UAE

18 May Weekly Round-Up

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The 18 May edition of the ITICnet.org Weekly Round-Up featured the following stories:

  • UN Committee of Experts Releases Draft Chapters for Cross-Border Tax Dispute Resolution Handbook (via MNETax.com)
  • UNCTAD’s Technology and Innovation Report 2018
  • New IMF Working Paper on Tax Policy Measures
  • EC and OECD Digital Tax Proposals: A Closer Look (via TPweek.com)
  • IMF Concludes Article IV Consultation with Singapore
  • UAE Joins BEPS Framework
  • IMF Deputy Managing Director Visits Uzbekistan
  • Income Tax Updates in India (via EY.com)

Click here to view the full newsletter.

Impending VAT in the GCC: Much Still to be Clarified

The slump in oil prices in the last few years has increased the pressure on the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) states (Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates) to seek more sustainable government revenues through taxation. Corporate income tax is currently the only direct tax imposed within the GCC, and even then Bahrain and the UAE only impose the tax on narrow sectors of the economy. Customs duty, imposed uniformly across the GCC, is currently the main indirect tax assessed in these countries. Just over three years ago, the need to introduce VAT intensified due to the ever increasing challenges on the governments to meet their budget commitments.