Introduction 

BDO publishes a Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) tax update on a quarterly basis, and we’re delighted to share the GCC tax update Q4 December 2025 edition with you. This update provides a summary of the region’s tax news and key changes from this year’s third quarter and some of the highlights from earlier in the year. 

2025 was another year of change and innovation for tax in the GCC. One of the most significant emerging themes has been the introduction of e-invoicing. Saudi Arabia is well advanced with the introduction of e-invoicing, and the UAE is taking great strides towards commencing e-invoicing implementation in the UAE in 2026. Oman is also well advanced with its plans for implementation later in 2026 and there is an update on the Oman implementation schedule in this newsletter. Another trend that has spread across the region is the adoption of the OECD tax proposals such as the domestic minimum top-up tax. This trend will continue and will be important to multinational enterprises operating in the GCC.  

A very interesting development from 2025 was Oman’s announcement that it intends to introduce a personal income tax with effect from 2028. This will be the first tax of its kind in the GCC and whilst there is no indication that others will follow suit, it is a reminder of the breadth of change we are seeing in the region and one wonders what surprises 2026 might bring! 

There have been some important changes to withholding tax compliance in Qatar, with a significant tightening of the process that aligns contract reporting obligations with WHT compliance. Formal announcements of the changes have not yet been made but the changes are already live in the Dhareeba tax portal and businesses must proactively adapt their internal controls to ensure uninterrupted and continuing compliance.  

As ever, there is a raft of new legislation and guidance from the UAE, including the issue of legislation supporting the UAE’s e-invoicing regime. The UAE section of this newsletter also includes details of the 2025 update to the OECD model tax convention, which will be of interest to multi-national enterprises operating anywhere in the GCC region.  

In Bahrain there have been some updates on the minimum domestic top-up tax this quarter and in Saudi Arabia, there have been some important changes to the excise tax legislation, with a new methodology for calculating the tax. There is also yet another, very welcome, extension to the Saudi tax amnesty. The amnesty has been extended to 30 June 2026.   

Finally, Kuwait saw several important changes during 2025 and this edition of the newsletter includes a summary of the key changes.  

We hope you find this summary of the tax news for the region useful. If you would like further information on any of the topics covered, please get in touch with your usual BDO adviser: contact details for all our GCC offices can be found on the back page of this publication. You will also find additional information on the relevant BDO firm’s web site.  

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