Muscat: The Oman Tax Authority and Bank Muscat organised a seminar on Value Added Tax (VAT) to raise the awareness of corporates and entrepreneurs on the VAT regulations and liabilities.
The seminar encompasses a number of topics, most prominently; the concept of VAT, tax rates, taxable registrants, input tax calculations, tax return, tax payment method, tax records and books, in addition to tax refund and deferral of payment of tax. The seminar also witnessed a remarkable interaction where the attendees ' queries were answered. The attendees were informed about tax laws and the most important electronic services that allow taxable entities process their transactions and submit returns on the specified dates.
Specialists from the Authority stressed the importance of raising tax awareness among the institutional and corporate sector of tax laws and introducing them to the most important developments of tax legislation. They explained the importance of submitting tax returns on time through the electronic portal of the Authority, where most of the services are available online to make it easier for the taxable institutions complete their tax transactions from their place in Oman.
On the occasion, Ibrahim bin Khamis Al Balushi, Senior Assistant General Manager, SMEs, Bank Muscat, said: “Bank Muscat attaches great importance to supporting corporates and developing small and medium-sized enterprises. It is keen to organise workshops and seminars hosting reputed global expertise in order to help customers get well-informed about the economic trends and latest business-related outlooks, as part of Oman Vision 2040 objectives.”
Al Balushi added that in July 2021, the bank partnered with leading full-service audit, tax and business advisory firm, Morison Muscat Charted Accountants, to help Bank Muscat and Meethaq SME customers comply with the Value Added Tax. He said: “This come as part of the bank’s continuous support to corporates and Small and Medium Enterprises (SME) customers and help them adapt to this taxation concept, which was newly introduced to many local businesses.”
Bank Muscat endevours to organise specialised workshops and seminars with the aim of exchanging information and experiences in various fields related to the work of institutions as well as businesses related to the banking sector. During the past period, it has organised many events and initiatives, among of which is the allocation of a help desk for registration of companies in the tax system, in addition to providing technical advice and support on the subject of VAT by experts in this field. The bank also organised special programmes and workshops for some of its employees through Jadara Academy in cooperation with the most prestigious educational institutions in the world.