The Qatar-Singapore tax treaty was brought into force on 5 October and its provisions will apply to income derived on or after 1 January 2008. Effective initially for 10 years, under the treaty there will be no withholding tax on dividends, while that on interest and royalties would be 5 per cent and 10 per cent respectively. Singapore now has 56 comprehensive tax treaties in place and has concluded similar agreements in the Gulf region with Bahrain, Egypt, Israel, Kuwait and Oman. “The treaties reflect Singapore’s continual efforts to engage her trading partners in relieving double taxation, which encourages and facilitates the cross-flow of trade, investment, financial activities and technical know-how,” said Umej Singh Bhatia, Charge D’ Affaires of the Singapore Embassy in Doha.