Construction Jamal Omar loses petition against zakat claim of $95m By Andrew Hammond August 10, 2023, 7:32 AM Jamal Omar Jamal Omar, developer of the holy city of Mecca, listed zakat payments of less than half of the government’s calculation Developer must pay SAR357m zakat It listed payments far below government calculations Jamal Omar Development, the company which has led construction in the holy city of Mecca, must pay Islamic alms (zakat) of SAR357 million ($95 million) for the years 2012-2018, after losing a complaint against the Saudi government tax authority. The building firm, which is listed on the Saudi stock exchange, made the petition after it lost an earlier appeal to the arbitration body of the Zakat, Tax and Customs Authority (ZATCA). Jamal Omar listed zakat payments of less than half of the government’s calculation for the period in question, at SAR133 million. ‘Zakat can save the world’ … and this is how Saudi Mecca developer converts $1.4bn debt to equity Saudi Arabia works with Lazard on funding Mecca mega-project Claims over miscalculated zakat – which is levied at a fixed rate of around 2.5 percent – account for 31 percent of complaints made to ZATCA since it was established in May 2021. Merging previous zakat, tax and customs administrations, ZATCA manages value-added tax (VAT), which was trebled to 15 percent in 2020 during a period of low oil prices, but with promises to bring it down to 5-10 percent within five years. The kingdom has said it has no plans to introduce income tax. Register now: It’s easy and free AGBI registered members can access even more of our unique analysis and perspective on business and economics in the Middle East. Why sign uP Exclusive weekly email from our editor-in-chief Personalised weekly emails for your preferred industry sectors Read and download our insight packed white papers Access to our mobile app Prioritised access to live events Register for free Already registered? Sign in I’ll register later
