The tax system in the Emirates is proactive in developing and adopting smart solutions to serve society

Abu Dhabi, June 23 / WAM / The Federal Tax Authority is implementing an advanced, proactive model in building the system, tax legislation, and mechanisms for providing services to customers, based on harnessing artificial intelligence and advanced technology to simplify procedures, reduce administrative requirements, and speed up the completion of transactions.

The Authority is embarking on the approach of employing artificial intelligence to develop tax work, based on the determinants and objectives of its artificial intelligence strategy, which is consistent with the UAE Strategy for Artificial Intelligence 2031 and the directions of the digital government, which contributes to enhancing efficiency and improving customer experience.

His Excellency Abdulaziz Mohammed Al Mulla, Director General of the Federal Tax Authority, confirmed that the Authority employs artificial intelligence applications in various tax activities and procedures, the most prominent of which are data analysis, risk assessment, improving application processing, and automating procedures.

Al-Mulla explained that the Authority is adopting an integrated approach to creating and developing artificial intelligence use cases that are determined based on best practices and workshops with business units, through qualifying them according to data readiness and aligning them with strategic priorities, all the way to gradually implementing models from the proof-of-concept stage to actual operation, with a focus on the highest value and most implementable cases.

The value-added tax refund service for building new citizens’ housing is one of the most important stages of the transition from digitization to proactiveness, as the Authority launched a proactive service through the “Maskan” smart application, according to which a refund request is created when a construction completion certificate or building permit is issued by the concerned municipality, with the citizen notified via text message and email to complete the required procedures electronically.

In the latest applications of artificial intelligence within this service, the Authority benefits from advanced technologies to verify the validity of refund amounts and suppliers’ tax registration numbers, in addition to automating a number of procedures related to processing applications, which supports the accuracy of operations and contributes to accelerating citizens’ receipt of their tax dues.

The details of the invoices are automatically filled in the citizen’s account when issued by the registered supplier, with the invoices counted and merged into one file, in addition to reducing the fields for banking information through linking with the Central Bank, which enhances the ease of using the service and raises its efficiency.

The results of the service reflect the impact of these updates, as the value of the tax refunded to citizens since the start of providing the VAT refund service for the construction of new citizens’ homes until the end of March 2026 amounted to about 3.72 billion dirhams. The increase in the number of beneficiaries also confirms the success of the continuous development and modernization operations carried out by the Authority on the service, in addition to the high level of tax awareness as a result of continuous awareness plans.

The digital transformation process extended to the tourism sector through the digital system for refunding value-added tax for tourists, which witnessed continuous development, including digital invoices and self-service machines spread at departure ports, hotels and commercial centers, providing a faster and easier experience for visitors eligible for a refund.

The self-service machines allow recovery procedures to be completed completely automatically, while their performance is continuously evaluated according to a set of key indicators, including the “System Readiness” indicator, which rose to 100% during the first quarter of 2026 compared to 99.99% in 2025.

The average processing time for refund requests reached one minute and 10 seconds during the first quarter of 2026, an indicator that reflects the efficiency of the digital systems adopted by the Authority to provide its services.

The Emirates Tax platform was one of the main pillars of the digital transformation process, as it is a unified platform for managing tax services electronically, which contributes to facilitating registration, submitting tax returns, and paying tax dues.

In addition to developing digital services, the Authority continued its journey to support tax compliance by issuing tax clarifications and guidance guides and organizing in-person and virtual events and e-learning programmes, in keeping with the expansion of the tax system.

In another dimension of development, the application of the gradual volume model for the excise tax on sweetened beverages reflects the employment of the tax system to serve broader goals related to public health.

Under this model, the tax is calculated based on the content of sugar and other sweeteners in the product, which encourages the expansion of options that contain less sugar.

In this context, His Excellency Abdulaziz Al Mulla said that the UAE was one of the first countries in the region to implement the mechanism for calculating the excise tax on sweetened beverages according to the graduated volumetric model.

Al-Mulla expected that this step would contribute to motivating beverage manufacturers to reduce sugar levels in their products, which would contribute to reducing the tax burden, improving the composition of products, and expanding reliance on healthy alternatives.

He explained that the product registration system, which relies on the latest artificial intelligence technologies through the Emirates Tax platform, contributed to facilitating the registration of sweetened drinks according to the new mechanism, combining the efficiency of tax application and supporting the health goals associated with this type of tax.

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