The Federal Tax Authority (FTA) has made an announcement to advise businesses to take benefit from the FTA decision to waive administrative penalties for businesses until April 30, 2018, clarifying that the decision only covers late registration penalties and that taxable businesses are still required to settle all the taxes due from January 1, 2018.
The director general of FTA, Khalid Ali Al Bustani, called on businesses to benefit from the extension granted by the authority, which takes into account the lack of readiness among businesses when the Value Added Tax (VAT) first went into effect. The decision reflects the authority’s commitment to guiding taxable persons and ensuring their full compliance to avoid administrative penalties. According to Federal Decree-Law No. (8) of 2017 on VAT, as well as its Executive Regulations, taxable persons are needed to retroactively settle the taxes due since the law came into effect from January 1, 2018. In a press statement on March 5, the FTA clarified that any natural or legal person conducting business in the UAE is required to register for VAT if their taxable supplies exceeded Dh375,000 in the last 12 months or are expected to exceed such threshold within the next 30 days. Taxable supplies are identified as all supplies of goods and services made by a Person that are not exempt, in addition to imported goods and services. Registration can be completed via the tax.gov.ae e-services portal.
