Authorities in Oman have followed the example of neighbouring countries, notably the UAE and Saudi Arabia, in introducing value added tax.
Oman has seen a rash of FECs and other attractions, including snow parks, opening in the past couple of years and they will be affected by the new tax.
Explaining the situation, the Omani Government said that the move is to help reduce the dependency upon oil revenue in the region and strengthen the self-sustainability of the economy.
Tax policies have also evolved rapidly in GCC countries (KSA, UAE, Oman, Bahrain, Qatar, Kuwait) and in 2016 all agreed to implement VAT and excise taxes.
In 2018, the UAE and KSA were first to introduce VAT, followed by Bahrain in 2019. Excise tax has also been introduced in KSA UAE, Bahrain, Qatar and Oman over the past few years.
Oman is bringing in VAT in 2021, becoming the fourth GCC country to introduce it under the unified agreement signed in 2016. The new tax will be introduced from April 2021. Goods and services bought or sold in, or imported into the sultanate will pay a standard rate of five per cent. Some supplies will be zero-rated and a few exempt.
