About Altaf

Altaf has been ex-(Senior) Partner Tax, Advisory and Client Relations with two of the top 10 Consulting firms of GCC, and Co-Founder and Managing Partner for Oman practice of a top 10 Consulting firm in GCC in addition to being the ex-CEO of a Bank in a Central Asian country, having held multiple CFO roles and a serial entrepreneur.

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Overview of GCC

GCC Commercial Trends

GCC Commercial Trends

  • As of the end of 2023, 05 neobanks are disrupting the FinTech landscape of UAE, which is the highest number of neobanks in any GCC country.
  • Due to Russo-Ukrainian war, lately, GCC countries made windfall oil profits but the GCC countries have laid out their visions towards becoming non-oil economies.
  • E-commerce in GCC is witnessing a 15% CAGR and real estate is hyper-booming. Due to projects such as KSA’s Neom, Oman’s Duqm SEZ, GCC wide rise of Ai, FinTech and digital economy, and tectonic shifts in the tax landscape, GCC is importing global talent with an unprecedented speed and generosity.
  • GCC countries have placed emphasis on localization of workforce programs such as Saudization, Emiratization, Omanization, etc., and investing and regulating heavily around these programs.

GCC Tax Horizon Overview

  • New Corporate Tax Laws for Bahrain and Kuwait, and new VAT Laws for Kuwait and Qatar are on the horizon.
  • Transfer Pricing Regulations are now enacted both in KSA and UAE.
  • Pillar 2.0 public consultation phase has completed in UAE and soon the Global Minimum Tax rules will be issued.
  • GCC-wide businesses are evaluating pros and cons of KSA’s RHQ regime 2023 (30-year tax exemption) vs. UAE’s Qualifying
  • Free Zone Person regime (permanent zero rating of Qualifying Income) to reassess their tax positions.
  • UAE and KSA have promulgated new Corporate Tax laws during 2023.

GCC Corporate Law Developments

  • During 2021-22 UAE issued AML Law for Designated Non-Financial Businesses and Professions and Family Companies Law to support high networth families’ wealth.
  • In 2023, quite a few new laws have been issued in UAE at both Federal and Emirate levels including Involuntary Loss of Employment law.
  • During 2023 KSA issued new Civil Transactions law (“The Civil Code) that allows expats to protect their interests with more predictably than under the old law.
  • KSA also launched 04 Special Economic Zones in 2023 allowing expats to hold 100% ownership of the companies they form.

Global Accounting Landscape

  • Andreas Barckow, IASB Chair cites that IFRS 18 represents the most significant change to presentation of financial performance since IFRS were introduced more than 20 years ago, and that It’ll give investors better information about companies’ financial performance and consistent anchor points for their analysis.
  • While 2023 observed changes to certain accounting standards such as IAS 12, IAS 1, IAS 8, and effectuation of IFRS 17, Accounting technology providers, disrupted by Chat GPT boom, kept busy bringing RPA and Ai to the show. According to data from Tech.co, companies can experience 80% increased operational efficiency when certain finance business processes are automated, with a 366% ROI.
  • Outsourcing is in high demand in GCC due to localization of workforce programs.

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