Morning round-up: Emaar to build Saudi's 1.1km tower

Bradley Hope

June 14, 2009

  • English
  • Arabic

Emaar Properties

, which is finishing the interior of the more than 800m Burj Dubai,

. This could be an extraordinary piece of luck for the company, which along with its peers in Dubai has seen hard times because of the global financial crisis and property slowdown. At the same time, it means Emaar will lose its own record for the world's tallest tower to

Kingdom Holding

. The Kingdom Tower will be the centrepiece of a larger $26.6bn (Dh98bn) development that will eventually house 80,000 people. More

and

. A back of the envelope calculation using $60 as the price for a barrel of oil shows that it would take 54 days of Saudi Arabia's current production levels to afford this project. (Hat tip: Chris Stanton, oil correspondent)

Photo caption: Nov 24, 2008. Mohamed Alabbar, chairman of Emaar Properties, and member, Dubai Executive Council, has secured a major contract for the company at a time when it was facing a cash shortage. Randi Sokoloff / The National

Hussain Sajwani

, chairman of Damac Properties, emerges to make some statements about the state of the property market. He says developers need to "facilitate the flow of funds, to re-activate those investors who have lost confidence".

is the original press release. Last month, Peter Riddoch, the chief executive of Damac, said the company was enacting a "recovery programme" to help its investors find ways to continue paying for its projects. Damac has a lot of building to do --- as of last November, it had finished less than a dozen buildings, with many more dozens to go.

Prices of top-end residential properties have "bottomed out" and are now seeing rises of between 20 and 40 per cent, Anjana Kumar reports in Emirates Business 24/7. This comes on the back of a report last week by The National about similar activity happening across the Dubai and Abu Dhabi markets. Anil Bhoyrul at Arabian Business has been skeptical (and I think he makes very perspicacious points here) of these reports, saying that these brokers and speculators are "lying" about the prices "in the hope that if everyone says it enough, everyone will start believing it".

GIANT REVIEW

Starring: Amir El-Masry, Pierce Brosnan

Director: Athale

Rating: 4/5

Ten tax points to be aware of in 2026

1. Domestic VAT refund amendments: request your refund within five years

If a business does not apply for the refund on time, they lose their credit.

2. E-invoicing in the UAE

Businesses should continue preparing for the implementation of e-invoicing in the UAE, with 2026 a preparation and transition period ahead of phased mandatory adoption. 

3. More tax audits

Tax authorities are increasingly using data already available across multiple filings to identify audit risks. 

4. More beneficial VAT and excise tax penalty regime

Tax disputes are expected to become more frequent and more structured, with clearer administrative objection and appeal processes. The UAE has adopted a new penalty regime for VAT and excise disputes, which now mirrors the penalty regime for corporate tax.

5. Greater emphasis on statutory audit

There is a greater need for the accuracy of financial statements. The International Financial Reporting Standards standards need to be strictly adhered to and, as a result, the quality of the audits will need to increase.

6. Further transfer pricing enforcement

Transfer pricing enforcement, which refers to the practice of establishing prices for internal transactions between related entities, is expected to broaden in scope. The UAE will shortly open the possibility to negotiate advance pricing agreements, or essentially rulings for transfer pricing purposes. 

7. Limited time periods for audits

Recent amendments also introduce a default five-year limitation period for tax audits and assessments, subject to specific statutory exceptions. While the standard audit and assessment period is five years, this may be extended to up to 15 years in cases involving fraud or tax evasion. 

8. Pillar 2 implementation 

Many multinational groups will begin to feel the practical effect of the Domestic Minimum Top-Up Tax (DMTT), the UAE's implementation of the OECD’s global minimum tax under Pillar 2. While the rules apply for financial years starting on or after January 1, 2025, it is 2026 that marks the transition to an operational phase.

9. Reduced compliance obligations for imported goods and services

Businesses that apply the reverse-charge mechanism for VAT purposes in the UAE may benefit from reduced compliance obligations. 

10. Substance and CbC reporting focus

Tax authorities are expected to continue strengthening the enforcement of economic substance and Country-by-Country (CbC) reporting frameworks. In the UAE, these regimes are increasingly being used as risk-assessment tools, providing tax authorities with a comprehensive view of multinational groups’ global footprints and enabling them to assess whether profits are aligned with real economic activity. 

Contributed by Thomas Vanhee and Hend Rashwan, Aurifer

Main report
Squid Game season two

Director: Hwang Dong-hyuk 

Stars:  Lee Jung-jae, Wi Ha-joon and Lee Byung-hun

Rating: 4.5/5

Killing of Qassem Suleimani
Who was Alfred Nobel?

The Nobel Prize was created by wealthy Swedish chemist and entrepreneur Alfred Nobel.

  • In his will he dictated that the bulk of his estate should be used to fund "prizes to those who, during the preceding year, have conferred the greatest benefit to humankind".
  • Nobel is best known as the inventor of dynamite, but also wrote poetry and drama and could speak Russian, French, English and German by the age of 17. The five original prize categories reflect the interests closest to his heart.
  • Nobel died in 1896 but it took until 1901, following a legal battle over his will, before the first prizes were awarded.
What is a Ponzi scheme?

A fraudulent investment operation where the scammer provides fake reports and generates returns for old investors through money paid by new investors, rather than through ligitimate business activities.

World record transfers

1. Kylian Mbappe - to Real Madrid in 2017/18 - €180 million (Dh770.4m - if a deal goes through)
2. Paul Pogba - to Manchester United in 2016/17 - €105m
3. Gareth Bale - to Real Madrid in 2013/14 - €101m
4. Cristiano Ronaldo - to Real Madrid in 2009/10 - €94m
5. Gonzalo Higuain - to Juventus in 2016/17 - €90m
6. Neymar - to Barcelona in 2013/14 - €88.2m
7. Romelu Lukaku - to Manchester United in 2017/18 - €84.7m
8. Luis Suarez - to Barcelona in 2014/15 - €81.72m
9. Angel di Maria - to Manchester United in 2014/15 - €75m
10. James Rodriguez - to Real Madrid in 2014/15 - €75m

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