Saud bin Nasir al Shukaili, Head of the Tax Authority, has issued a decision No 89/2022 to add more food commodities to the appendix of the food items which is subject to Value Added Tax (VAT) at zero rate. The items include barley, corn, flour, beans and some animal feed.
The decision was based on the Value Added Tax Law issued by Royal Decree No 121/2021, and Resolution No 90/2021 specifying food commodities subject to value added tax at the zero rate.
In October 2020, the Sultanate of Oman issued a value added tax law at a rate of 5% on goods and services, making the country the fourth Gulf country to apply the tax after Saudi Arabia, the UAE and Bahrain. The application of the tax became effective as of April 16, 2021, in an attempt to boost government revenues and reduce the deficit of the budget due to the repercussions of Coronavirus and the decline in oil prices.
As part of several initiatives to ease the burdens on citizens and address difficulties, the Sultanate of Oman back then increased the number of goods exempted from value added tax, from 93 to 488, in an attempt to mitigate the economic repercussions of the pandemic.
The value added tax is a tax paid by the consumer and imposed on the difference between the purchase price from the manufacturer and the selling price to the consumer.
According to the law, the tax does not include healthcare, education, financial services, basic foodstuffs and supplies for people with disabilities.
The Sultanate of Oman expects that government revenues from value added and selective tax will reach RO 535 million in 2022, based on the statement of the Ministry of Finance.
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