Insight and opinion from The National’s editorial leadership
December 10, 2021
The epic of Gilgamesh, one of the world's oldest recorded stories, tells a tale of creating order from chaos. Its eponymous hero, the king of Uruk, in what is now Iraq, embarks on a long journey to make his mark on the world by conquering death. In the end, he realises death is inescapable, but that a person can ensure order in the world by leaving behind an enduring legacy.
For Gilgamesh, that legacy was the city walls of Uruk, parts of which, nearly 5,000 years later, are still intact. For the epic's anonymous author, who lived more than 3,000 years ago, it is the series of tablets on which the story was recorded. A dozen of these were unearthed in a mid-19th century excavation near the Iraqi city of Mosul. In the decades since, they have undertaken a difficult journey of their own, having been dispersed throughout the world by various archaeologists, antiquarians, looters and traffickers.
Reuniting the tablets with one another and with their homeland, Iraq, has in itself proved to be a matter of creating order from chaos. While such "cultural property" is far older than other asset classes, the laws governing its trafficking and sale, as well as enforcement mechanisms, are far less developed than, say, money or modern art.
This explains why one of the Gilgamesh tablets, known as the Dream Tablet, was only this week returned to Iraq, having been stolen from there in 1991 and subsequently trafficked to the US. It was purchased for $1.7 million by a crafts company, Hobby Lobby, whose owner displayed it at a museum he built in Washington. It was confiscated by US authorities after an investigation in 2019.
A large body of international conventions (the best known being the 1954 Hague Convention and the 1970 Unesco Convention) govern the protection of cultural property. But by and large, the conventions make implementation a matter for individual countries, who rarely share the same priorities. The result is an uneven patchwork of legislation and enforcement that creates plenty of gaps for traffickers to exploit.
The Gilgamesh Dream Tablet was seized by US authorities from the Museum of the Bible, in Washington, in 2019. Reuters
An uneven patchwork of legislation and enforcement creates gaps for traffickers to exploit
And so the illicit antiquities trade in the Middle East has exploded in recent decades. One issue is that many artefacts were looted before the relevant laws were created. Two years ago, Christies, an auction house, sold a sculpture of the Egyptian pharaoh Tutankhamun for more than $6m, even as Egyptian authorities complained that it had been stolen. The sale went ahead on the grounds that the sculpture was, so to speak, ancient history, because it was removed from Egypt before the Unesco Convention was adopted.
Where laws are limited, the only answer is to reform the culture around such artefacts. Progress is being made on this front; the past year has seen a host of prominent museums and universities in the West return artefacts to various African countries, amid growing pressure from the public.
But another issue is that not enough of the focus is on buyers. In most countries, the heaviest penalty a buyer of stolen artefacts incurs is that they are forced to give them back. Here, prosecutors have more scope, and in the US, at least, they are starting to make use of it. While Hobby Lobby and others have been slapped with huge fines, one collector, hedge fund tycoon Michael Steinhardt, was forced to surrender $70m of looted antiquities, and subsequently banned for life from acquiring any more historical artefacts. The ban is the first of its kind, and may set a new precedent for similar cases elsewhere.
The payoff for tackling crimes involving cultural property is invaluable. Upon the Dream Tablet's return to Iraq, where it is now displayed proudly at the country's National Museum, Audrey Azoulay, Unesco's director-general, said that its repatriation sends a message to criminals, but also allows "the Iraqi people to reconnect with a page in their history". It is a tale of the triumph of legacy over self-interest worthy of Gilgamesh himself.
Ten tax points to be aware of in 2026
1. Domestic VAT refund amendments: request your refund within five years
If a business does not apply for the refund on time, they lose their credit.
2. E-invoicing in the UAE
Businesses should continue preparing for the implementation of e-invoicing in the UAE, with 2026 a preparation and transition period ahead of phased mandatory adoption.
3. More tax audits
Tax authorities are increasingly using data already available across multiple filings to identify audit risks.
4. More beneficial VAT and excise tax penalty regime
Tax disputes are expected to become more frequent and more structured, with clearer administrative objection and appeal processes. The UAE has adopted a new penalty regime for VAT and excise disputes, which now mirrors the penalty regime for corporate tax.
5. Greater emphasis on statutory audit
There is a greater need for the accuracy of financial statements. The International Financial Reporting Standards standards need to be strictly adhered to and, as a result, the quality of the audits will need to increase.
6. Further transfer pricing enforcement
Transfer pricing enforcement, which refers to the practice of establishing prices for internal transactions between related entities, is expected to broaden in scope. The UAE will shortly open the possibility to negotiate advance pricing agreements, or essentially rulings for transfer pricing purposes.
7. Limited time periods for audits
Recent amendments also introduce a default five-year limitation period for tax audits and assessments, subject to specific statutory exceptions. While the standard audit and assessment period is five years, this may be extended to up to 15 years in cases involving fraud or tax evasion.
8. Pillar 2 implementation
Many multinational groups will begin to feel the practical effect of the Domestic Minimum Top-Up Tax (DMTT), the UAE's implementation of the OECD’s global minimum tax under Pillar 2. While the rules apply for financial years starting on or after January 1, 2025, it is 2026 that marks the transition to an operational phase.
9. Reduced compliance obligations for imported goods and services
Businesses that apply the reverse-charge mechanism for VAT purposes in the UAE may benefit from reduced compliance obligations.
