KUWAIT CITY, Oct. 24: “Taxes are imposed when a country cannot meet the costs of managing itself and providing the needs of its citizens,” said an MP on Sunday criticizing the recent push by the Ministry of Finance to impose a tax bill on the citizens of Kuwait.

MP Saad Al-Hajiry said that the imposition of a tax on citizens is unacceptable as currently a citizen cannot abide by his familiar responsibilities due to low wages and high prices of goods. 
“What we are currently witnessing is that the government is unable to manage financial surpluses or the recent increase in prices, so how can it manage tax collection when it is unnecessary at present?” he said.

On his part, MP Khalid Al-Adwa added that citizens are already suffering enough from the increase in commodity prices and the deterioration in the standard of services provided by the government.
  “Exorbitant fees are also imposed on those services, even though they should be free for citizens due to the constantly rising rate of unemployment these days,” he said.

Earlier this week Al-Watan reported Finance Minister Mustafa Al-Shamali as saying that the tax draft bill has been forwarded to the Consultative and Legislative Council for discussion.
Al-Shamali explained the proposed payment of tax is part of the development plan, so there should be a comprehensive tax collection system, indicating his ministry will prepare and implement the proposal. He pointed out the tax will greatly contribute to the revenues of the government and there is no reason to worry about the salary.

Al-Adwa asserted that he, along with other colleagues, will respond to the draft tax bill to protect the low and middle income workers who form a large part of the Kuwaiti population.

He warned those who are following through with this proposal without consulting the National Assembly as per Article 134 of the Constitution which states that the creation, modification or cancellation of general taxes can only be carried out by law.

“No one is exempted from paying all or some of the tax except through the basis of the law. No one can be assigned other taxes, fees or costs except within the limits of the law,” the article says.
On another note, MP Khalid Al-Adwa stated that the Environmental Committee is requesting the government to earnestly speed up the implementation of environmental rehabilitation programs in order to obtain the pending financial compensation from Iraq.

He revealed that Kuwait has received KD 2.2 billion of the KD 3 billion under the supervision of the UN and there is a fear of loosing KD 800 million of compensation due to delays in the implementation of programs and projects relating to the rehabilitation of the environment.

Meanwhile, MP Jamaan Al-Harbash revealed on Sunday at a press conference that members of the Reform and Development Bloc will be nominated for four parliamentary committees. MP Faisal Al-Muslim will be nominated for the Finance Committee, MP Jamaan Al-Harbash for the Educational Committee, MP Dr. Walid Al-Tabtabaei for the Legislative Committee and MP Falah Al-Sawagh for the Petitions and Complaints Committee.

Al-Harbash added that, in light of governmental interference at the National Assembly elections, the Reform and Development Bloc will not enter into membership of the Interior and Defense Committee as the committee is unable to objectively consider issues and transactions examined.
“Of the cases we will be looking into are increasing children’s allowances to KD 70 due to the currently high standard of living; the increase of pensions to KD 175 and the lowering of the retirement age to what it was previously as well as the civil and social rights of women,” he said.

Also:
KUWAIT CITY: MP Khalid Al-Adwah recently forwarded questions to Health Minister Dr Hilal Al-Sayer on his ministry’s failure to collect payments from the insurance companies and some hospitals, reports Al-Watan Arabic daily.

Al-Adwah asked the minister to submit a detailed report on the number of companies providing health insurance to residents in Kuwait, copies of agreements signed by these companies, and the financial benefits they get from the collection of insurance fees.  He also inquired if there were tenders organized for this purpose among companies in Kuwait, if yes the minister should provide terms of the tenders, including the amount of unrealized revenues from the companies and reasons behind the ministry’s inability to collect payments.