Worldwide VAT, GST and Sales Tax Guide 2022
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Qatar is a Member State of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC). The GCC consists of Bahrain, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, and the United Arab Emirates. The GCC has agreed that VAT will be implemented by each Member State. At the time of preparing this chapter, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and Oman are the GCC Member States to have implemented VAT. Qatar has ratified the GCC VAT Agreement, and its expected implementation date is 1 January 2023. However, at the time of preparing this chapter, it has yet to officially confirm its implementation date and is therefore subject to change. The GCC Common VAT Agreement contains the main principles of the GCC VAT system and sets out the options that individual Member States may choose in terms of the VAT treatment applicable to certain supplies and business sectors. The options are primarily administrative, and where aspects are not dealt with by the GCC Common VAT Agreement, then each Member State may determine individually. At the time of preparing this chapter, the GCC Common VAT Agreement has no direct effect in the GCC Member States, except if the respective Member States’ domestic VAT law specifically refers to the provisions in the Common Agreement. The summary set out below is based on the GCC Common VAT Agreement.
A. At a glance Name of the tax Local name Date introduced Trading bloc membership Administered by VAT rates Standard Other
Value-added tax (VAT) Value-added tax (VAT) To be announced Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) Greater Arab Free Trade Area (GAFTA) General Tax Authority (GTA) and Qatar Financial Centre (QFC) Tax Department 5% Zero-rated (0%) and exempt
Q ATA R 1381
VAT number format VAT return periods Thresholds Registration Mandatory Voluntary Recovery of VAT by non-established businesses
To be confirmed Monthly or quarterly, to be confirmed USD100,000 (approx. QAR364,000) USD50,000 (approx. QAR182,000) Yes (there are provisions under the GCC VAT Framework Agreement that allow a VAT refund for nonresidents, subject to the satisfaction of the stipulated conditions)
Transitional provisions Each Member State shall outline in its domestic VAT law transitional provisions, which include the following: • VAT due on supplies of goods and services and the import and export of goods shall be effective from the date of the enforcement of the local VAT law in the Member State. • Each Member State shall determine the VAT registration deadline for taxable persons who are obliged to register from the date of the enforcement of the local VAT law. • Each Member State may ignore the date of the invoice or the date of the payment and consider the tax due date the same as the date of supply. This is regardless of any other relevant regulation. This includes cases where the tax invoice is issued, or payment is received, ahead of the date of the enforcement of the local VAT law, or ahead of the VAT registration date, and where the supply took place after this date. • For continuous supplies that are carried out partially ahead of the date of enforcement of the domestic VAT law, or ahead of the VAT registration date, and partially after this date, the part that is carried out before the date of enforcement or registration shall not be taxed.