FTA urges businesses to focus on sustainability, efficiency

The Federal Tax Authority (FTA) has called on business sectors to share their ideas and proposals for sustainably developing the Authority’s services, keeping pace with the Zero Government Bureaucracy Programme launched by the UAE Government and boosting efficiency, quality, and flexibility, while streamlining government procedures and doing away with unnecessary requirements.

The Authority hosted a Suhoor event for representatives of various business sectors across the UAE, attended by Khalid Ali Al Bustani, FTA Director-General, and Mohammed Abdul Rahman Al Hawi, Undersecretary of the Ministry of Investment, along with several FTA officials. The event formed part of the Authority’s efforts to strengthen collaboration and continuous communication with its partners in both the government and private sectors.

During the gathering, attended by more than 210 representatives of large companies, SMEs, and government entities, Al Bustani stressed the importance of continuous communication between FTA representatives and all business sectors, to understand their opinions and highlight their contributions to the sustainable development plans that the Authority has set for its services and procedures.

“Since its inception, the Federal Tax Authority has been committed to engaging stakeholders in the continuous development of its tax systems and procedures,” Al Bustani said. “Taxpayers’ feedback is always taken into consideration; their opinions and suggestions are always welcome.”

“The Authority is working to launch a series of initiatives to accelerate tax procedures and contribute to the Zero Government Bureaucracy Programme, which was launched during the sessions organised by the UAE Government to strengthen its partnerships with the private sector,” He added. “The FTA participated in the programme, which aims to do away with 2,000 government processes in just one year, cutting the time needed to avail government services by 50%.

The Authority will continue to provide facilities with its services, cutting down on its procedures, and minimising the time required to complete its services, in line with the Zero Government Bureaucracy Programme.”

The FTA Director-General noted, “We understand that achieving the best results in this field requires the combined efforts of all stakeholders in the tax sector and their active participation by sharing opinions and scenarios based on practical experience.

With that in mind, the Federal Tax Authority continuously holds meetings and brainstorming sessions – both in-person and remote – to gauge stakeholders’ opinions about the FTA’s development plans across all areas of its work. Comments shared are always taken into account in the design and implementation of future development projects and new initiatives.”

Attendees at the Ramadan gathering, which included representatives of SMEs, large companies, and government entities, were briefed about developments regarding the implementation of Corporate Tax.

FTA representatives stressed the need to abide by the Authority’s decision specifying deadlines for all categories of taxpayers subject to Corporate Tax to submit registration requests, which went into effect as of 1 March 2024.

Taxpayers subject to Corporate Tax whose licences were issued in January and February were urged to promptly submit their registration requests no later than 31st May 2024, regardless of the year their licences were issued, to avoid violating tax legislation.

WAM