepare the annual budget.
- The possibility of issuing electronic reports.
The laws that will be implemented and monitored through the new tax system:
1. Kuwaiti Income Tax Decree No. 3 of 1955, as amended by Law No. 2 of 2008.
2. Kuwaiti Income Tax Law in the Designated Region No. 23 of 1961.
3. Law 19 of 2000 regarding support and encouragement of national manpower to work in non-governmental entities.
4. Law No. 46 of 2006 regarding zakat and the contribution of public and closed joint-stock companies to the state budget.
Taking into account any laws that may be implemented in the future.