Deloitte is hosting VAT academies in Saudi Arabia and Bahrain this month to help equip businesses and keep clients abreast of all value added tax (VAT) developments in the GCC.

This follows the recent publishing of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) VAT Treaty by Saudi Arabia.

The Saudi Tax Authority has also published Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) on its website announcing it will introduce VAT as of January 1, 2018. The Bahrain Ministry of Finance earlier this year confirmed that Bahrain has also signed the GCC VAT Treaty.  

“The key question for businesses right now is how long will it take my business to get ready? If businesses have not already started, now is the time for them to start preparing and analyzing in detail what the implications of VAT implementation are,” explains Nauman Ahmed, partner and Middle East tax leader at Deloitte.

The VAT Academy in Saudi Arabia will be held on May 21 in Jeddah and May 22 in Riyadh. The VAT Academy for Bahrain, which will cover the Eastern Province of Saudi Arabia, will be held on May 23.
“The Deloitte VAT Academy is designed for legal, tax and finance experts who want to have a better understanding from experts on the VAT legal framework. The course is aimed at analysing the VAT framework and look further at the detailed consequences of the framework for a KSA and Bahraini business in its domestic dealings, and its business within the GCC and the wider world,” explained Justin Whitehouse, Middle East indirect tax leader at Deloitte. – TradeArabia News Service