GCC Indirect Tax Digest

Oman developments

VAT registration period closes for businesses with OMR 250,000 to OMR 499,000 in annual supplies

The period to apply for Value Added Tax (VAT) registration in Oman for businesses with an annual value of supplies between OMR 250,000 and OMR 499,000 closed on 31 August 2021. Such businesses are expected to have an effective date of registration of 1 October 2021.

Businesses with supplies within this range which have not yet applied for VAT registration should do so as a matter of priority.

Businesses with annual supplies between OMR 38,500 and OMR 249,999 will be able to apply for registration between 1 December 2021 and 28 February 2022, with an effective date of registration of 1 April 2022.

The full registration timeline is as follows:

KSA developments

ZATCA publishes directory of e-invoicing solution providers

The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) Zakat, Tax and Customs Authority (ZATCA) has published a directory of electronic invoicing (e-invoicing) solution providers.

The indicative list sets out providers which have passed the qualification process and criteria for e-invoicing in KSA.

However, ZATCA states on its website that taxpayers may choose any e-invoicing solution provider, as long as it is compliant with the e-invoicing requirements, even if the provider is not included in the indicative list.

ZATCA also specifically states that the list is not legally binding, does not indicate formal approval from ZATCA, and is only intended to provide guidance to taxpayers.

The first phase of electronic invoicing (e-invoicing) is expected to be implemented in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) by the end of this year.

As previously announced, there will be two major phases: (1) the Generation phase and (2) the Integration phase.

The go-live date for the first phase is 4 December 2021, and the go-live date for the second phase is 1 January 2023. The latter will be implemented in a phased roll-out, and ZATCA will inform the targeted/selected taxpayers six months before integrating with the Authority’s system.

The technical specifications documents referred to in the Implementation Resolution such as the Data Dictionary, XML Implementation Standard and Security Implementation Standards have also been released. Further, ZATCA has also issued the e-invoicing simplified guideline and FAQs, as well as the detailed e-invoicing guideline.

Businesses in KSA should take action as a matter of priority to ensure that they are in compliance with the e-invoicing requirements by the applicable deadlines. There are now only 80 days remaining until the go-live date for the first phase, and as such, businesses should ensure that they are in a compliant position by the deadline to avoid penalties for non-compliance.

ZATCA the Customs Declaration Management “CDM Department is now merged with the Post Clearance Audit “PCA” Department and where any importer in KSA “companies” would need to obtain a copy of Customs Bayans, will be able to submit a request to PCA Department.

There is a process to request copy of Customs Bayans and the ZATCA is now charging a fee of SR 100 for each copy of Bayan.

Deloitte is now able to provide such service to the companies and request Customs Bayans copies on their behalf from the PCA Department.
 

UAE developments

FTA publishes Decision on marks for Designated Excise Goods

The United Arab Emirates (UAE) Federal Tax Authority (FTA) has published a Decision relating to the Marking of Tobacco and Tobacco Products Scheme (also known as the Digital Tax Stamps (DTS) scheme).

FTA Decision No. 3 of 2021 sets out that marks with a new design shall be approved, and approval is withdrawn from marks with the old design. The Decision does not detail the changes made to the design of the marks.

The Decision sets out the following timeline:

By 1 October 2021, requests for marks with the new design must be received from local markets and duty-free markets in arrival terminals.·        

By 1 January 2022, requests for marks with the new design must be received from duty-free markets in departure terminals.

The DTS scheme is intended to regulate the sale of tobacco products and avoid tax evasion and the illegal trade of these products.
 

Egypt developments

The ministry of finance of Egypt issued resolution No. 430 of 2021 issuing the executive regulations of the Customs Law issued by Law No. 207 of 2020 in Arabic.

Egypt seeks to simplify and facilitate procedures and rules for the trade and investment in Egypt. Therefore, The Egyptian Customs has released the new Customs Law No. (207) of 2020, then the Minister of Finance decree No. (38) of 2021 was issued regarding the ACI system (Advanced Cargo Information), which provides business automation services to handle imported goods prior to their arrival at Egyptian ports.

This decree was issued to clarify the pre-registration of shipments procedures, introducing the e-signature “e-stamp” used in the importation documents and the new steps for importing products.

Key points of the developments based in the new law

• Submit the digital documents for the imported goods to the customs authority through the (single window) platform before shipping them to the country in order to get the initial customs registration number ”ACID” on the ACI system (Advanced Cargo Information), which provides business automation services to handle imported goods prior to their arrival at Egyptian ports.
• Notify the importer with the ”ACID” customs registration number to be recorded in the shipping documents relating to the imported goods.
• Using the e-signature in the data entry and the electronic registration of the data and documents, including the invoice, when registering the customs data for the
  pre-registration system ”ACI”. 
• The accreditation of the Approved Economic Operator (“AEO”) system, which is a great plan to expedite further the customs clearance of shipments and reduce the number of physical inspection for AEO importer of record members.
• The introduction of a unified set of rules that includes the procedures of the customs and exemption laws in one single streamlined regulation.

This Decree was issued to facilitate the trading between Egypt and other countries throughout facilitating and unifying the customs release operations and processes, beside handling the import documents and procedures electronically. In addition to the new customs rights and obligations.

This digest is for information purposes only and should not be construed as advice. It does not necessarily cover every aspect of the topics with which it deals. You should not act upon the contents of this alert without receiving formal advice on your particular circumstances.