In line with the directives of His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President and Prime Minister of the UAE, Ruler of Dubai, to facilitate people's lives and establish a business environment that is supportive and attractive to talent and gifted minds, the UAE began implementing the Zero Government Bureaucracy Programme, spearheading a significant leap forward in government operations, mechanisms, procedures, and transactions, which, in turn, paves the way for faster, simpler, easier, and more efficient procedures, and reduces unnecessary burdens on business sectors and individuals in the process
The Federal Tax Authority (FTA) is committed to doing its part in implementing the ambitious Programme, and to that end, is focusing on sustainably developing its services, in a bid to enhance their efficiency, quality, and flexibility, while streamlining and consolidating government procedures
With that objective in mind, the Authority has launched a series of initiatives to expedite tax procedures, as part of its contribution towards the Zero Government Bureaucracy Programme. The FTA took part in the sessions of the Programme, which aims to do away with 2,000 government procedures in a year and cut down the time needed to avail government services by 50%. The Authority will continue to provide facilities, reduce the time needed to complete transactions, and cancel more of its procedures, in line with the requirements of the Programme
Furthermore, the Authority continuously holds meetings and brainstorming sessions, both in-person and remote, to solicit stakeholders' opinions on development plans in all areas of its work, taking their feedback into account in designing and implementing development projects or new initiatives, which serves to achieve the best results in this field. These objectives require concerted efforts from all stakeholders in the tax sector, who can effectively contribute to the process by sharing their opinions, insights, and practical experiences
In line with the Zero Government Bureaucracy Programme, the Federal Tax Authority launched the EmaraTax smart application, which offers 35 digital tax services to taxpayers. The app contributes towards enhancing government efficiency and agility, streamlining and reducing government procedures, offering seamless digital services, and implementing innoVATive models that reflect the leadership and excellence of the government system in the UAE, all the while adding value; saving time, cost, and effort; ensuring immediate processing; and increasing data communication flexibility
The Authority is also pursuing ambitious development plans that are consistent with the Government Services Quality Charter, implementing effective transformation procedures to reduce the number of documents required to provide services as much as possible, and constantly striving to make a tangible impact towards improving customer experience. Meanwhile, the EmaraTax smart application plays an effective role in streamlining procedures and integrating with other systems and departments, which enables customers to benefit from the digitisation and acceleration of tax procedures
Moreover, the FTA has launched a range of transformational projects to develop digital services with effective procedures to reduce service turnover time, cut down on paper usage, and minimise the number of documents required to avail services, among other facilities
The plan includes three tracks, starting with the service for refunding taxes that UAE citizens incurred on the construction of their new homes, where procedures for applying for the service have been simplified, reducing the number of steps, fields to be filled, and documents required.
The second track, meanwhile, focuses on the development of procedures for issuing a Tax Residency Certificate, including streamlining procedures and integration with other systems and departments to expedite the issuance of certificates and improve user experience. The FTA issues the certificate to enable applicants to benefit from the agreements to avoid double taxation, which the UAE has signed
Lastly, the final track consists of a project to develop the instant messaging and live chat service, in an effort to improve user experience and provide information about the services offered by the Federal Tax Authority from a single channel
,Khalid Ali Al Bustani
Director-General of the Federal Tax Authority