FTA announces adaptation of 100 new digital zero bureaucracy measures

The Federal Tax Authority (FTA) has announced the adaptation of 100 new digital zero bureaucracy measures, to further develop the “EmaraTax” digital tax services platform. These improvements are based on proposals and ideas shaped by taxpayers and stakeholders, drawn from their real-life experiences and insights, and were gathered through around 24 interactive meetings and workshops attended by approximately 560 participants.

This came during the “Zero Bureaucracy in Taxation” retreat, organised by FTA in Dubai under the theme “Digital Services with Zero Bureaucracy”. The retreat was inaugurated by Khalid Ali Al Bustani, Director General of FTA, in the presence of Eng. Mohamed Bin Taliah, Chief of Government Services for the UAE Government, and with the participation of a group of taxpayers and the FTA’s strategic partners. The event aimed to strengthen collaboration, discuss the best ways to accelerate and simplify procedures, identify challenges in this area, and develop practical solutions to overcome them.

Khalid Al Bustani emphasised the importance of taxpayers and business sectors contributing their ideas and suggestions to support the sustainable development of FTA’s services and to participate in its initiatives aimed at accelerating the implementation of the government’s “Digital Zero Bureaucracy” programme. Launched by the UAE’s wise leadership, this programme seeks to make people’s lives easier, achieve a qualitative leap in government processes and procedures, and strengthen an environment that fosters business growth while attracting talent and expertise.

He said: “We are keen to maintain constant communication with taxpayers and business sectors to understand their views and contributions, ensuring the continuous enhancement of FTA’s services and procedures. Their feedback is always taken into consideration, and we consistently welcome the comments and insights of all stakeholders.

“Over the past period, FTA has launched numerous initiatives to accelerate tax procedures as part of the government’s ‘Digital Zero Bureaucracy’ programme, which aims to strengthen effective partnerships with the private sector. FTA will continue to provide further service facilitations, eliminate additional procedural steps, and reduce service completion times in line with this ambitious programme. We recognise that achieving the best results requires the concerted efforts of all stakeholders. From this perspective, FTA regularly holds consultative meetings and brainstorming sessions to gather feedback on plans to develop its services across all areas of operation.”

Abdulla Al Bastaki, Chief Executive Officer of the Information Technology Sector at the FTA honoured a group of taxpayers and the Authority’s employees who had put forward ideas and suggestions that contributed to enhancing the FTA’s efforts to improve its services and provide further facilitations, supporting the expansion of zero-bureaucracy initiatives within the tax sector.

During the retreat, brainstorming sessions were held to discuss the impact of the “Digital Zero Bureaucracy” programme on taxpayer satisfaction, explore proposals for further improving services, and gauge participants’ feedback on recent and ongoing enhancements. FTA also showcased its new initiatives under the second phase of the programme.

FTA explained that, over the past period, it held 24 interactive meetings and workshops attended by more than 560 stakeholders, resulting in over 589 development proposals. Based on these suggestions, FTA has begun adopting more than 100 enhancements to its services through the “EmaraTax” digital platform, 64 of which have already been implemented, with the remaining improvements currently underway.

FTA highlighted that among the most significant tangible benefits of the new enhancements were a 53% reduction in the number of required documents, a 55% reduction in data fields, and a 77% decrease in service completion time. FTA adopted innovative technologies to reduce the number of input fields, lower costs for taxpayers, and shorten service delivery times.

These efforts have strengthened the UAE’s global leadership in the tax sector, helping the country achieve first place worldwide in both the Taxation and Low Bureaucracy Index and the Ease of Paying Taxes Index. Additionally, the use of paper has been significantly reduced, the number of documents required for service delivery has been lowered, and enhanced service facilitation measures have been introduced, achieving noticeable impact within short timeframes.

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.

WAM