April 2: Kuwaiti banks have decided to collect the registered individual and business tax details of their clients, covering interest, profits, deposits and revenue generated through the sale of assets throughout the period the beneficiary has lived outside his home country, reports Al-Qabas daily.

The daily quoting a source added the step will initiate an exchange of tax information in line with criteria of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) member countries. The method will be useful in the automatic implementation of tax information from September 2018 and see to the execution of the agreement signed by the Finance Ministry on tax information exchange.

He noted the banks have prepared the ground for the new policy by forming work teams to contact clients to obtain necessary information and oblige them to fill forms for the purpose of exchanging the information with other countries, especially new clients planning to open accounts. The process began after the Central Bank of Kuwait addressed financial institutions in the country to take necessary steps toward implementation of the joint information agreement criteria.

Kuwait joined the group in August 2016 and the Central Bank assures that banking confidentiality will be protected in line with Article 85 of Law Number 32/1968 concerning money, Central Bank, regulation of the banking profession and its amendment.

News Source: Arab Times