The General Tax Authority Announces Extension on Tax Returns by Two Months

Press release

Published March 30th, 2021 - 09:04 GMT

General Tax Authority

Highlights

The President of the General Tax Authority issued Circular no. 1/2021 extending the period for submitting tax returns for the tax year 2020 for an additional two months.

The extension is granted considering the nation's state of affairs related to the pandemic (Covid-19) and the General Tax Authority's endeavor to strengthen tax compliance principles and reduce taxpayers' burden, based on the requests received by the General Tax Authority through the offices of the auditors for support to companies, especially those adversely affected by the pandemic.

The decision comes in line with HH the Amir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani's directives, to provide the necessary services to citizens and residents, foremost of which is to provide safety and protection from COVID-19 and to ensure the continuation of their healthy life, and to mitigate the effects of financial implications on them.

The General Tax Authority works closely with its partners from the competent government agencies to monitor the country's economic situation considering the current challenges. It is committed to providing guarantees available to its clients, investors, and taxpayers in a manner that contributes to proactively supporting the national economy and does not constitute a burden on taxpayers.

For more information on submitting tax returns, you can contact the Authority at support@gta.gov.qa or call 16565

Background Information

General Tax Authority

The General Tax Authority was established by the Emiri Decision No. (77) of 2018, which was accompanied with the issuance of the tax laws (Law No. (24) of 2018 on the income tax and Law No. (25) of 2018 on the selective tax) is among the legislations which aim at developing the State’s public finances in order to support the economic growth and achieve financial stability, in view that the tax system is one of the main pillars of the fiscal policy in most countries worldwide.

The State of Qatar imposes an income tax on companies since 1993 and a withholding tax since 2010 in line with the cooperation agreement between the GCC countries and driven by the State’s ongoing efforts to reduce its dependence on oil and gas and other hydrocarbon resources, in a way that enables it to achieve its economic and social objectives and secure a prosperous future for the upcoming generations.