BDO publishes a Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) tax update on a quarterly basis and we’re delighted to share the Q4 2024 edition with you. This update provides a summary of the region’s tax news from Q4 and a roundup of some of the key changes from the past year. Please access the full report PDF via the download link on the right.

The UAE was the source of most of the region’s tax news in 2024, with a constant flow of new legislation and guidance emanating from the introduction of corporate tax and transfer pricing. There has been no let up in the final quarter of the year, with yet more detailed guidance on corporate tax, general tax administration and value added tax. In addition, the UAE has become the second GCC country to announce a domestic minimum top up tax (DMTT); there are also proposals for a research and development tax relief.   

Saudi Arabia’s e-invoicing programme moved forward assuredly in 2024 and, in the past quarter, the scope of the 19th wave of implementation has been announced. Saudi Arabia also introduced revised regulations for Zakat in 2024, which apply to financial periods commencing on or after 1 January 2024. The new regulations will need to be taken into account for upcoming Zakat calculations.

Kuwait left one of its biggest announcements of 2024 to the last day of the year, with the news that the country will implement a domestic minimum top up tax for fiscal years starting on or after 1 January 2025. Earlier in December, a draft law for the proposed business profit tax was circulated in local media, which proposed a rate of 15%. The tax will be introduced in stages, commencing in 2025 and high thresholds will mean that the tax only applies to larger businesses. The draft law provides a useful insight into how the tax will operate and, amongst other things, includes details on exemptions and exclusions and defines which entities will be affected. It remains to be seen, however, if Kuwait will press ahead with the proposed business profit tax.

Some of the other important changes in Kuwait in 2024 include provisions for the international exchange of information and new rules for tax incentives for investment entities. There were also a number of treaty changes and updates during the year. 
In Bahrain, there has been more progress with the proposed domestic minimum top up tax, with the release of the DMTT regulations and the opening of dedicated portal for DMTT registration.  The news that Bahrain would introduce DMTT was one of the big stories of 2024 as it was the first of the GCC countries to make such an announcement.
Oman has been busy in Q4 with the signing of new double tax avoidance treaties with Tanzania, Cyprus, Estonia and Luxembourg.

2024 was an interesting year for tax in Oman with the confirmation that the Shura Council had initiated discussions on an individual tax on high income earners. It seems likely that there will be some important developments and new announcements on this topic in the coming year.  

The General Tax Authority of Qatar published deadlines for certain country-by-country reporting during Q4. The deadlines have now passed, so any business that is subject to country-by-country reporting obligations in Qatar should check that their compliance is fully up to date.

We trust that this summary of the tax news for the region is useful for both our regular and new readers. Contact details for each of the BDO GCC firms’ local tax representatives are provided on the back cover of our report. Our tax experts will be pleased to assist if you need further information on any tax-related matter or have other queries. You will also find additional information on the relevant BDO firm’s web site.