Organised by the Federal Tax Authority (FTA) to ensure direct and constant communication with various business sectors, the Tax Support initiative continued its activities across all emirates to raise tax awareness and improve compliance rates.

The Authority revealed on Monday that two new awareness tours were held in May as part of the Tax Support initiative. The first was held on 3 and 4 May 2023 as a collaboration between the FTA and Al Hajis Businessman Services - Tasheel in the Emirate of Ajman, while the second took place in Ras Al Khaimah, in collaboration with Bayanat Al Emarat Transactions Follow up Services - Tasheel on May 16 and 17.

The FTA noted that, during the two tours in Ajman and Ras Al Khaimah, teams of analysts and experts from the Authority provided explanations for a range of tax-related issues, including matters related to the procedures and documents required for tax registration and deregistration, procedures for submitting requests for reconsideration, process for providing information on voluntary declaration requests, and documents required for submitting refund requests for eligible sums. The Authority emphasised the importance of using approved forms provided by the Authority, highlighting common errors that may occur during registration, submission of tax returns, or payment of taxes due, as well as ways to avoid these errors.

The FTA experts answered all questions posed by representatives of the participating business sectors, offering them the knowledge and support needed to overcome any obstacles they might encounter with online tax procedures.

The Federal Tax Authority called on business sectors to attend the Tax Support tours to gain insight and share their observations or enquiries so they can be answered by the FTA experts. The Authority noted its commitment to continuing with the Tax Support initiative and its activities across all seven emirates, in collaboration with relevant authorities. FTA representatives will make successive tours to meet with taxpayers, provide the necessary knowledge support and tax awareness, and enable them to undertake the required procedures to enhance tax compliance across the country.

The FTA stressed the important role that service centres and entities cooperating with the Authority play in ensuring the initiative’s success by providing all the necessary requirements and resources to achieve its awareness goals.

The Authority launched the Tax Support initiative in January 2023 with a plan to cover all seven emirates. The objective of the initiative is to raise tax awareness, address any obstacles taxpayers may face, and help them to ensure self-compliance.

In the first five months of 2023, the Federal Tax Authority organised seven awareness tours, benefiting a large number of representatives from various business sectors, as well as other tax system stakeholders. The first tour was held on January 24 and 25, in collaboration with OnTime Business Solution Centre – Oud Metha, Dubai, while the second tour took place on February 14 and 15, in collaboration with Tadbeer Al Hili Mall in Al Ain.

The third tour was held in Fujairah on February 21 and 22, in collaboration with Al Mustanad Businessmen Services VIP - Tasheel, followed by the fourth trip on March 7 and 8, in collaboration with Moaamalat centre For Transactions Clearing - Tasheel in Umm Al Quwain. Moreover, the fifth trip was held in Sharjah on 14 and 15 March, in collaboration with Al Thiqah Multi Services centre - Tasheel. Lastly, the sixth and seventh trips were held in Ajman and Ras Al Khaimah during the past month.

The Federal Tax Authority was established by Federal Decree-Law No. (13) of 2016 to help diversify the national economy and increase non-oil revenues in the UAE through the management and collection of federal taxes based on international best practices and standards, as well as to provide all means of support to enable taxpayers to comply with the tax laws and procedures. Since its inception in 2017, the FTA has been committed to cooperate with the competent authorities to establish a comprehensive and balanced system to make the UAE one of the first countries in the world to implement a fully electronic tax system that encourages voluntary compliance, with simple procedures based on the highest standards of transparency and accuracy – beginning from registration, to the submission of tax returns, to the payment of due taxes through the Authority’s website.