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Recent posts

Unified ICV Program Changing the Socio-Economic Landscape in UAE
Kreston Menon

For past many years, the GCC countries have been initiating localization drives, particularly in the oil and gas industry. The major localization initiatives in the region started with Oman Oils In-Country Value (ICV) program followed by Saudi ARAMCO’s IKtVa and Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (ADNOC) ICV program.

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Gearing up for the Next Normal
Raju Menon, Chairman and Managing Partner - Kreston Menon

Every business was looking optimistic for a great 2020 at the beginning of the year, but now are facing a completely different scenario. The COVID-19 pandemic has severely affected businesses across every industry and geographical region. The norms of businesses have changed, be it remote working, changed customer preferences and priorities or radically transformed operational networks.

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ABRAHAM ACCORD: The Game Changer in Middle East
Pushpakaran Parambath, Senior Partner - Kreston Menon Corporate Services

The world woke up to the unexpected and astounding news of the peace treaty between the UAE and Israel, making UAE just the third Arab state, after Egypt and Jordan to establish formal ties with Israel. UAE scrapped an economic boycott against Israel which was in place for decades, allowing trade and financial agreements between the countries.

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Day 1 to Day 1000 VAT Journey in UAE
Surandar Jesrani, CEO & Managing Partner - MMJS Consulting
United Arab Emirates’ (UAE) most significant tax reform, Value Added Tax (VAT) which was introduced in January 2018, is set to complete 1000 days and it is worthwhile to look back on its incredible journey.

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Economic Substance Regulation (ESR) in the UAE
Kreston Menon
Under the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development – OECD/G20 Inclusive Framework on BEPS, over 135 countries are collaborating to put an end to tax avoidance strategies that exploit gaps and mismatches in tax rules to avoid paying tax.  On 30 April 2019, the UAE Cabinet issued the Cabinet of Ministers Resolution No. 31 of 2019 concerning Economic Substance Regulations (ESR) requiring all in-scope UAE entities to comply with the Inclusive Framework on Base Erosion and Profit Shifting (BEPS) to ensure that profits are accounted by the entities where the actual economic activities are conducted and value created.     The Ministry of Finance (MoF) of UAE released a Ministerial Note on the application of the regulations on 11 of September 2019 and another guidance note, the Relevant Activity Guide (RAG) on 15 April 2020 in their continued efforts to clarify the scope and coverage of listed economic activities and their associated Core Income Generating Activity test (CIGA).

Is ESR applicable to your company?
ESR requires all businesses having a commercial license, certificate of incorporation or similar permits issued by any regulatory authority in UAE (licensees) carrying out one or more Relevant Activity to substantiate adequate economic substance in the UAE.



ESR excludes UAE licensees with direct or indirect holding of at least 51% by any UAE Government, Governmental authority and/or body.

Action Points
Since the principles of economic substance are largely governed by international best practices (albeit tweaked for local market conditions) and recommendations by the OECD, UAE businesses should:


Penalties for non-compliance with ESR

Non-monetary penal consequences could include suspension, revocation or non-renewal of license in appropriate circumstances.

How Kreston Menon can help you?

Kreston Menon has a specialized team to provide an end to end solution for impact assessment, gap analysis and reporting obligations for ESR for your business.
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UAE Federal Law on Foreign Direct Investment – The Game Changer
Kreston Menon

As the Covid-19 pandemic continues to rip nations, governments are forced to impose strict public health measures, such as social distancing, to physically disrupt the conta- gion. By doing so, the flow of goods and people are halted, economies are stalled and many economists are predicting a global recession. But there is hope as many govern- ments are taking unprecedented steps to contain the economic damages caused by this pandemic.

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