A special ministerial committee has already prepared a package of economic and financial reform legislations to be presented by the new cabinet and referred to the new parliament in mid-December 2016, reported Kuwait Times citing government sources. The Kuwaiti government is planning to impose 5% tax on expats’ remittances and a 10% tax on companies. The government is reportedly also considering the privatisation of the healthcare and education sectors. The government aims to start executing its economic reform plan early even as it expects fierce confrontation in this regard with the upcoming parliament (parliamentary elections are planned for November 26th) the report stated. According to the sources, the government believes that privatising education and healthcare is a must, while the opposition considers this as unconstitutional. The school privatization move would experimentally start with one school per educational area. Moreover, the sources said the government will also propose cancelling the current form of subsidies and direct them only to those with limited income.   The Kuwait Cabinet already approved a plan in March 2016 to introduce a 10% income tax for corporates. Kuwait companies currently pay c4% on charges, which include zakat, a national labor tax and a contribution to the Kuwait Foundation for Advancement of Sciences. Reports on the new tax do not specify if the new 10% tax charge will be added to the existing 4% or if it will replace it. The worst-case scenario, i.e., an additional 10% tax charge would have a negative impact on earnings of 10-14% for Kuwait banks. (Elena Sanchez-Cabezudo, Trade Arabia)