29 October 2019

Qatar prescribes penalties for violating Common Reporting Standard rules

Executive summary

Qatar’s President of the General Tax Authority (GTA) has issued Decision No. 8 of 20191 prescribing penalties for violating Common Reporting Standard (CRS) obligations. The Decision was made based on provisions of the Income Tax Law and Article 7 of the Decision of the Ministry of Finance No. 17 of 2019 on the implementation of CRS. The Decision applies to both reporting financial institutions (RFIs), namely banks, custodians, funds and certain insurance companies, and their account holders and investors.

Detailed discussion

The following table is a summary of the penalties for violating CRS rules:

Violation

Penalties (in QR)

Failure by any RFI to take appropriate measures to obtain a self-certification or any other required information from the account holder

20,000

Refusal by any account holder or his/her representative to submit a valid self-certification as requested by the RFI

10,000

Failure by any RFI to submit a report on financial account information within the deadlines as specified in the CRS rules

20,000

Submission by any RFI of a report on financial account information that has incomplete or false information

500 for each incomplete or false piece of information

Failure by any RFI, person or intermediary to provide information and documents required by the Competent Authority within 15 days

10,000

Any person, intermediary or financial institution adopting practices aiming at circumventing the reporting and due diligence under the CRS

500,000

Signing or confirming an incorrect self-certification by any account holder or his/her representative

500,000

Implications

Account holders and investors, as well as RFIs, should be aware of and compliant regarding their CRS obligations, particularly in relation to providing valid self-certifications, documentation and accurate information, to reduce the risk of potential penalties.

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ENDNOTE

1 The Decision was published in the Official Gazette on 11 July 2019.

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CONTACTS

For additional information with respect to this Alert, please contact the following:

EY Consulting LLC, Doha

  • Ahmed F. Eldessouky
    ahmed.f.eldessouky@qa.ey.com
  • Marcel Kerkvliet
    marcel.kerkvliet@qa.ey.com
  • Nitesh Jain
    nitesh.jain@qa.ey.com
  • Fareed Patel
    fareed.patel@qa.ey.com
  • Saman Fernando
    saman.fernando@qa.ey.com
  • Sherif Ismail
    sherif.ismail@qa.ey.com
  • Abbas Daher
    abbas.daher@qa.ey.com

Ernst & Young Middle East (Dubai Branch), MENA FATCA & CRS Leader

  • Hannah Shipley
    hannah.shipley@ae.ey.com

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ATTACHMENT

PDF version of this Tax Alert

Document ID: 2019-1925