Oman Confirms No VAT In 2018

by Lorys Charalambous, Tax-News.com, Cyprus

27 December 2017

Oman has officially stated it will not be joining the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia in introducing the agreed Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) value-added tax until at least 2019.

Both the UAE and Saudi Arabia are to introduce VAT from January 1, 2018, but the reform has been held up in the parliaments of the remaining countries of the GCC bloc: Kuwait, Bahrain, and Qatar. Kuwait is expected to soon make a similar announcement to Oman.

The GCC VAT was agreed between the six-member bloc in 2017, to diversify their revenue bases away from oil revenues. It features a five percent headline rate and a broad base, with some discretion provided to countries in determining exemptions and zero-rated items within the bounds set by the GCC agreement.

In announcing the delay via Oman's state broadcaster, the Government said it would proceed with the sin tax on unhealthy beverages and sin taxes from the middle of 2018.

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