Other BriefingsTax and Reporting Obligations in the GCC: What MNEs Need to Know in 2026
As the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) shifts from historically low-tax regimes to more sophisticated tax systems aligned with global norms, multinational enterprises face a new era of compliance, reporting, and strategic planning. Key developments, including Qatar’s tax portal reforms, the formal adoption of an OECD-aligned global minimum tax (Pillar Two), and dynamic tax reform in Egypt, illustrate how tax regimes are becoming both more rigorous and more investor-oriented. For multinationals operating across the region, understanding these changes is essential to managing risk, optimising effective tax rates, and sustaining long-term regional strategies.
GCC regional tax transformation Historically, GCC economies offered attractive tax environments with limited corporate tax regimes largely centred on hydrocarbon sectors and foreign-owned enterprises. This simplicity supported inward investment and competitive positioning. However, over the last decade, regional governments have gradually diversified their tax frameworks, introducing value-added tax (VAT), corporate income taxes, and a suite of reporting obligations that reflect broader global trends in tax transparency and anti-base-erosion policy.
This shift is not solely punitive, it mirrors international commitments to modernise tax systems and reflects the region’s ambitions to diversify government revenue away from hydrocarbons while maintaining competitiveness for foreign direct investment (FDI). Emerging digital portals, evolving documentation requirements, and compliance expectations all form part of this new tax landscape.
Qatar’s tax portal and reporting ecosystem
The Dhareeba tax portal
One of the most significant recent developments in Qatar’s tax administration is the expansion of the Dhareeba tax portal: an integrated digital platform operated by the General Tax Authority (GTA) that centralises tax registration, filings, payments, and declarations for businesses. Through Dhareeba, companies can register for tax, file corporate tax returns, process withholding tax obligations, and access exemptions or incentives. Importantly, Dhareeba is positioned not just as a compliance utility but as a strategic tool for multinational reporting. It offers services including:
- Tax registration and return submission;
- Payment and refund processing;
- Exemption and objection management;
- Declarations, including withholding tax and excise tax obligations; and
- Notifications and legal updates.
This digital centralization streamlines compliance and reduces administrative friction for multinationals, but also increases scrutiny and expectations for timely and accurate reporting.
Compliance incentives and extensions
To support compliance and ease initial burdens on businesses, Qatar’s GTA has introduced time-bound initiatives such as a 100 percent tax penalty exemption for compliant taxpayers and extensions on filing deadlines for tax returns. These measures aim to enhance voluntary compliance and reduce the cost of adjusting to an evolving tax regime. However, companies must actively engage with the portal and ensure data accuracy. Updates to the withholding tax declaration process, requiring linked contract reporting through Dhareeba, highlight the growing complexity of compliance requirements for global groups.
GCC implementation of Pillar Two: The Global Minimum Tax
What Pillar Two means The OECD/G20 Inclusive Framework on Base Erosion and Profit Shifting (BEPS) introduced a two-pillar solution to modernise international corporate taxation. Pillar Two, specifically, implements a global minimum corporate tax rate of 15 percent for multinational enterprises (MNEs) with consolidated revenues exceeding US$800 million. The purpose is to reduce harmful tax competition and curb profit shifting by ensuring MNEs pay a minimum effective tax rate in each jurisdiction they operate.
Although Pillar One (reallocating taxing rights based on market jurisdictions) remains in flux, Pillar Two’s global minimum tax has advanced significantly, with implementation timelines spanning 2024–2025 across multiple countries and regions GCC response and domestic minimum top-up taxes In the GCC, several jurisdictions have proactively introduced domestic minimum top-up tax (DMTT) legislation aligned with Pillar Two, reflecting regional commitment to global tax standards:
- Qatar: Through Law No. 22 of 2024, Qatar has formally adopted the Pillar Two framework into domestic law, incorporating both an Income Inclusion Rule (IIR) and DMTT for in-scope MNEs, effective from fiscal years starting January 1, 2025. Multinationals operating in or from Qatar now face compliance obligations tied to a minimum 15 percent effective tax rate, applying to constituent entities of large groups with qualifying revenues.
- Bahrain: Bahrain has introduced its own domestic minimum top-up tax regime effective from Jauary 1, 2025 for multinationals meeting the revenue threshold, making it one of the first Gulf states to legislate such a rule. Companies should assess their scope and prepare impact analyses, as Bahrain’s legislation directly implements a 15 percent global minimum rate.
