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3 months ago
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Doha, February 27 (QNA) - HE President of the General Tax Authority (GTA), Khalifa bin Jassim Al Jaham Al Kuwari, underscored the GTA's enduring commitment to enhancing business climate and expediting the procedures for taxpayers through launching creative initiatives to support national economy and realize the Qatar National Vision 2030.
Speaking to Qatar News Agency (QNA), His Excellency highlighted that the authority has launched an initiative for 100% exemption from financial penalties effective from Mar.1 2025, emphasizing that all GTA's initiatives intend to support the investment environment in Qatar and accelerate businesses growth in sync with laws and regulations enforced in the State of Qatar.
Through this initiative the GTA strives to ease the financial burden on taxpayers and help the firms rectify their tax status as an extraordinary opportunity that offers a multitude of merits for them, primarily exemption from financial fines, His Excellency highlighted.
He outlined that the initiative would alleviate the accumulated financial burdens for taxpayers, correct their tax statues and update their data through their online registration on the Dhareeba Portal, in addition to submitting tax declarations and enhancing their compliance with the enforced regulations.
His Excellency pointed out that the foremost value of this initiative entails forging a close cooperation with a wide diversity of social and economic segments to further build a rock-solid relationship based on mutual trust, affirming that all steps are meticulously learned to enhance this trust and achieve all interests, in addition to fostering an enduring partnership with companies and taxpayers to build a prosperous economic future for the State of Qatar.
The duration of the financial penalty exemption initiative has been set for six months, beginning on Mar. 1, 2025, His Excellency noted, indicating that applications can be submitted through the portal, with approval granted if all requirements are met within one business day.
He highlighted that the authority has set a series of regulations for this initiative that ensure effective and regulatory realization of the objectives of this initiative, in addition to maximizing the benefits for all parties, with particular emphasis on streamlining the entire taxpayer process.
The most salient regulations include registration on the online Dhareeba portal to update the data registered on GTA to ensure information accuracy, and submission of all required tax declarations and pending financial data, His Excellency highlighted. He stated that firms should pledge to adhere to submitting these declarations and repaying the due taxes by the set deadlines over the next three years.
HE Al Kuwari emphasized that each submitted request would be studied separately during the valid duration of this initiative, with applicants being notified of approval via their accounts registered on the portal. He indicated that the key objective of this initiative is to advance the investment, optimize the business climate and encourage the establishment of projects, in pursuit of settling the issues facing firms and taxpayers alike, something that would substantially support the advancement of business environment and national economy in Qatar.
The initiative, in question, supports the sustainable domestic economy through the provision of an efficient and transparent tax system in commensurate with the third National Development Strategy 2024-2030 goals, along with the state plans for economic diversification, he said.
HE Al Kuwari underlined that such an imitative would encourage the direct foreign investment as efforts will continue to develop tax mechanisms that ensure an equilibrium between tax compliance and support businesses, thereby making this system a strong pillar for economic growth in the State of Qatar.
The GTA's corner that was established at Landmark Mall in February 2025, came as an extension of its campaign recently launched to continue until April 2025, His Excellency said, adding that such a corner had been active at Place Vendome Qatar and currently operates at Qatar University and is set to continue its operations at other commercial complexes until the deadline for submitting tax declarations, to achieve several intended objectives.
His Excellency pointed out that the prime objective is to proceed with the efforts aimed at enhancing tax compliance, emphasizing that the GTA's staff would provide support while taxpayers are in their locations, in pursuit of fostering direct communications with them and building confidence.
He highlighted that the implementation of amendments to the income tax law is proceeding smoothly, with the GTA executing the established plan, affirming that the focus is placed on educating multinational firms about key amendments and requirements, while providing necessary workshops to ensure compliance with the new law.
Tangible steps have been taken, including the development of executive regulations and necessary electronic systems, His Excellency noted, indicating that the amendments to the income tax law exclusively target multinational companies with annual revenues exceeding 750 million euros, whether they are Qatari companies with foreign branches or global firms with branches in Qatar.
These changes, he said, offer significant economic benefits, including protecting Qatari multinational companies from paying the 15% tax abroad, thereby retaining the tax share within Qatar to support the national economy and contribute to achieving the Qatar National Vision 2030, underlining that these amendments do not apply to individuals or small and medium-sized local firms operating in Qatar.
The initiative also offers global benefits, as it is part of Qatar's ongoing support for international efforts to combat tax base erosion, His Excellency stressed, highlighting that Qatar was among 140 countries that joined the G20 and OECD initiatives in October 2021 to implement the global tax rules under pillars one and two, in addition to addressing challenges posed by the digital economy and ensuring a global minimum tax for multinational firms.
His Excellency noted that the State of Qatar has recently hosted the 13th Meeting of the Committee of Heads and Directors of Tax Departments in the GCC Countries, which brought together tax leaders from the UAE, Bahrain, Saudi Arabia, Oman, Kuwait, as well as senior representatives from all GCC member states, alongside the Assistant Secretary for Economic and Development Affairs at the GCC Secretariat.
The meeting, he said, focused on enhancing cooperation, improving tax systems, sharing best practices, combating tax evasion, and developing a fairer, more transparent regional tax framework, in addition to the latest tax developments at both regional and global levels, as well as an overview of joint tax cooperation initiatives among GCC countries and ways to enhance tax systems to align with global economic trends and contribute to GCC economic integration.
He assured that GTA is committed to the continued convening of these meetings, which aim to establish unified tax coordination among GCC countries, thereby harmonizing perspectives and efforts in the tax domain. (QNA)
