The Federal Tax Procedures law has been amended in the UAE

Summary of key changes

The update to the Federal Law No. (7) of 2017 on Tax Procedures is the first update to the FTP Law since its introduction in 2017.

The key changes are as follows:

• The timelines for Reconsideration requests have been expanded; taxpayers now have 40 rather than 20 business days from the date of an FTA decision to submit a request, and the FTA has 40 rather than 20 business days to review the request and issue a response. This provides taxpayers with valuable additional time to determine whether to proceed with a reconsideration, and to give due consideration to their arguments.       
• Upon receiving a response to a Reconsideration request, the taxpayer now has 40 rather than 20 business days to file an objection to the Tax Disputes Resolution Committee (TDRC). Again, this is a welcome extension to allow additional time to formulate submissions. In particular, we strongly advise clients to seek tax subject matter expert advice in such submissions, and the deadline extension should support in making this feasible. 
• When filing an objection to the TDRC, it is no longer required to have settled the penalty amount in question (only the tax amount must be settled). Previously, both the tax and penalty amount in question must have already been settled when filing an objection to the TDRC. The payment requirement to proceed to TDRC stage has been one of the challenges of appealing decisions of the FTA, so this amendment will help businesses with material penalties to proceed to TDRC stage.        
• Upon receiving a decision from the TDRC in response to a filed objection, the taxpayer now has 40 rather than 20 business days to file an appeal to the TDRC decision in Court.
• An appeal to the Court can only be made upon payment of 50% of the penalties applicable (either via cash or bank guarantee). The process through which a bank guarantee can be submitted against the penalty value is yet to be released, however we will communicate further details on this once this is known.
• A new provision is included which states that an alternative mechanism of objection and appeal will apply if the parties to a dispute are federal or local government entities – such qualifying entities and the alternative process is to be specified in a future Cabinet Decision.
• A new Committee is to be formed by a future Cabinet Decision, which may issue decisions approving the payment of penalties in installments or totally or partially waiving or refunding penalties. 

The following is a summary of the payment requirements applicable at each stage of the appeal process:

Key considerations and suggested action for businesses

The update to the FTP Law provides some welcome changes that will support businesses to more effectively manage the appeals process, whereby taxpayers now have more time to file Reconsideration requests and TDRC objections, and no longer need to settle the penalty amount in question prior to filing an objection to the TDRC.

That being said, we expect that businesses should now have more flexibility in pursuing appeals, avoiding cashflow challenges, and have further time to develop their grounds for appeal.  

Deloitte has extensive experience with assisting clients with submitting Reconsideration requests, as well as an in-house VAT dispute resolution team with extensive experience managing appeals processes and working closely together with the appointed legal counsel.

We have successfully represented and are currently assisting our clients on several complex and contentious tax issues, including penalty waiver requests and TDRC cases.

If your business has been issued a decision by the FTA in a situation where you believe there may be grounds to appeal, please reach out to your usual Deloitte contact as a matter of priority so that the necessary action can be taken to submit the request or appeal within the designated timeframes and requirements.