On 23 May 2018, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) signed a Double Tax Treaty (the Treaty).

The UAE Minister of State for Financial Affairs and the KSA Minister of Finance signed the Treaty on behalf of the UAE and KSA, respectively, according to the KSA Ministry of Finance (KSA MoF).

According to the KSA MoF, the Treaty represents a stable legal framework that defines the tax relations between the treaty partner countries, with the objective of reducing the tax burden on investors and achieving transparency.

The signing of the Treaty is of major significance as it is the first bilateral treaty signed between two Gulf Cooperation Council Member States. Such Treaty is expected to facilitate the mutual flow of investments, increase trade and further strengthen the economic ties between the KSA and the UAE.

As Treaty partners, the two countries will commence their ratification process and relevant procedures prior to the Treaty entering into force.

EY will issue a detailed Tax Alert once the provisions of the Treaty are made publicly available.

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CONTACTS

For additional information with respect to this Alert, please contact the following:

Ernst & Young & Co (Public Accountants), Riyadh

• Asim Sheikh
  asim.sheikh@sa.ey.com
• Ahmed Abdullah
  ahmed.abdullah@sa.ey.com
• Amr Farouk
  amr.farouk@sa.ey.com
• Altaf Sarangi
  altaf.sarangi@sa.ey.com
• Craig McAree
  craig.mcaree@sa.ey.com
• Hosam Abdulkareem
  hosam.abdulkareem@sa.ey.com
• Imran Iqbal
  imran.iqbal@sa.ey.com
• Michael Hendroff
  michael.hendroff@ae.ey.com
• Nitesh Jain
  nitesh.jain@sa.ey.com
• Parvez Maqbool
  parvez.maqbool@sa.ey.com
• Sohail Nini
  sohail.nini@sa.ey.com
• Stuart Halstead
  stuart.halstead@sa.ey.com
• Vladimir A. Gidirim
  vladimir.gidirim@sa.ey.com
• Yousef Eldaw
  yousef.eldaw@sa.ey.com

Ernst & Young & Co (Public Accountants), Al-Khobar

• Syed Farhan Zubair
  farhan.zubair@sa.ey.com
• Ali Sainudheen
  ali.sainudheen@sa.ey.com
• Hatem Ghobara
  hatem.ghobara@sa.ey.com
• Javed Aziz Khan
  javed.aziz@sa.ey.com
• Jude deSequeira
  jude.desequeira@sa.ey.com

Ernst & Young & Co (Public Accountants), Jeddah

• Franz-Josef Epping
  franz-josef.epping@sa.ey.com
• Ayman Abu El Izz
  ayman.abueIzz@sa.ey.com
• Hanif Khatri
  hanif.khatri@sa.ey.com
• Hussain Asiri
  hussain.asiri@sa.ey.com
• Imran Ahmed
  imran.ahmed@sa.ey.com
• Irfan Alladin
  irfan.alladin@sa.ey.com
• Mohammed Desin
  mohammed.desin@sa.ey.com

Ernst & Young Middle East, Abu Dhabi

• Tobias Lintvelt
  tobias.lintvelt@ae.ey.com

Ernst & Young Middle East, Dubai

• Rajan Parmar
  rajan.parmar@ae.ey.com
• Venice Segarra
  venice.segarra@ae.ey.com

Ernst & Young LLP, Middle East Tax Desk, Houston

• Gareth Lewis
  gareth.lewis1@ey.com

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ATTACHMENT

PDF version of this Tax Alert