GCC Tax update – Q1 April 2025
GCC Tax update – Q1 April 2025
BDO publishes a Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) tax update on a quarterly basis and we’re delighted to share the Q1 2025 edition with you. This update provides a summary of the region’s tax news and key changes from Q1.
The news flow has been a little quieter than normal this quarter, probably due to the combination of the New Year holidays and the natural slowdown of activity during the holy month of Ramadan. Nonetheless, there have been some interesting updates and, as has often been the case recently, much of the most significant activity has been in the UAE.
One common theme that appears in much of the region’s tax news currently is the introduction of measures to support the OECD’s pillar two initiatives. In this edition of our quarterly update, Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman and the UAE all report progress with national legislation to implement a domestic minimum top-up tax, a key component of the pillar two framework. Each of the countries will approach the top up tax slightly differently and this is undoubtedly a subject we will hear a lot more of in the coming months. In this edition we have provided some of the details of how the top up tax will work in the UAE.
Elsewhere there is news of the ever-expanding tax treaty network between the GCC states and their trading partners. There have also been a number of updates on the official guidance provided by the tax authorities in the UAE and Bahrain, an interesting tax incentive in Qatar and a number of important legislative changes across the region.
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.
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The news flow has been a little quieter than normal this quarter, probably due to the combination of the New Year holidays and the natural slowdown of activity during the holy month of Ramadan. Nonetheless, there have been some interesting updates and, as has often been the case recently, much of the most significant activity has been in the UAE.
One common theme that appears in much of the region’s tax news currently is the introduction of measures to support the OECD’s pillar two initiatives. In this edition of our quarterly update, Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman and the UAE all report progress with national legislation to implement a domestic minimum top-up tax, a key component of the pillar two framework. Each of the countries will approach the top up tax slightly differently and this is undoubtedly a subject we will hear a lot more of in the coming months. In this edition we have provided some of the details of how the top up tax will work in the UAE.
Elsewhere there is news of the ever-expanding tax treaty network between the GCC states and their trading partners. There have also been a number of updates on the official guidance provided by the tax authorities in the UAE and Bahrain, an interesting tax incentive in Qatar and a number of important legislative changes across the region.
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.
DOWNLOAD