Coronavirus: Oman receives batch of vaccines from India

Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccines manufactured under licence by the Serum Institute of India arrived in Oman at the weekend, ready for the next phase of the sultanate's vaccination campaign.
"We are thankful to the Indian authorities for this gesture of providing us with the vaccines. We are planning to start vaccination sometime this week or early next week," the Ministry of Health said.
An Indian embassy official in Muscat said that India was grateful to Oman for allowing Indian nationals easy access to testing for coronavirus.

"We are impressed and happy with the government of Oman to allow Indian nationals to do Covid-19 tests free of charge from the very beginning without any prejudice of nationality," the official told The National.

"The vaccination doses to Oman is to show our deep gratitude and it is part of maintaining good relations between the two countries."
Oman began its vaccination campaign using Pfizer-BioNTech inoculations on December 7 last year. Since then, about 30,000 people were vaccinated.
In a separate statement to Oman Television on Sunday, the health ministry urged people to take the vaccinations and not respond to social media rumours.
"Some people stayed at home with the first batch, but the message is clear that the vaccination of Covid-19 is safe with no adverse side effects. We ask everyone to refrain from responding to rumours circulating in social media," the Oman Television report said.
Oman reported an average of 166 daily infections in January 2021 and a total of 11 deaths from the virus.
Since the beginning of the pandemic, 134,326 people have been infected by the coronavirus and 1,529 have died from Covid-19 in Oman, according to Worldometers figures.
Oman is expected to re-open its land and air borders on February 1 after a closure of two weeks.

It also banned all functions such as weddings, exhibitions, seminars and conferences indefinitely from last Thursday, including the reopening of schools and universities.

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