The State of Qatar, alongside the Arab Republic of Egypt, signed an agreement to eliminate double taxation, especially in regards to the income tax, in order to prevent and eliminate tax evasion and avoidance. The agreement was signed during a high-level meeting held between H. E. Sheikh / Khalid bin Khalifa bin Abdulaziz Al Thani, Prime Minister and Minister of Interior and His Excellency Dr. Mustafa Kamal Madbouly, Chairman of the Council of Ministers in the Arab Republic of Egypt, at the Emiri Diwan.
H. E. & Mr. / Ali bin Ahmed Al Kuwari, the Qatari Minister of Finance, and his counterpart, H.E. Dr. / Mohamed Ahmed Mohamed Maait, the Egyptian Minister of Finance, signed an agreement to eliminate double taxation with regards the income tax, in order to eliminate tax evasion.
This agreement is a legal framework for defining tax relations between the governments of the two countries and aims to eliminate double taxation and prevent tax evasion, in addition to facilitating and encouraging investments and trade exchange, increasing investment opportunities between the two countries through individuals and corporations and providing them with protection and strengthening international standards of transparency through the exchange of financial information.
The agreement also includes terms related to international maritime and air transportation, joint ventures, dividends, interests and royalties, which comes in accordance with strategies that aim to strengthen bilateral economic relations between the governments of the two countries.
The agreement also includes a number of advantages, the most important of which is the exemption of profits resulting from the operation of ships or aircraft in international transport from tax and setting a ceiling for imposing the tax on dividends not exceeding 5% of the total amount of dividends, if the beneficiary owns no less than 10% of the company's distributed capital. The agreement also exempts government entities from tax on dividends and interest and exempts capital gains from disposing of shares listed in the stock market.
It is worth noting that the State of Qatar has signed no less than 90 tax agreements with brotherly and friendly countries to expand the scope of investments and trade exchange, and the State of Qatar is currently conducting a number of negotiations with countries that hold priority for Qatari investment entities.