Kuwait

If a foreign company conducts more than one business activity in Kuwait, one tax declaration aggregating the income from all activities is required to be submitted in Kuwait. In addition, in case two affiliates are involved in similar lines of business or work on the same project, their taxable results may be aggregated for the assessment of tax by the Department of Inspection and Tax Claims (DIT), a department of the Kuwait Tax Authority.

Transfer pricing

Executive Rule No. 49 to the Kuwait CIT Law states that inter-company transactions should be comparable to transactions among companies that are not legally or financially associated. It also states that the Kuwait Tax Authority is entitled to inspect such transactions to ensure that they are made on an arm’s-length basis and not made for obtaining illegal tax privileges.

In addition, under the DMTT Law, Kuwait introduced transfer pricing rules. The transfer pricing concepts and definitions broadly align with the OECD Transfer Pricing Guidelines. Key requirements are set out in Article 22 (Arm’s Length Principle) and Chapter 10 (Articles 69–74) on transfer pricing between related persons.

Thin capitalisation

Executive Rule No. 38 deals with the tax treatment of interest and letters of credit. Through this rule, the DIT will accept the interest paid by a company, provided it is fully supported, paid to a financial institution, and related to the Kuwait operations. However, the tax law provides the DIT with the right to determine the proper tax treatment on a case-by-case basis (if required).

Controlled foreign companies (CFCs)

There are no CFC rules in Kuwait.