UAE FTA issues Real Estate VAT guide

The United Arab Emirates (UAE) Federal Tax Authority (FTA) has issued guidelines on Real Estate VAT. The 33-page manual, which has been published on the FTA website covers the following topics:

• Residential buildings
• Charitable buildings
• Bare land
• Commercial real estate
• Mixed use developments
• Owners associations
• Development infrastructure
• Supplies between landlords and tenants
• Place of supply
• Construction industry
• VAT refunds for new residences
• Transitional provisions

The long-awaited guide clarifies many issues previously raised in the Real Estate / Construction sector, including the supply of accommodation in labor camps, partially completed buildings, leasing of bare land for development, VAT recovery on infrastructure costs, mixed use developments, landlord contributions towards tenants’ costs, place of supply of real estate related services, supplies of real estate within the Designated Zones and retention payments.