No new UAE taxes in 2012

Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries have delayed the application of the planned value-added tax (VAT) indefinitely and the UAE won’t impose any new tax this year or next year, Sharjah-based Al Khaleej daily reported last week citing an official of the UAE’s Ministry of Finance.

Younis Haji Khouri, Undersecretary of the Ministry of Finance, told the Arabic daily that after consultations among the various parties concerned in the six-member economic bloc, the GCC states have decided to defer the application of VAT until every member is ready with the internal systems and specialized staff required to implement such a tax.

Khouri added that while the GCC as a bloc was keen to unify its taxation standards and procedures, that wouldn’t impede the individual nations’ right to study and identify other types of indirect taxes to be applied independently.

He also stressed that the UAE would not impose any new tax in the country this year or the next, as the Ministry had not submitted any bills or proposals for a new tax in the State during 2012.

The Ministry of Finance has, in cooperation with other concerned authorities, prepared a three-year study on the dimensions of the application of VAT on the UAE society economically and socially, he said, and the report includes the potential scope of VAT, which, when implemented, would include goods and services.

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