The Ministry of Finance (MoF) of the United Arab Emirates (UAE) has issued the highly anticipated UAE Corporate Tax Legislation, Federal Decree-Law No. 47 of 2022 on the Taxation of Corporations and Businesses.
This milestone development follows an announcement made earlier this year that the UAE planned to introduce a Federal Corporate Tax regime effective for financial years starting on or after 1 June 2023.
In light of this our tax experts held a webinar on Thursday, 15 December 2022 at 2:00pm (UAE time) where they discussed the key highlights of the legislation and the next steps businesses should be considering at this stage.
Speakers
Alex Law
As the ME M&A and Government and Public Services Tax Leader for Deloitte Middle East, Alex led many complex tax advisory and compliance engagements with large multinationals, regional SWFs and family owned businesses with particular focus on M&A transactions and tax structuring. His focus is on anticipating client needs in a dynamic market and delivering high-value quality professional services; and attracting, developing and retaining a team of high-performing professionals. Alex has over 20 years of experience with Deloitte and has worked in Deloitte offices in UK, Central Europe and the UAE, where he is now based. Alex spent 6 years in London’s REHL tax practice prior to relocating in 2008 to head up Deloitte’s Real Estate and M&A tax practice in Romania, as part of the Central Europe cluster. During his time at Deloitte, Alex has gained significant experience working with leading International clients, advising them on transactional work, cross border tax issues, group restructuring, development of internal tax policy and strategy as well as providing tax compliance support services. Alex is a Chartered Accountant and a fellow member of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales. He also holds a Bachelor of Science (BSc) Honours degree from Durham University, UK. Alex joined Deloitte from Morgan Stanley Investment bank in 2002 and previously also worked at Goldman Sachs International in London. Alex has also been listed in Euromoney’s 2022 Tax Advisors Guide as a Leading Tax Advisor for the United Arab Emirates.
Muhammad Bahemia
Muhammad is the leader of the Tax practice at Deloitte Middle East with leadership responsibility for a large number of tax professionals. He is also a member of the NSE Board of Directors and serves as an active advisory partner for several of Deloitte's largest multinational and local clients. Previously, Muhammad served as the Middle East Business Tax Leader, where he oversaw the expansion of his practice across the GCC. Muhammad also acted as the ME Tax Chief Operating Officer (COO) where he oversaw all aspects of operations, in addition to his role as Chair of the DME Partners Council. He joined Deloitte & Touche in the Special Services Division (SSD) Office in December 1992 and has spent over 31 years of experience in advisory, audit and tax. His experience covers a large number of industries, particularly oil and gas, construction, utilities, financial services and consumer business. Muhammad is a Fellow Member of the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England & Wales (FCA).
Jan Roderick van Abbe
Jan is a Partner based within the International and M&A Tax team in Deloitte, Dubai. He has over 15 years of experience within direct and international taxation and transferred from Deloitte Singapore (and Deloitte Switzerland previously) to the UAE in 2016. Jan has substantial experience with inbound investments and structuring, providing tax and transfer pricing advisory in relation the relocation/set-up of companies, transfer of functions (IP and holding company), set-up of principal structures, permanent establishment analysis, application of tax holidays, tax planning around cash repatriation, treaty application and transfer pricing. Jan also has experience in negotiating and obtaining many advance tax rulings with the Swiss tax authorities Jan advises Middle Eastern multinationals regarding their legal and tax structures taking into account the developments arising from BEPS/economic substance requirements and other political developments focusing on risk management and asset protection. Jan leads Deloitte’s Economic Substance and Pillar 1&2 service offering across the region. Jan is regularly speaking at tax event such as IFA on international tax developments. Jan is a Swiss Certified Tax Expert and holds a Master’s degree in law from the University St. Gallen (HSG).
