UAE businesses get more time to dispute tax assessments
Here’s how businesses can review and dispute corporate tax assessments or penalties
Dubai: Businesses in the UAE will have up to 40 working days to raise an issue or dispute tax assessments—or even penalties—issued by the Federal Tax Authority (FTA).
With corporate tax becoming an integral part of business operations in the UAE, the FTA’s 40-day timeframe allows companies ample time to review their tax assessments and, if necessary, submit concerns to the authority.
Tax consultants emphasize that this 40-day window is critical, given the steep learning curve associated with corporate tax assessments at both the company and regulatory levels. By contrast, VAT and excise tax processes are more straightforward, as they are based directly on invoices.
“Unlike VAT, corporate tax requires multiple assumptions and calculations before filing a year’s audit with the regulator,” explained Sandip Mukherjee, Director of International Tax and Transfer Pricing at Jitendra Tax Consultants.
For VAT reviews, the period for filing a petition is 20 days.
First corporate tax filings approach
For most UAE companies—those operating on a January-to-December financial year—the first corporate tax filings are due by September 2025. However, for businesses with a June-to-May financial year, the first filings are due by February 2025.
Once the FTA issues its tax notification following these submissions, businesses will have 40 days to respond.
“The tax review petitions would apply when the taxpayer has reasonable grounds to believe there were technical errors in the application of tax rules,” said Mukherjee. “This could include calculation errors or errors in audit procedures that led to incorrect tax determinations or administrative penalties.”
Requesting more time
The FTA is also willing to grant extensions for valid reasons. If a business is unable to meet the 40-day deadline for submitting a review petition, it can request an extension from the FTA.
Tax review requests must be emailed to AssessmentReview@tax.gov.ae
What happens next?
After receiving a review petition, the FTA will take up to 40 additional working days to issue a verdict.
The FTA may take the following actions:
- Reject the request if procedural requirements are not met, such as if it was not submitted within 40 working days of receiving the tax assessment or penalty notification.
- Adjust the earlier tax assessment if errors are identified.
- Uphold the earlier tax assessment if no errors are found.
If the business still disagrees with the FTA's decision after this review, it can submit a reconsideration request.
More to follow...