The Middle East

The current tax rules in Qatar are governed by Law No. 21 of 2009, which came into effect on January 1, 2010. The executive regulations – effective from July 1, 2011 – contain the detailed rules related to the administration of the tax regime.

The international tax environment has been evolving rapidly in the last two years, with a number of changes affecting the GCC states. With increased budgetary requirements, sustained lower oil prices and heightened government spending requirements, the pursuit of new income sources in the region was widely anticipated.

Qatar’s organised retail sector benefits from the country’s high levels of wealth and is currently going through a period of rapid expansion, with gross leasable area (GLA) expected to nearly double in 2017 alone thanks to a strong pipeline of mall openings. In April 2017 two of the largest of these, Mall of Qatar and Doha Festival City,...

Qatar’s high levels of wealth and car ownership, and its large number of malls, together make the country well suited to the development of large hypermarkets. The sector has been growing rapidly in recent years, with numerous homegrown, regional and international brands active in the industry or intending to launch their maiden stores shortly...

Qatar is a major player in the Middle Eastern and international media industries, thanks in large part to its status as the home of Al Jazeera. The country is also an important regional advertising market, particularly in regard to newspaper spend, and is emerging as a notable supporter of international cinema.

Although newspapers have traditionally been the main focus for advertising spend, as Qataris become more open to social media the potential for a shift to online is clear. Qatar has a high internet penetration rate, growing from 70% in 2014 to 97% in 2017, according to the Northwestern University in Qatar “Media Use in the Middle East 2017” (...