The Saudi finance minister, Mohammed al-Jadaan, said in a statement
that the new tax code for Saudi Aramco would have no impact on government services because any tax revenue lost would be “replaced by stable dividend payments by government-owned companies and other sources of revenue, including profits resulting from investments.”
Saudi Aramco does not publicly release information about earnings or the taxes and royalties it pays the government and others.
“It means the various Saudi parties involved — the state, the public investment fund
and the royal family — are negotiating with the idea of coming to a solution.”
Under a privatization, some combination of the government, the Saudi sovereign wealth fund, members of the royal family
and individual Saudis would share 95 percent of profits and dividends.
The Saudis hope to offer 5 percent of the company to foreign investors late next year, which would
raise as much as $100 billion in what could be the biggest initial public offering in history.
By CLIFFORD KRAUSSMARCH 27, 2017
Saudi Arabia announced a sharp tax cut for its state oil company on Monday, part of an effort to make
it more appealing to international investors in preparation for its promised initial public offering.
“The new tax rate will bring Saudi Aramco in line with international benchmarks,”
Saudi Aramco’s chief executive officer, Amin H. Nasser, said in a statement.
The new tax rate for Saudi Aramco will amount to 50 percent, slashed from 85 percent, retroactive to Jan. 1, according to a royal order.
