Health insurance for expats could reach KD 190 - MPs press for debate on fake degrees

KUWAIT: The National Assembly's financial and economic affairs committee yesterday reaffirmed that imposing a five percent tax on money transfers by expatriates to their home countries does not violate the constitution, brushing aside opposition by the government and another Assembly panel. The committee bluntly said that there is nothing in the constitution which obliges achieving equality between Kuwaitis and expatriates and justice in imposing taxes.

The committee said that based on opinions by its constitutional experts, equality and justice stipulated in the constitution do not mean achieving absolute and complete justice amongst all, adding that articles 7 and 29 of the constitution call for legal equality and justice only. Article 7 states: "Justice, freedom and equality are the pillars of society; and cooperation and compassion are the firm link binding all citizens," while article 29 stipulates: "The people are peers in human dignity and have, in the eyes of the law, equal public rights and obligations. There shall be made no differentiation among them because of race, origin, language or religion".

Citing article 48 of the constitution, the panel insisted that imposing taxes on remittances by expats does not violate justice and equality. Article 48 states: "Payment of taxes and contribution to public expenditure are a duty in conformity with the law. The law shall exempt small incomes from taxation in order to guarantee a minimum income for living." Ironically, the article the committee is citing to impose taxes on expatriates is the same that calls for exempting low-income people, a majority of whom are expatriates.

In January last year, the legal and legislative committee rejected a draft law submitted by MP Safa Al-Hashem to tax expat remittances, saying it is unconstitutional. The government also rejected the bill because it involves constitutional suspicions, while the Central Bank insisted it is against the national economy. The tax could force expatriates to not keep any deposits in Kuwaiti banks or make any investments here. The financial committee still went ahead and approved the draft law, but it has not reached the floor for debate. In 2017, authorities said KD 4 billion was remitted, but the share of Kuwaitis in the transfers is not clear.

In another development, informed health sources and reports said the government is planning to increase the compulsory health insurance for expatriates gradually every year, starting from next year. In the first two years - 2020 and 2021 - the cost will be KD 130 per person per year. It will go up to KD 150 for the next two years, then KD 170 and finally KD 190 in 2026-2027. The reports and the figures could not be immediately confirmed.

Meanwhile, five MPs - Mohammad Al-Dallal, Riyadh Al-Adasani, Adel Al-Damkhi, Rakan Al-Nisf and Osama Al-Shaheen - submitted a request to hold a two-hour special debate on the issue of fake university degrees, as the education ministry denied it had accepted degrees issued by an unrecognized university in Athens, where many Kuwaitis are believed to have obtained their degrees.

Dallal called for taking tough actions against those who used fake degrees to get government jobs, securing good salaries and top positions. "Involved people should be dealt with individually without threats to the entire community they belong to," he stressed, pointing out that mere demands that holders of such degrees should refund all sums they had unlawfully earned to escape legal accountability is unacceptable. "They must be prosecuted," Dallal demanded, noting that it took too long to bring this issue to the open.

By B Izzak and A Saleh