Federal Tax Authority Promotes Tax Awareness As Part Of Tax Clinic Initiative

ABU DHABI, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News / WAM - 11th Apr, 2021) The Federal Tax Authority (FTA) has held three new interactive sessions via video conference, as part of the "Tax Clinic" initiative, a policy of direct and constant communication with business sectors, aims to promote tax awareness and avoid the most common errors that might occur while implementing tax procedures.

The three awareness sessions held in the first quarter of 2021, Q1-21 focused on the small and medium enterprise (SME) sector. FTA’s Registration and Taxpayer Services Departments' teams answered, via video conference, the inquiries of business representatives from across the emirates about registration and other tax obligations and raised awareness of how to submit returns and pay tax dues without errors.

Khalid Ali Al Bustani, Director-General of FTA, emphasised that the FTA, as part of its commitment to ensuring the security and safety of its employees and clients, maintains constant interaction with those involved in the tax system by organising seminars, workshops and meetings with its partners in the government and private sectors via video conference to preserve physical distancing and adhere to precautionary measures against the novel coronavirus (COVID-19).

In a statement Al Bustani said, "The Authority is keen to communicate with the business sectors concerned with the implementation of the tax system through various possible channels.

In this context, the "Tax Clinic" was launched to serve as an innovative initiative aimed at promoting tax awareness among all business groups, responding to their inquiries, supporting them in overcoming any challenges they may face, and providing them with information without the need to visit the Authority’s headquarters. Through this initiative, the FTA aims to maintain constant communication with businesses through its specialised team via video conference."

Al Bustani added, "As part of the ongoing development plans implemented by the FTA to improve its services, the Authority has begun to pursue a new strategy to make the "Tax Clinic" focus on various sectors every quarter. Due to the increase in tax inquiries from SMEs and their large number in the UAE, the sessions of Q1-2021 were mainly devoted to communicating with the representatives of this vital sector and the possibility of communicating with other sectors if required. The events will focus on another sector in Q2-2021."

The interactive "Tax Clinic" sessions explained and clarified a large number of topics, including the procedures and documents required for tax deregistration, submitting requests for voluntary disclosures, documents required to submit refund requests, and common errors that may occur during registration, submitting tax declarations, or paying due taxes, in addition to explanations on how to avoid these errors.