Saudi Gazette report DAMMAM – Saudi cultural attachés have called upon foreign scholarship students to pay their taxes and fees without fail to avoid legal action by authorities in countries where they study. The advice came after a number of Saudi students in foreign countries had to face judicial action for not paying taxes, especially housing tax. The Saudi Cultural Attaché in London has distributed a circular in this respect, urging Saudi students to pay their taxes on time. It explained the conditions that exempt a student from tax, Al-Hayat Arabic daily said. The British law exempts scholarship students from paying housing tax if the duration of his language course is not less than 12 months and if he/she is a full-time student pursuing studies for 21 hours weekly, the attaché said in a circular. If a person studies in a language institute for less than a year and moves to another institute so the total period of study should be not less than one year — four months in the previous institute and 8 in the present one to reach one year — completing 21 hours weekly. The attaché said the student should present his documents to the municipal council including the registration letter from the institute, explaining duration and type of the course. “If the student has moved from one institute to another, he would require more documents including a letter explaining the duration and type of the course and a registration letter from the new institute,” the attaché said. If the language course was for less than a year and the student received admission to a university, he should present a letter from the institute explaining the duration and type of the course and a letter of acceptance from the university mentioning the period and type of the course. “University students must bring a tax exemption letter from the office of international students,” the attaché said, adding those who fail to fulfill above conditions are required to pay taxes. However, the attaché pointed out that the municipal council will provide discounts to students who are required to pay taxes. “If they receive call from the court for not paying taxes, they have to attend the court session without fail. They can ask for a translator to explain the case and defend the case clearly,” the circular said. In Australia, the Saudi attaché said, students have to pay their dues such as service charges for telephone, electricity, insurance and housing, before they leave the country on vacation or after completing the course. If they fail to pay fees and taxes on time, they will be denied access to various services and the dues would be accumulated including interest, fines and the fee for resumption of service. Those who fail to pay their dues would be included in the list of defaulters to reduce their credit rating. As a result, service companies may deny their services to such defaulters. Usually the creditor company will sell the debt, if it’s not a big amount to a specialized collection agency. If the amount was substantial, the creditor company could sue the defaulter. The attaché in Australia explained: “If a student fails to pay any financial obligations, the creditors will contact official Australian authorities and the Saudi embassy demanding payment.” The embassy usually contacts the competent authorities in the Kingdom to verify the case and ask the scholarship department to compel the citizen or student to pay his/her dues to preserve the Kingdom’s reputation. The cultural attaché will not end the scholarship program of a student or pay his dues and issue his graduation tickets until he signs a declaration that he has paid all his obligations, especially the taxes related to housing and services, the circular added.