Companies based in Switzerland can now reclaim VAT on corporate travel and expenses incurred in UAE.
Companies based in Switzerland can now reclaim VAT on corporate travel and expenses incurred in UAE. This update to the UAE official guidance is is expected to be valid for 2018 claims.
Although we have not yet received confirmation from the UAE that they are applying the counter-right immediately, we expect that the counter-right will apply from the claim year 2019 and therefore allow for VAT refunds on corporate travel and expense invoices for the year 2018.
The UAE’s Federal Tax Authority (FTA) has recently outlined the four conditions that allow foreign businesses to recover Value Added Tax (VAT) incurred in the UAE.
To be eligible, foreign businesses must meet four conditions:
- The business must not have a place of establishment in the UAE or in any of the VAT-implementing GCC states (currently Saudi Arabia and Bahrain).
- They must not be a taxable person in the UAE.
- They must be registered as an establishment with a competent authority in the jurisdiction in which they are established.
- They must be from a country that implements VAT and that equally provides VAT refunds to UAE businesses in similar circumstances.
The authority also clarified that businesses residing in any of the other GCC states may still submit a VAT refund application.
The full list of countries who can claim a refund from UAE can be found at the Federal Tax Authority official website.
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