Oman Planning to Adopt Value Added Tax in Early 2022 to Support Reserves

Oman is proposing to implement value added tax (VAT) in early 2022, in a bid to stabilise revenues, amidst plummeting oil prices.

According to media reports, a joint committee of the State Council and Shura Council sent a draft regulation on the 3rd of September 2020 for approval to the Sultan of Oman, Haitham bin Tariq Al Said, with the suggested date for VAT implementation set after January 2022.

With this proposal, Oman would be the fourth out of the six Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries to introduce VAT, as part of a 2016 VAT union agreement which involved the implementation of a harmonised 5% regime. So far, out of the GCC countries, only the United Arab Emirates, Bahra...