Many businesses and high net worth individuals in Bahrain choose to set up branches or invest in nearby Qatar, taking advantage of the wealth of opportunities that the high GDP country has to offer.

Qatar has streamlined its regulations to attract more foreign investments in recent years and the income tax regime in Qatar is gaining more prominence as part of the process to diversify its revenue base away from hydrocarbons, said a report in the Gulf Daily News (GDN), our sister publication.

With this in mind, KPMG tax experts held a seminar at the Diplomat Radisson Blu Hotel, Residence and Spa in Manama to help Bahrain-based businesses and investors understand the obligations and expectations on them when investing in Qatar.

"It's essential that business owners and investors have a clear understanding of the tax regime of a country they choose to operate in to ensure that they are compliant with regulations and laws and are acting in an ethical way," KPMG in Qatar and Bahrain partner and head of tax and corporate services Craig Richardson said.

"But at the same time, understanding tax laws can also lead to opportunities for savings."

At the seminar, tax experts discussed practical and commercial aspects of income tax regulations as well as the approach of authorities in Qatar.

They also gave a high-level overview of the regulatory framework and typical legal and tax structures used for investing in Qatar. - TradeArabia News Service