OABC hosts update event on new legislation in Oman

Muscat: The Oman American Business Center (OABC) organised a legal update event for its members and special guests, in collaboration with Clyde & Co. and KPMG, at the Intercontinental Hotel Muscat on Wednesday, March 20th.
Legal experts of Clyde & Co offered detailed presentations on recent changes to legislation in Oman. Taimur Malik, Regional Partner, together with Associates Fatma Makki and Zahir Al Sulaimani, discussed the newly adopted 2019 Oman Commercial Companies Law.
Marla Valdez, Board Member of the OABC and Managing Partner at Clyde & Co Oman, covered details of the Minerals Wealth Law. Executive Regulations to the Tax Law were presented by Ashok Hariharan, Partner and Head of Tax at KPMG Lower Gulf, and Meenakshi Sundaram, Tax Director of KPMG in Oman.
“The Oman tax landscape is undergoing a considerable change to not only deal with the need to enhance tax revenues, but also to cope with the global tax developments, including the need for companies having offshore structures to have economic substance,” said Hariharan, following his presentation.
“It is also important for businesses to consider the possible implications of the recent inclusion of Oman in the blacklist re-leased by EU, and the consequent likely outcome of Oman agreeing to introduce legislation to facilitate automatic exchange of information with other countries,” he added.
Sundaram’s presentation pointed out that “The recent changes to the Executive Regulations to the Tax Law provides much needed clarification on several tax matters, including the most important withholding tax rules. Businesses should carefully evaluate the tax implications and ensure appropriate compliance with the regulations.”
“We are thankful to OABC Premium Member company Clyde & Co, not only for sharing their expertise and knowledge, but for recommending these topics in the first place, rightly expecting that the Oman business community would have questions about recent changes,” said Rebecca Olson, Executive Director at the OABC.
“KPMG has done an excellent job on the tax side, clearly outlining new regulations for our company members working in a variety of sectors. We thank both companies for their fantastic work and sponsorship for the event,” Rebecca Olson added.
Marla Valdez, Managing Partner at Clyde & Co in Muscat, said: "The recent adoption of the new laws demonstrates the Government's understanding that Oman's legal and regulatory framework needs to evolve in order to attract new investments, while also protecting the public's interest. Investments need certainty, and the mining industry for instance had somewhat stalled while investors waited for the new law to be adopted. This is a welcome development and we expect to see further announcements on the regulatory front to support Oman's Vision 2040."