Tuesday 02 / July / 2024
Muscat: Under the patronage of Nasser bin Khamis Al Jashmi, Chairman of the Tax Authority, the Omani Tax Forum was launched, which was organised by the Tax Authority in cooperation with Ernst & Young company, one of the leading accounting companies, and in the presence of more than 300 persons representing major companies operating in the Sultanate of Oman.
The forum opened with a speech delivered by Said bin Ahmed Al-Shanfari, Director General of the Second Directorate General of Taxes on behalf of the Tax Authority. He welcomed the attendees and confirmed that the Tax Authority always seeks to strengthen ties and community partnerships. Therefore, he emphasized that this forum is one of these partnerships which aim to exchange experiences and opinions to enhance the development of the tax system in the Sultanate of Oman and meet the desires of taxpayers through their experiences in the tax field internally and externally. Then the vision and mission of the Tax Authority were inaugurated.
Three working papers were reviewed during the forum: the first paper was presented by Ahmed Al-Aisari - Head of Tax Consulting Services in the Middle EastRegion and North Africa at Ernst & Young - under the title “The Most Important Updates to Tax Practice,” during which he reviewed the global and regional tax trends and developments, Gulf initiatives and international commitments.
The first paper also discussed “Main Challenges Regarding Tax Practices in the Sultanate of Oman”, presented by Alkesh Joshi - Tax Leader at Ernst & Young -; and included several topics, most notably the Omani tax environment and tax assessment procedures.
The second paper was presented by Mtiul Patel - Director General of Indirect Taxes, and Muzoon Al Jabriya - Assistant Director in the Indirect Taxes Department, entitled “Developments in Indirect Taxes and Electronic Invoicing.” This paper reviewed the most prominent updates in the field of applying indirect taxes in the Gulf Cooperation Council countries and updates to VAT and excise tax in the Sultanate of Oman. In addition to reviewing the tax departments in taxable institutions and how taxes are managed.
In the second paper, Sarah Al-Harthi, Manager of the Indirect Taxes Department at Ernst & Young, discussed the rapidly changing e-invoicing tax landscape, and global and regional electronic invoicing systems.
The third paper was entitled “Transfer Pricing and BEPS 2.0 Rules,” presented by Guy Taylor - Partner in the Middle East Region and North Africa at Ernst & Young, Transfer Pricing Sectionin the International Tax and Transaction Services Department - and Qasim Talajwala - Manager of International Tax and Transaction Services at Ernst & Young, where they discussed transfer pricing developments across Middle East region and North Africa as well as transfer pricing developments in the Sultanate of Oman. In addition to a review of combating tax base erosion and profit shifting (BEPS 2.0) as the second pillar, and the developments of the second pillar for GCC countries.
The forum concluded with an exchange of views and proposals to develop the tax work by taking advantage of modern systems to implement them in the next stage. Al Jashmi thanked the attendees for accepting the invitation and starting meaningful discussions, valuing their permanent cooperation with the Tax Authority as a major partner in the success of tax work.
