The Federal Tax Authority announced that it carried out 39.47 thousand inspection field visits during the past year through 211 campaigns in local markets in all the emirates of the country, an increase of 80.71% and an increase of 86.73% in the number of campaigns compared to the number of inspection visits carried out in 2022.
The Authority explained in a press statement today that these campaigns come within the framework of contributing to strengthening market oversight to ensure the enforcement of laws, legislation and tax procedures, combating commercial fraud and preventing trade in substandard and counterfeit products, which affect the quality of life.
She pointed out that within the category of goods subject to excise tax, oversight efforts resulted in the seizure and confiscation of 21.29 million packages of non-compliant tobacco products that did not carry “digital tax stamps” during the past year, while 2.45 million violating packages of other excise goods were seized, including soft drinks. Energy drinks and sweetened beverages.
Khaled Ali Al-Bustani, Director General of the Federal Tax Authority, said: “The Authority’s continuous supervisory efforts aim to enhance tax compliance, follow up on the compliance of taxable persons with tax legislation in all their transactions, and combat tax evasion. It also aims to protect consumers from the leakage of counterfeit products subject to the selective tax.” On the other hand, the Authority is intensifying its awareness efforts to encourage and assist taxable persons to self-comply, as they are strategic partners.”
Al Bustani added: “The Authority adopts regulatory standards that are consistent with best practices to ensure the smooth and effective implementation of tax legislation and procedures, which clearly define the obligations of all parties to the tax system, with full care to protect consumers through precise procedures to tighten control over the markets with the highest standards of governance and transparency.”
He explained that the inspections carried out by the Authority rely on various field and electronic monitoring mechanisms to prevent the sale, trading, or storage of products that do not meet the value-added tax or excise tax due, and among these mechanisms is the “distinctive labeling system for tobacco and its products, which has witnessed continuous development processes.” Since its implementation more than 5 years ago, “digital tax stamps” have been installed on packages of tobacco products and registered in the Authority’s database. Each stamp includes electronically recorded information that can be read with a smart device used by authorized inspectors to verify payment of the tax on these products. She explained. The Federal Tax Authority said that one of the indicators shown by the campaigns on the markets was the increase in the number of compliant establishments that were verified during inspection visits in 2023 to 32.71 thousand establishments, compared to 18.23 thousand compliant establishments that were verified in 2022.
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