Qatar Praised At Tax Seminar

by Lorys Charalambous, Tax-News.com, Cyprus

13 December 2010

The general consensus at a seminar of business leaders held in Doha was that Qatar continues to be a significant player within the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) and on the global stage.

The event was PwC Qatar’s annual IFRS seminar, which is a regular forum for senior executives to meet and discuss important topics in the Qatari marketplace. It included discussions around challenges associated with the changes to IFRS (International Financial Reporting Standards) regulations and their significant impact, in particular, on mergers and acquisitions activity, led by John Molloy, Director, Assurance Services, Qatar, and K. Srinivasan, Partner, Assurance Services.

Declan Mordaunt, a PwC international tax partner, and Sajid Khan, tax director, looked at the impact across the globe of growing budget deficits and the need for countries to be more aggressive in collecting taxes and introducing new ways to increase tax payments. They contrasted this to the reduced tax burden for businesses in Qatar and the business-friendly incentives for entities setting up within the Qatar Financial Centre.

“IFRS is a key standard for all organizations to understand and adhere to, especially in countries such as Qatar where there is a significant amount of inbound and outbound investment activity,” commented Alaa El Soueni, PwC Country Senior Partner for Qatar.

“In order to support and enhance the quality of financial reporting in Qatar, we are reaching out to our clients to help them deepen their understanding of IFRS and tax laws. These tools are essential for successful business growth.”

El Soueni continued: “We have invested significantly in developing our capabilities in Qatar, having recently brought on-board a number of experienced partners and staff from PwC's global network, growing our presence here to 120 staff."

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