The New Year is normally a time to consider how we might change our lives for the better. This year we learnt something different: how to deal with events entirely outside our control
Few will miss much about 2020. Despite the trauma it inflicted, reflecting on this historic period helps us to learn from it and move on. It will fortify us for the future.
Covid-19 dominated the year. But even before it emerged as a global catastrophe in February, the year had an eventful start. Much of this took place in our region. Only three days into the year, the US killed leader of the Iranian Quds Force Qassem Suleimani, in retaliation to Iranian provocation. Tensions surged again after Iran mistakenly shot down a Ukrainian Airlines passenger jet, killing all 176 people on board.
On the other hand, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan of Turkey intensified his confrontational foreign policy, moving into the Eastern Mediterranean on the pretense that he was asserting Turkey's right to energy resources in the disputed waters, angering the country's old rival Greece and the wider EU – an institution already undermined by Brexit, which was concluded only last week. At home, Mr Erdogan challenged the secular identity of modern Turkey, choosing to embolden political Islam and convert the Hagia Sophia – a former Byzantine cathedral, then mosque, then secular monument – back into a mosque. Such actions are ideologically-driven, but also partly to distract from the downward spiral in which Turkey's economy is trapped.
Longstanding regional wars dragged on tragically in Syria and Libya. Other states experienced a more rapid decline. Political corruption in Lebanon culminated in the Beirut blast, an entirely avoidable accident that caused one of the largest non-nuclear explosions in history, killing hundreds and making much of the city's population homeless. Five months on, the situation is still not resolved, nor is the government being held sufficiently to account. In Iraq, Prime Minister Mustafa Al Kadhimi was appointed. His desire to unite the country, battle corruption and restore trust in the state, is impressive. But with Covid-19, and influential militias opposed to his programme, he confronts a major challenge.
The UAE's Mars orbiter Amal, or Hope, lifts off from Tanegashima Space Center in Kagoshima, southern Japan. AP
For the privileged, are there some silver linings to be gleaned from the burden of life channeled through zoom?
But geopolitics was not all bleak. The Abraham Accords saw the UAE and Bahrain establish diplomatic ties with Israel, breaking a decades-long deadlock in the Middle East. This was quickly followed by Sudan and Morocco establishing links with Israel.
The UAE had a better year than most countries. Its pandemic response was swifter and more decisive than most other nations, leading to higher testing rates, lower case numbers, stricter but less costly lockdowns, as well as timely stimulus packages. Covid-19 vaccine science was advanced in the country with the trial of the Sinopharm inoculation. The UAE also launched its Amal – or Hope – Mars probe in July, which will study the planet's atmosphere. Back on earth, the country made significant reforms ranging from the legal system to its business environment.
This year, reasons to be optimistic globally have not been in abundance. Millions have lost loved ones and jobs. Uncertainty led to difficult situations for people all over the world. But, in an age where many have become used to year-on-year progress in its typical sense, is it only bad that we learned to deal with life dramatically altered? Many people endure intolerable conditions. For those privileged not to do so, are there some silver linings to be gleaned from the burden of life channelled through zoom? The Classical philosophy of Stoicism, centred on the teaching that true happiness comes from accepting that which one has no control over, had little traction in the comfortable quarters of yesterday's world. Not so in 2020.
When people set New Year's resolutions, they are, in one sense, exercising a privileged ability to change their lives for the better in almost limitless ways. This year, the luckiest of us were forced to practise something valuable and largely forgotten: how to keep our heads in a world suddenly imposing change on us, not the other way round.
France, UK, Canada, Australia, Portugal, Belgium, Malta, Luxembourg, San Marino and Andorra
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
In numbers: PKK’s money network in Europe
Germany: PKK collectors typically bring in $18 million in cash a year – amount has trebled since 2010
Revolutionary tax: Investigators say about $2 million a year raised from ‘tax collection’ around Marseille
Extortion: Gunman convicted in 2023 of demanding $10,000 from Kurdish businessman in Stockholm
Drug trade: PKK income claimed by Turkish anti-drugs force in 2024 to be as high as $500 million a year
Denmark: PKK one of two terrorist groups along with Iranian separatists ASMLA to raise “two-digit million amounts”
Contributions: Hundreds of euros expected from typical Kurdish families and thousands from business owners
TV channel: Kurdish Roj TV accounts frozen and went bankrupt after Denmark fined it more than $1 million over PKK links in 2013
