UAE corporate tax will be among the ‘lowest in the world’

UAE corporate tax will be among the ‘lowest in the world’

Dubai: That the UAE will introduce a tax on corporate profits was rated a near certainty in the local business and audit circles. Such a tax would be a natural progression to the VAT introduced in 2018 – but it was events at the global level that might have speeded up the process of introduction of a corporate tax. The UAE’s corporate tax rate is the lowest in the Gulf – Qatar is at 10 per cent, Oman and Kuwait at 15 per cent, and Saudi Arabia at 20. In October last, leading global economies moved towards a minimum corporate tax rate. As many as 136 countries had entered an agreement to impose a minimum tax on large multinational corporations operating across national borders. The fact that the UAE’s corporate tax regime will come into effect from June 1, 2023 gives businesses – and all concerned – ample time to prepare. “There is usually a surprise element when most governments plan on introducing any kind of tax,” said Atik Munshi, Managing Partner at Enterprise House, a consultancy. “So, a window of a year should actually be sufficient for business houses to plan. “It would have been even better if more