Tourists to get refund on VAT
DUBAI 29 April 2018: The Federal Tax Authority (FTA) Board has formally approved implementation of Tourists Refund scheme at its fifth meeting at the Dubai Ruler’s Court.
The meeting was headed by Sheikh Hamdan bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Deputy Ruler of Dubai and UAE Minister of Finance.
The scheme is set to include comprehensive procedures to connect outlets and points of sale across the UAE with the refund system.
Tobacco Tax
The board also adopted the proposed design and security specifications of the brand to be used as a marker for tobacco products, allowing them to be tracked electronically in order to ensure that the Excise Tax on these products is paid.
This advanced system seeks to prevent Excise Tax evasion, and will be implemented in the near future in coordination with Customs Departments, as well as Departments of Economic development departments, and manufacturers and importers of tobacco products.
FTA Board also approved a set of executive decisions concerning the internal regulatory and administrative policies of the authority and its operational activities. The board reviewed a report covering the successful implementation of the UAE tax system. The reports revealed a remarkable increase in the number of businesses registered for VAT before the end of penalty waiver period issued by the authority to exempt businesses from late registration penalties, where 281,000 of them are now registered for Value Added Tax (VAT), while 637 are registered for Excise Tax.
April 30 Deadline
Sheikh Hamdan said: “Our priority is to help and encourage businesses to comply with tax legislation and procedures, providing state-of-the-art digital systems that reflect our young country’s progress and prestige in all sectors. To that end, the FTA Board issued a decision to exempt companies who were late to register from penalties until April 30, 2018. The decision – which covers the penalties, but still requires taxable businesses to settle, in full, all the taxes they’ve incurred retroactively since January 1, 2018 – sought to and succeeded in increasing registration and compliance among UAE businesses.”
The board reviewed another report detailing the progress made on existing projects, such as formulating an integrated administration system, developing the FTA’s digital systems, and building a user database. The report revealed that the number of tax agents accredited by the authority rose to 83, while the number of accredited clearance companies increased to 85.
The report also examines the outcomes of the FTA’s tax awareness campaign, which succeeded in educating the public about their rights and obligations, protecting consumers from profiteering and price manipulations. The authority has also conducted a series of awareness seminars and workshops for all sectors in the UAE, the report reaffirmed, providing guidance on legislation, laws, regulations and tax procedures. In a similar vein, the FTA published ads, infographics, and educational videos.
The Federal Tax Authority has been conducting a nation-wide awareness campaign over the past two weeks, in collaboration with Departments of Economic Development across the country. The campaign introduced businesses to the online registration, tax returns submission, and tax payment procedures. These services are available round the clock on the FTA website, which is continuously enhanced to offer more payment processing channels to further facilitate online payment for all businesses.