"Israel", UAE sign non-double taxation treaty

The Finance Minister in the occupation government, Israel Katz, signed on Monday a non-double taxation treaty with the UAE.

The UAE is expected to join 58 treaties that "Israel" signed with several countries. The Knesset and the occupation government must approve the treaty, which goes into effect on 01/01/2022.

According to the Ministry of Finance, the tax treaty is mainly based on the OECD Model Treaty. The treaty aims to "encourage economic cooperation between countries, along with provisions relating to non-discrimination, exchange of information, prevention of exploitation, and the provision of reduced tax rates."

The treaty establishes, among other things, a limit of 0% or 5% of the tax rate on interest paid to the government, certain government bodies, certain government agencies, or the retirement fund in the country in which the person who pays the interest lives and up to 15% of private-sector investors. The tax deduction rate in the royalty payer's country will be set to 12%.

According to the statement of the Minister of Finance, "The tax treaty gives certainty and improved conditions for commercial activities and will strengthen economic relations between the various parties, and will contribute to the economic prosperity of 'Israel', the UAE, and the region as a whole."

The UAE and Bahrain signed last year in the White House a normalization agreement with "Israel" in the presence of then-US President Donald Trump.