The UAE’s Federal Tax Authority (FTA) intensified its supervisory efforts in 2023, carrying out almost 40,000 inspection visits over the course of the year, to protect consumer rights, combat tax evasion, and enhance tax compliance.
In 2023, the authority increase the number of inspections by 80.71%, carrying out 39,470 inspection visits through 211 campaigns in local markets across all emirates of the UAE, compared to the previous year.
In 2022, the FTA had carried out 21,840 field visits through 113 inspection campaigns.
These campaigns form part of the FTA’s plans to “enhance market control”, in order to ensure compliance with tax laws, legislation, and procedures, combating commercial fraud and preventing the sale of sub-standard or counterfeit products that negatively affect quality of life, the authority said in a statement.
In 2023, inspection efforts within the excise goods category last year resulted in the seizure of 21.29 million units of non-compliant tobacco products that were not marked with the digital tax stamps. Meanwhile, 2.45 million non-compliant units of goods including soft drinks, energy drinks, and sweetened beverages, were also seized.
“The Federal Tax Authority’s continuous supervisory efforts aim to enhance tax compliance, monitor taxpayers’ adherence to tax legislation in all of their transactions, combat tax evasion, and protect consumers from non-compliant excise goods that fail to meet the UAE’s strict quality standards,” said Khalid Ali Al Bustani, Director General of the FTA.
The market inspection campaigns also revealed an increase in the number of compliant establishments verified in 2023 to 32,710, up from 18,230 in 2022, which marks an increase of 79.41%, according to FTA data.
Moreover, the number of registered establishments found to be non-compliant with tax laws increased to 4,390, compared to 2,570 in 2022, marking an increase of 70.91%. A total of 1,150 registration notices were issued to non-registered and non-compliant establishments, marking a 72.31% increase.
