More than 200,000 Saudi citizens with dual US citizenship are liable to pay taxes under US taxation laws, according to academics at King Abdulaziz University (KAU) in Jeddah.

Such laws have prompted scores of people with dual nationality around the globe to give up their US citizenship. In fact, relinquishing rates increased by 250 percent and are slated to increase by as much as 600 percent by next year.

Awad Al-Zahrani, whose son has US citizenship, said he would give it up.

“My son got the passport since he was born there while I was studying in the country back in 2000. At the time, the Saudi embassy had told me that it would not be a problem for him to hold two passports. Now that we have to pay taxes, though, we’ll be giving the US passport up.”

Abdulrahman Al-Habib, head of journalism studies at KAU, argues that Saudis who were born in the US should be exempt from paying taxes.

“We should establish a unified center to help Saudis clear their former tax registers,” he said.

US Consul-General Todd Holmstorm, however, confirmed that US citizens should pay income tax and called on their international counterparts to help them eliminate tax evasion.

“The tax law is designed to combat evasion through increasing transparency in the financials of US taxpayers,” he said.

Bandar Al-Niqaithan, who has a law degree from Harvard University, said he does not advise anyone to give up their US citizenship without closing their tax files first to avoid heavy fines.

“They should seek the help of US tax specialists,” he said.

The law was passed by the American Congress in 2010 obliging financial institutions to disclose information about accounts belonging to US citizens with more than SR50,000 in their bank accounts.

The Saudi Ministry of Finance previously signed a bilateral agreement with the US obliging banks and other financial institutions to disclose information only to an intermediary, speculatively the Department of Zakat and Income Tax, as opposed to having the information sent to US authorities directly.

The agreement was signed following concerns over a breach of privacy regulations.