The Qatar Financial Centre Authority is consulting on the tax rules and regulations for businesses licenced with the Qatar Financial Centre as of 1 May next year. The original QFC Law of 2005 provided that there would be no taxation on businesses licensed by the QFC for the first three years of the centre's operation – from 1 May 2005 to 30 April 2008. Thereafter, the QFC will levy a tax rate on business profits of 10 per cent but taxable profits will be based on accounting profits and non-local source profits will not be taxed. In addition to the basic charging provisions the new tax regime will include specific regulations covering Islamic finance, insurance companies, transfer pricing, partnerships and reorganisations. There will be no withholding taxes in the QFC and a tax ruling facility will be available. Stuart Pearce, chief executive officer and director-general of the QFCA, said: "The adoption of a tax regime is a planned and transparent part of the development of the QFC. The regime we are proposing will give investing firms a high degree of certainty about their future tax." "There are no hidden costs in operating from the QFC, and as firms we have already consulted with on these proposals have told us, a low tax rate based on international best practice principles is preferable to a tax haven as it is both predictable and — in the long term — more commercially efficient," he added.