King Salman chairs Monday’s meeting of the Saudi cabinet

The Saudi Cabinet chaired by King Salman, approved regulating the General Authority for Zakat and Tax on Monday.

The Authority aims to carry out the collection of Zakat and taxes to ensure the system runs properly and that the all contribute. The duties will be:

♦ Zakat and tax collection in accordance with the rules.
♦ Providing high quality services to taxpayers and assist them in fulfilling their duties.
♦ Follow up with taxpayers and take the necessary measures to ensure collection of finances owed.

The Authority has the right to set up subsidiaries to help in performing the tasks and achieve objectives.

Within the General Authority for Zakat and Tax, a legitimate authority should be formed, with a team that includes at least five highly qualified and experienced members, specialized in financial transactions and Zakat accounting.

The Council of Ministers also agreed the following people for the board of directors of King Abdulaziz City for Science and Technology:

♦ President – Minister of Energy, Industry and Mineral Resources as Chairman
♦ Vice President and member – The president of King Abdulaziz City for Science and Technology
♦ Representatives (at least five) must be from governmental bodies related to the duties and competences of the city members
♦ Three members of the private sector mainly specialists, actors and experts in the City work.

Moreover, the cabinet also decided to approve the amendment of paragraph (C) of Article 2 regarding the promotions. The promotion committee will approve the candidacy of the members seeking being promoted to vacant posts in accordance to the approval of the competent minister or the head of the independent department.

The decision should be taken through evaluation and comparison to other candidates, provided that it happens no more than twice in a fiscal year. The comparison should be based on performance evaluation and seniority.

Upon the minister of finance’s report about the appointment of diplomatic personnel with a Bachelor’s degree in accordance with the required majors, the Council of Ministers decided the following:

♦ Amend article 14 of the list of diplomatic functions, stating that the newly-appointed members shall be on probation for two years. They can be enrolled in a training program, but not transferred or assigned to perform a function other than the post assigned to them. In case of absence for any reason, the probation period might get extended.
♦ Amend the “at least two years for getting promoted from attaché to the post of third secretary” term in paragraph d of Article 32 of the list of diplomatic posts. The amended term should be as follow: “at least three years before getting promoted from attaché to the post of third secretary.”

The Cabinet also decided to approve the registration of all deeds owned by the state under the title of State-owned real estate. The registration should abide by several provisions, namely:

♦ If the governmental authority has a statutory text stipulating its right to own the property.
♦ If the State Property Department provides the governmental body with a statutory text that grants it the right to own the property.