- United Arab Emirates: The UAE’s domestic minimum top-up tax rules, effective for financial years from January 1, 2025, are structured to comply with the OECD’s GloBE model rules, though the Income Inclusion Rule is not currently adopted. The UAE approach reflects an effort to balance international compliance with domestic tax strategy.
This regional trajectory reflects incremental but significant tax regime maturation, signalling to multinationals that low-tax environments are now part of a globally coordinated structure, not an open opportunity for base erosion.
Egypt’s second tax reform package: A comparator beyond the GCC
While the GCC adapts to global tax norms, Egypt’s second package of tax reforms and investment incentives illustrates how countries beyond the Gulf are recalibrating tax systems to stimulate investment and ease compliance burdens. Announced in December 2025, Egypt’s reform package includes:
- A White List system that provides priority services to compliant taxpayers, including expedited VAT refunds within one week;
- A shift from capital gains tax to stamp duty for institutional stock market investments;
- Reductions in VAT on medical equipment from 14 percent to 5 percent;
- Extended VAT payment suspensions on medical machinery and equipment for four years;
- Digital services and tax consultation platforms to enhance procedural ease; and
- Incentives encouraging capital market activity and company listings.
Complementary measures reported separately include allowances to deduct interest on external loans for firms engaged in strategic projects and exemptions designed to prevent double taxation: steps aimed at fostering a more investor-friendly climate. These reforms show an alternative path: actively using tax policy to reduce compliance frictions and incentivise economic participation — while also modernising tax administration.
Strategic implications for Middle East MNEs
Centralized reporting and compliance systems
With digital portals like Qatar’s Dhareeba and new disclosure requirements tied to global minimum tax rules, multinationals must establish centralized tax governance frameworks. These frameworks should integrate transfer pricing documentation, group-level reporting, local filing timelines, and global effective tax rate computations.
Data management and internal controls
The complexity of reporting, including linking withholding tax to contract submissions and adhering to Pillar Two reporting prerequisites, requires robust data management systems capable of tracking tax-relevant information across jurisdictions. Failure to meet these requirements can result in penalties or increased audit risks.
Structuring for effective tax rates
As jurisdictions adopt Pillar Two or similar standards, multinationals may need to reassess their entity structures and intercompany pricing to ensure compliance with minimum effective tax rates. While Pillar Two aims to standardise base taxation, thoughtful structuring remains critical to manage cumulative tax costs.
Leveraging incentives and policy transparencies
Regions like Egypt exemplify how tax reforms can contain incentives aimed at reducing business costs and accelerating refunds. Multinationals should proactively seek and utilise such programmes to optimise cash flow, particularly where strategic sectors (for instance, medical equipment, capital markets, strategic projects) receive targeted support.
2026 outlook and next steps
The GCC’s tax evolution will continue throughout 2026 and beyond, as digital portals mature, reporting obligations expand, and Pillar Two-aligned measures are refined. Across the region, tax authorities are likely to continue offering guidance, extensions, and penalty relief measures to ease transition burdens, but they will also expect strong compliance discipline from global companies. Simultaneously, non-GCC partners such as Egypt will pursue hybrid models of reform that combine compliance facilitation with direct investor incentives.
For multinational groups, a proactive compliance strategy (backed by technology-enabled reporting and active engagement with local tax authorities) will be a defining factor in successful regional operations.
Conclusion
The GCC and neighbouring Middle Eastern tax landscapes are no longer characterised by implicit low-tax simplicity. Instead, they are rapidly converging with global tax norms that emphasise transparency, digital compliance, and minimum effective tax rates. Qatar’s tax portal, expanding Pillar Two frameworks, and Egypt’s investor-oriented reforms illustrate a shared regional imperative: to balance global integration with competitiveness.
For multinational groups that intend to invest, report, and thrive across multiple Middle Eastern jurisdictions, understanding this nuanced transformation and aligning operational, legal, and financial strategies accordingly is essential. Only by embracing these tax and reporting obligations as part of a broader corporate governance agenda can companies sustainably navigate the opportunities and obligations of this evolving region.
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Middle East Briefing is one of five regional publications under the Asia Briefing brand. It is supported by Dezan Shira & Associates, a pan-Asia, multi-disciplinary professional services firm that assists foreign investors throughout Asia, including through offices in Dubai (UAE). Dezan Shira & Associates also maintains offices or has alliance partners assisting foreign investors in China (including the Hong Kong SAR), Indonesia, Singapore, Malaysia, Mongolia, Japan, South Korea, Nepal, The Philippines, Sri Lanka, Thailand, Italy, Germany, Bangladesh, Australia, United States, and United Kingdom and Ireland.
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