Welcome to this month's edition of Gulf Tax Insights, where we bring you the latest updates on tax matters from the Gulf region.
This month has been full of excitement for tax professionals in the United Arab Emirates (UAE), as 1 June marked the day the UAE’s Corporate Income Tax regime became effective. On that same day, the highly anticipated Cabinet and Ministerial Decision on what constitutes Qualifying Income for Qualifying Free Zone Persons were published. This month’s edition includes our insights on these important decisions, and what they mean for businesses in the UAE’s Free Zones.
In the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA), an important circular was published by the Zakat, Tax and Customs Authority, indicating that foreign service providers are required having a physical presence in the KSA for the recognition of a taxable ‘services permanent establishment’ there. Certain conditions apply and the helpful clarification only covers situations where the service provider is resident in a country with which the KSA concluded a Double Tax Treaty (DTT).
From an international tax perspective, there were many developments in terms of new DTTs being concluded by GCC Member States, as well as commenced and ongoing negotiations for new DTTs. Our GCC Tax Roundup includes brief updates on various domestic tax changes and developments in Qatar, Oman, the UAE and KSA.
Finally, you will also find in this month’s edition an article which we have co-authored with Will Seivewright (Head of Corporate - Middle East) on the impact of the UAE’s Corporate Income Tax regime on M&A transactions.
We hope you find this newsletter informative and insightful. Should you have any questions regarding these new tax developments in the region, please don't hesitate to reach out to us.
Happy reading!