UAE VAT – Change in tax period

VAT Update-Change in tax period: Latest FTA Update- change the length of the tax period to half-yearly (6 months)

Purpose of the VAT Administrative Exception Form
What is a VAT Administrative Exception? : A VAT Administrative Exception is a mechanism which provides registrants with concessions / exceptions allowed by the Federal Decree-Law No. 8 of 2017 on Value Added Tax (“Law”) or Cabinet Decision No 52 of 2017 on the Executive Regulations of the Federal Decree-Law No. 8 of 2017 on Value Added Tax (“Executive Regulations”) if difficult circumstances prevent them from following certain procedural aspects of the Law or the Executive Regulations.
VAT Administrative Exceptions are grouped into the following categories and are relevant to VAT only:

• Tax Invoices
• Tax Credit Notes
• Length of the Tax Period
• Stagger
• Extension of time for the export of goods
• Who is eligible to make a VAT Administrative Exception Request?
  The applicant must:
  be a registrant with the FTA;
• satisfy the requirements in respect of the relevant Exception Request, as outlined below; and
• provide all relevant supporting documentation.

How to make a Request?
The registrant must submit the VAT Administrative Exception Request by email to specialexceptions@tax.gov.ae. Refer to section 5 for details on the submission.

Who can submit the VAT Administrative Exception Form on your behalf?
The following can submit the VAT Administrative Exception:

• The authorized signatory of the registrant;
• The registrant’s appointed Tax Agent; or
• The registrant’s appointed Legal Representative.
  If you are a member of a Tax Group, the request should be submitted by the Representative Member of the Tax Group.
  

Tax Advisors (who are not registered Tax Agents) are not permitted to submit any VAT Administrative Exception Requests on behalf of a registrant.

Submitting the VAT Administrative Exception Form
Once you have completed the VAT Administrative Exception Form, please send the soft copy (in editable PDF format) to the following email address along with the supporting documents.
specialexceptions@tax.gov.ae
VAT Administrative Exception Requests sent to other FTA email addresses will not receive a reply.
Accepted file types are PDF, JPG, PNG and JPEG. The total file size limit is 10 MB.

Response from the FTA on your VAT Administrative Exception
It may take the FTA up to 40 business days to decide on your VAT Administrative Exception request if it is in relation to Tax Invoices, Tax Credit Notes, Length of Tax Period or Stagger.
It may take the FTA up to 20 business days to decide on your VAT Administrative Exception request if it is in relation to Extending the Time for the Export of Goods.

If your application is incomplete, or additional information is required, the FTA will ask you to provide the required / additional documentation. After re-submitting the complete application, it may take the FTA a further 40/20 business days to respond to your updated request for a VAT Administrative Exception.

The Approval or Rejection provided by the FTA is based on the facts provided by you at the time the VAT Administrative Exception Form is submitted.
The final response to your VAT Administrative Exception request will be in a decision format and you will receive it as an attachment in an email within 5 business days of the decision being made.