Oman: No VAT increase, no income tax in 2023

Oman: No VAT increase, no income tax in 2023

Muscat: The government is neither planning to slap income tax in 2023 on high salaried individuals nor it will raise the value-added tax (VAT) beyond 5 per cent, Minister of Finance Sultan bin Salim al Habsi said on Tuesday.

The establishment of the Integrated Natural Gas Company is under consideration, which will operate on the lines of Energy Development Oman.

The public spending in 2023 budget to go up 7 per cent at RO 12.950 billion with deficit is estimated to be about RO 1.3 billion constituting 11 per cent of total revenues and 3 per cent of GDP.

Al Habsi said that global economic and geopolitical developments were taken into consideration when drafting the general state Budget 2023. He pointed out that Oman utilised the gains from excess in oil prices to cut down the public debt. As a result, the public debt was slashed from 70 per cent in 2020 to 43 per cent in 2022, he explained.

The government will begin implementing a programme of fiscal sustainability and the development of the financial sector through the creation of initiatives and projects, Al Habsi affirmed. He added that these initiatives and programmes will be conducted jointly with the Central Bank of Oman