The tax system in the Emirates .. an accelerated development that enhances financial sustainability and economic competitiveness

Abu Dhabi, July 26 / WAM / The tax system in the UAE is witnessing an accelerated development, which has strengthened its pivotal role in supporting economic growth, consolidating the foundations of financial sustainability, and achieving a balance between development requirements and facilitating voluntary tax compliance.
The Federal Tax Authority is keen on developing an integrated tax model and keeping pace with international best practices, with a focus on full digital transformation, expanding the scope of services, and enhancing the efficiency of the legislative and procedural structure, in a way that establishes the UAE’s position among the most advanced countries in the world in this field.
During the past years, the authority succeeded in building a mature electronic tax system characterized by ease and transparency, which contributed to achieving a significant expansion in the customer base, as the number of registered in corporate tax increased to more than 576 thousand registered, and those registered in the value -added tax to more than 511 thousand registered, while the number of registered in the selective tax exceeded 1756 registered.
The authority confirmed to the Emirates News Agency “WAM” that the number of accredited tax agents has risen to 676 agents, which enhances the support provided to taxpayers and expands the scope of spreading and interacting with the tax community.
The authority pointed to keeping pace with the expansion of the customer base through continuous development in digital services, as the number of inquiries and observations received by the authority through various communication channels reached 549.2 thousand transactions during the past year, compared to 355.3 thousand transactions in the previous year, and the number of visitors to the taxpayers support in Abu Dhabi and Dubai reached 38.11 thousand visitors.
The happiness index of customers with the authority increased to 91.5% during the past year, an increase of 1.5% compared to the previous year, which reflects the effectiveness of the approach that the authority follows in simplifying procedures and providing smart services that respond to the aspirations of the dealers.
As part of its efforts to innovate services, the authority launched a number of qualitative initiatives, including the smart “housing” application that allows citizens to recover the tax paid for building their new housing, and the application of “Emirates Tax”, which represented a qualitative shift in smart services.
The authority launched the first system in the world to return the tax for tourists from their purchases through e -commerce while they are in the country, which strengthened the UAE’s position an attractive destination for tourism and shopping.
With regard to the development of the legislative and organizational framework, the authority worked to review and implement more than 600 legislation, decision and tax memo, based on comparative studies and best international practices, and also issued about 1830 tax clarification, including 1770 special clarification on specific cases, and 60 general clarification with the aim of raising the level of awareness and increasing the rates of tax compliance, in addition to issuing and updating 116 A guide for simplifying and clarifying tax procedures.
The commission promotes the justice system by providing independent channels to consider requests and disputes, such as the Reconsted Committee, and the tax dispute resolution committees, which guarantee the equity of taxpayers and the treatment of observations and complaints effectively, within the framework of adhering to the principles of transparency and justice.
The tax system witnessed an increasing response from the business sector, supported by high tax awareness and intensifying the efforts of communication by the authority with all strategic partners.
The authority holds periodic meetings with consulting groups that include representatives of government agencies and the private sector, including: the consulting group for selective tax, the consulting group of tax agents, and the advisory group for value -added tax.
These initiatives aim to exchange opinions, identify the challenges facing the business sectors, and participate in developing policies and procedures, in order to enhance voluntary compliance and increase the state’s competitiveness.
The authority expanded significantly in awareness efforts, as it organized during the past year 178 awareness activities attended by 122.8 thousand participants, an annual increase of 68.6% compared to 2023, while the number of awareness publications on social media reached 4399 publications, an increase of 231.25%, and the number of visitors to its website reached 2.1 million, including 1.9 million new users.
This comprehensive development in the services and legislation of the Federal Tax Authority confirms that the UAE is moving steadily towards building a modern and effective tax system, a balance between financial efficiency and tax justice, and contributes effectively to supporting the state’s goals towards economic diversification and financial sustainability, and consolidating its global position as an attractive center for investment and business.

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