KPMG’s value added tax workshop to focus on practical problems

Muscat: KPMG will be conducting a workshop on value added tax (VAT) in Muscat at Crown Plaza on September 5, 2016, which will help businesses in Oman understand VAT, envisage its implications and the preparation required before its implementation on the target date of January 1, 2018.
The GCC states are working together to reach at a common framework agreement in the fourth quarter of this year on the principles of VAT to be followed by the GCC countries. This will then enable each GCC Country to issue its own legislation. Though the current framework agreement and the local Omani legislation are not yet available for public, the basic principles of VAT are common internationally except for a few policy decisions that are taken by each country to protect certain sections of their economy. In this coming workshop, KPMG intends to explain the most common principles of VAT and discuss certain industry specific issues with its clients.
Speaking on the forthcoming workshop, Ashok Hariharan, Partner & Head of Tax for KPMG mentioned that the seminar will bring to the attention of businesses, the challenges which they would need to address before and after the implementation of VAT. Businesses need to understand the principles of VAT, assess its preliminary impact on their business and start their preparation now in order to be ready to adopt VAT when implemented. The seminar will be delivered by Ashok Hariharan who has been involved in advising the Ministry of Finance, on designing and implementing a VAT system in Oman. KPMG VAT Leader, Robert Dalla Costa, will also be sharing his experience on industry specific issues and explain the VAT principles based on practical case studies. Robert Dalla Costa has assisted businesses with the implementation of Malaysia’s goods and services tax and he will be sharing his experience on the actions required to be taken by Omani businesses to be VAT ready. Costa was previously the vice- chairman of the OECD working party that has been developing international VAT guidelines for cross-border services and is a key contributor to many international forums on VAT/GST.
Ashok Hariharan pointed out that the workshop is expected to attract close to 100 participants belonging to various businesses and industries. KPMG is looking forward to interact with the business community in this workshop.