Saudi to hold talks on UAE's road tax plan
Riyadh, May 25, 2014
Saudi Arabia’s Ministry of Transport is set to have talks with the UAE National Transport Authority about the country’s ‘negative plan’ to impose tax on all vehicles travelling into its territory, said a report.
The kingdom would make attempts to resolve this issue through negotiations, Safar Abu Medani, the Saudi assistant undersecretary for road transport was quoted as saying in the Arab News report.
The UAE authorities informed transport companies in December that it plans to tax all vehicles crossing its borders, including imposing a fee on every bus passenger.
It includes Dh100 ($27) for every bus, including Dh5 per seat, while cargo carriers would have to pay Dh100 for each tanker and Dh10 per tonne.
"The ministry is still considering the negative ramifications of the decision on Saudi carriers, particularly since they account for 60 to 70 per cent of all carriers travelling across the border between the UAE and Saudi Arabia," he was quoted as saying.
It has not offered any counter proposal yet to the UAE plan, and that solutions would be determined during the talks, he added.
Abu Medani said a tax by Saudi Arabia on UAE transport companies is not on the table but cannot be excluded.
