3.2 billion dirhams tax amounts that citizens recovered from building their new housing

The number of stores related to the digital system to return the tax for tourists to 18.41 thousand stores

Abu Dhabi on July 20, 2025: The digital systems to return the value -added tax for the legal groups to recover the tax continued to achieve good results during the year 2025 while maintaining the level of performance that was characterized by accuracy and operational efficiency, and among these regulations that the Federal Tax Authority announced its results during the first half of this year the tax return system paid for building new citizens ’housing, and the tax return system for tourists.

The authority revealed in a press statement today that the cumulative total of applications approved for citizens and citizens who recovered the added tax that they paid for the construction of their newly constructed housing amounted to about 38 thousand requests with a total value 2024, an increase within 12 months of 22.74% in the number of approved applications, and 25.72% in the value of the recovered amounts.

She pointed out that the statistics showed that the number of applications approved to recover the value -added tax on the construction of the new citizens’ housing amounted to more than seven thousand requests during the period from the end of June 2024 until the end of June 2025 with a total value of 653.1 million dirhams, indicating that 3097 new requests were approved during the first six months of this year with recovered amounts of total value of 284.77 million dirhams.

The digital system for returning the tax for tourists
The Federal Tax Authority explained that the digital system for the tax return for tourists witnessed a significant expansion, as the increase in the number of retail stores linked electronically in the system continued in all emirates of the country, and the number of sales outlets registered with the authority linked to the system increased to 18.41 thousand stores by the end of June 2025 compared to 17.72 thousand stores by the end of 2024 and about 17.08 thousand stores by the end of June 2024.

She pointed out that the number of sales outlets that were associated with the system during the first six months of this year amounted to 697 commercial outlets compared to 540 outlets associated with the system during the same period of 2024, an increase of more than 29%, to be the total number of sales outlets that joined the digital system to return the tax for tourists during the past two years and the first half of this year 3,390 outlets.

She explained that with regard to the self -service devices through which the tax return procedures for tourists are implemented when they leave the state in a fully in approximately two minutes for each transaction, and these devices are spread in many major commercial centers (malls) and hotels, in addition to its availability of the outlets of tourists leaving the state, as they numbered 96 devices by the end of last June.

His Excellency Khaled Ali Al -Bustani, Director General of the Federal Tax Authority, said: “The indicators show the continuity of development and modernization of digital systems according to best practices, in line with the state’s strategy for digital transformation, as the authority’s efforts in this field reflected positively on the quality and performance of its services in general, including digital systems to return the value -added tax for the qualified groups as a law to recover the tax, for example witnessed the tax recovery service On building the new housing for citizens and the tax return service for tourists, successive updates to simplify and accelerate recovery procedures, and among the most prominent initiatives in this field is the application of the smart “residence” that provides more facilities to recover citizens for tax, and depends on non -paper procedures with complete digital mechanisms by 100%.

Al -Bustani added: “As part of its efforts to develop digital services, the authority launched last December the first system in the world to return the value -added tax for tourists on their purchases through e -commerce during their period in the UAE in a way that supports the leadership of the UAE in all sectors, including the tourism sector and the e -commerce sector, in order to complete what has been achieved in this field, where the authority launched more than two years ago the digital system to return the tax for tourists that depends on procedures that are not paper. 100% completely digital and is witnessing a continuous update, provides a digital platform that allows tourists quite easily to allow their passports and complete the purchase process, and to share their transactions automatically in the form of digital bills, and check their bills through the shopping portal to obtain a smooth shopping experience by restoring the paid taxable tax on their purchases with a fully fast and digital mechanism.

His Excellency the Director General of the Federal Tax Authority emphasized that the authority will continue during the next stage the launch and implementation of various projects and initiatives in the field of digital transformation in the tax sector to keep pace with the government’s strategy for the smart transformation of all services depending on smooth and proactive digital procedures, in order to support the efforts of the bureaucracy and maintain high levels to delight the customers