(MENAFN- The Peninsula)
Lani Rose R Dizon / The Peninsula
Businesses in Qatar have been urged to prepare for the expected implementation of value added tax (VAT) in the country. Experts from global consulting firm PwC Middle East who spoke at a webinar hosted by the Chartered Accountants of Sri Lanka in Qatar, recently, said business organisations across Qatar need to conduct VAT impact assessment even before the government issues the final legislation. The PwC experts also stressed that Qatar is now VAT ready in terms of the country's legislation and system readiness.
'Qatar has started preparing for the VAT implementation back in 2016, around the same time the country has signed the GCC VAT framework. In terms of readiness, Qatar is ready when it comes to regulations, (IT) system readiness, and the General Tax Authority's (GTA) ability to have a team on the ground to deal with tax payers, said Rania Ibrahim, Manager for Tax and Legal Services at PwC Middle East.
Jennifer O' Sullivan, Partner for Tax and Legal Services at PwC Middle East, advised companies to be VAT ready at least six to nine months before its actual implementation.
She added: 'VAT really impacts across the organisation. It's not just a finance function issue. Organisations really need to start looking at VAT implementation now at this point, if they still have not done so. It's not a case of if, it's when. It's better to be prepared. Start your impact assessment; at least in that sense you will be in a much stronger position to deal with the huge changes that will happen in the organisation in a timely manner. Tax Authorities are becoming sophisticated in the region, and paying the right VAT is critical.
Having done VAT implementations across the region, Sullivan reiterated that ideally, 3 months before going live, businesses need to be able to test systems for accuracy and sensibility checks, and final training brief has been done for the staff.
With the massive changes expected to occur due to VAT implementation, she added that organisations need to have a steering and working committee where each department will have full accountability in completing tasks to enable VAT implementation and to ensure the business is ready on time.
'Because of the nature of the tax being a transaction-based tax, it impacts each and every single transaction of what a business does. Each and every single one of the revenue items will need to be allocated to the correct treatment to ensure you are charging the correct amount of VAT on to your customer, she added.
During the event, Anukool Joshi, Indirect Tax Manager at PwC Middle East, also said that special treatment is expected for the oil and gas industry and businesses located in the Qatar Free Zones when it comes to VAT implementation in Qatar.
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