We are going to run the conference for three days in Qatar University in collaboration with local and international organizations. The first day is pre-conference, which will include joint workshops with IBFD and IMF (TBA). Whereas the main conference will be for two days focusing on recent research and practices related to the conference theme. There will be speakers from policymakers, professionals, and researchers.
Conference dates
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21st -22nd September 2026
Main conference at Qatar University. -
23th September 2026
Post conference event at Qatar University. The day will include two workshops:
• Joint workshop with IBFD on Pillar 2 and compliance issues in GCC countries.
• Joint workshop with IMF Regional Office (Saudi Arabia) on potential areas of collaboration with Qatar University.
Conference Theme
1st Theme: Tax Transformation: its influence on taxpayers and tax authorities GCC countries
The tax transformation considers a critical challenge to taxpayers and tax authorities in GCC countries, considering their specific nature. As the GCC countries are less reliance on tax revenue as they have an abundant revenue from oil and gas. However, recently the GCC countries have launched tax reform programs which focus on introducing new tax legislation and modernizing tax administration on the one hand. The restructuring of tax system in GCC requires paying more attention to taxpayers’ compliance and modernization of tax administration, which also requires considering the transformation of tax compliance and tax administration. in this context the 5th round of the conference is going to focus on tax transformation through discussing the following subtopics:
Taxpayers
- Emerging Business Models and Their Tax Implications: agentic commerce, sharing economy, digital retail (drop-shipping), and AI-driven autonomous business models.
- Compliance as a Service (CaaS): leveraging merchant-of-record business models to accelerate global expansion with limited tax compliance risks.
- From Manual Filing to Real-Time Reporting: the journey toward automated tax compliance.
- Leveraging AI in the Tax Domain: trends, use cases, and risks.
Tax Authorities
- Tax administration: new organization structure
- How National Tax Authorities Are Leveraging AI and Technology Innovations
- Compliance by Design: digital identity, embedding tax processes within taxpayers’ systems
Tax Legislation
- From Paper Statutes to Digital Code:
- Designing tax rules in machine-readable formats
- Integrating legal rules directly into systems
- Balancing flexibility with codified law
- AI and Automation in Legislative Design:
- Using generative AI for drafting legislation
- Detecting conflicts and inconsistencies
- Ensuring transparency and accountability
Tax Transformation and Building Capacities
- Building capacities – tax administration perspectives
- Building capacities – professional perspectives
Who Should Attend
Representatives from all countries and institutions of all types and missions including:
Higher education faculty members from all disciplines
Graduate and undergraduate students preparing to become professionals – joint proposals from graduate/undergraduate students and their faculty mentors/advisors are welcome
Higher education executives, administrators, and managers
Representatives from businesses and governments
Professionals from law, accounting, and other consulting firms
Conference Partners