The United Arab Emirates confirms that it will introduce VAT from the 1 January 2018 despite legislation still not being published.
The threshold for registrations will be $100,000 sales per annum. The standard VAT rate of 5% will apply to most goods and services, including financial services. There will be exemption for: healthcare; water; transport; education; and some technologies and renewable energies.
The UAE, along with the other five Gulf Co-Operation Council states, is introducing VAT to diversify its revenues from unreliable oil duties. The UAE is expected to earn over $3bn per annum from the implementation of VAT.
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VP Global Indirect Tax
Richard Asquith
Richard Asquith is VP Global Indirect Tax at Avalara, helping businesses understand their compliance obligations as they grow globally. He is part of the European leadership team which this year won International Tax Review's Tax Technology Firm of the Year. Richard qualified as an accountant with KPMG in the UK, and went on to work in Hungary, Russia and France with EY.