10. Substance and CbC reporting focus
Tax authorities are expected to continue strengthening the enforcement of economic substance and Country-by-Country (CbC) reporting frameworks. In the UAE, these regimes are increasingly being used as risk-assessment tools, providing tax authorities with a comprehensive view of multinational groups’ global footprints and enabling them to assess whether profits are aligned with real economic activity.
Contributed by Thomas Vanhee and Hend Rashwan, Aurifer
A comparison of sending Dh20,000 from the UAE using two different routes at the same time - the first direct from a UAE bank to a bank in Germany, and the second from the same UAE bank via an online platform to Germany - found key differences in cost and speed. The transfers were both initiated on January 30.
Route 1: bank transfer
The UAE bank charged Dh152.25 for the Dh20,000 transfer. On top of that, their exchange rate margin added a difference of around Dh415, compared with the mid-market rate.
Total cost:Â Dh567.25 -Â around 2.9 per cent of the total amount
Total received: €4,670.30Â
Route 2: online platform
The UAE bank’s charge for sending Dh20,000 to a UK dirham-denominated account was Dh2.10. The exchange rate margin cost was Dh60, plus a Dh12 fee.
Total cost: Dh74.10, around 0.4 per cent of the transaction
Total received: €4,756
The UAE bank transfer was far quicker – around two to three working days, while the online platform took around four to five days, but was considerably cheaper. In the online platform transfer, the funds were also exposed to currency risk during the period it took for them to arrive.
'Nightmare Alley'
Director:Guillermo del Toro
Stars:Bradley Cooper, Cate Blanchett, Rooney Mara
Rating: 3/5
How to register as a donor
1) Organ donors can register on the Hayat app, run by the Ministry of Health and Prevention
2) There are about 11,000 patients in the country in need of organ transplants
3) People must be over 21. Emiratis and residents can register.Â
Trans fat is typically found in fried and baked goods, but you may be consuming more than you think.
Powdered coffee creamer, microwave popcorn and virtually anything processed with a crust is likely to contain it, as this guide from Mayo Clinic outlines:Â
Baked goods -Â Most cakes, cookies, pie crusts and crackers contain shortening, which is usually made from partially hydrogenated vegetable oil. Ready-made frosting is another source of trans fat.
Snacks -Â Potato, corn and tortilla chips often contain trans fat. And while popcorn can be a healthy snack, many types of packaged or microwave popcorn use trans fat to help cook or flavour the popcorn.
Fried food - Foods that require deep frying — french fries, doughnuts and fried chicken — can contain trans fat from the oil used in the cooking process.
Refrigerator dough -Â Products such as canned biscuits and cinnamon rolls often contain trans fat, as do frozen pizza crusts.
Creamer and margarine -Â Nondairy coffee creamer and stick margarines also may contain partially hydrogenated vegetable oils.
Cecelia Crocker was on board Northwest Airlines Flight 255 in 1987 when it crashed in Detroit, killing 154 people, including her parents and brother. The plane had hit a light pole on take off
George Lamson Jr, from Minnesota, was on a Galaxy Airlines flight that crashed in Reno in 1985, killing 68 people. His entire seat was launched out of the plane
Bahia Bakari, then 12, survived when a Yemenia Airways flight crashed near the Comoros in 2009, killing 152. She was found clinging to wreckage after floating in the ocean for 13 hours.
Jim Polehinke was the co-pilot and sole survivor of a 2006 Comair flight that crashed in Lexington, Kentucky, killing 49.
Starring Dean-Charles Chapman, George MacKay, Daniel Mays
4.5/5
If you go
The flights
Etihad and Emirates fly direct from the UAE to Chicago from Dh5,215 return including taxes.
The hotels
Recommended hotels include the Intercontinental Chicago Magnificent Mile, located in an iconic skyscraper complete with a 1929 Olympic-size swimming pool from US$299 (Dh1,100) per night including taxes, and the Omni Chicago Hotel, an excellent value downtown address with elegant art deco furnishings and an excellent in-house restaurant. Rooms from US$239 (Dh877) per night including taxes.Â
The bio:
Favourite holiday destination: I really enjoyed Sri Lanka and Vietnam but my dream destination is the Maldives.
Favourite food: My mum’s Chinese cooking.
Favourite film: Robocop, followed by The Terminator.
Hobbies: Off-roading, scuba diving, playing squash and going to the gym.
6.30pm: Shahm, 7.05pm: Well Of Wisdom, 7.40pm: Lucius Tiberius, 8.15pm: Captain Von Trapp, 8.50pm: Secret Advisor, 9.25pm: George Villiers, 10pm: American Graffiti, 10.35pm: On The Warpath
Uefa Champions League semi-finals, first leg
Liverpool v Roma When: April 24, 10.45pm kick-off (UAE) Where: Anfield, Liverpool Live: BeIN Sports HD Second leg: May 2, Stadio Olimpico, Rome
Who's who in Yemen conflict
Houthis: Iran-backed rebels who occupy Sanaa and run unrecognised government
Yemeni government: Exiled government in Aden led by eight-member Presidential Leadership Council
Southern Transitional Council: Faction in Yemeni government that seeks autonomy for the south
Habrish 'rebels': Tribal-backed forces feuding with STC over control of oil in government territory
Various ArtistsÂ
Habibi Funk: An Eclectic Selection Of Music From The Arab World (Habibi Funk)
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