The Federal Tax Authority (FTA) has confirmed that its digital VAT refund systems, including the VAT-refund system for UAE nationals for the construction of new residences and the VAT-refund system for tourists, achieved outstanding results in 2024 due to a continuous development of digitalisation plans, implemented by the FTA over the calendar year.
Cumulative applications for UAE nationals
The FTA also announced that the cumulative total of approved applications by UAE nationals who received VAT refunds for the expenses they have incurred for the construction of their newly built residences reached 34,900 applications with a total value of AED2.9 billion ($789.5 million), since the start of the service, more than six years ago until the end of last year.
That figure can be compared to the cumulative total number of applications by the end of 2023, which was a little over 27,000 applications and a total value of over AED2.2 billion ($599 million), reflecting an annual increase of 27.52 percent in the number of approved applications, and 32 percent in the monetary value of refunds.
Applications approved in 2024
According to statistics, the number of applications approved during 2024 for UAE nationals VAT refunds, related to the construction of new residences, reached 7,520 applications with a total value of AED704.38 million ($191.8 million).
The number of approved applications for tax refunds for the construction of new UAE national-owned residences also increased from 270 applications, worth AED9.11 million in 2018, to 1,900 applications during 2019, with a total value of AED121.46 million. In 2020, 3,750 applications worth AED301.35 million were received, and 5,990 applications, worth AED467.52 million in 2021.
In 2022, 7,170 applications worth AED583.38 million were received, with 8,250 applications worth a total of AED720.12 million processed in 2023.
Expansion of digital VAT refund system for tourists
The Federal Tax Authority explained that regarding the digital VAT refund scheme for tourists, the number of retail outlets linked electronically to the system has witnessed a remarkable expansion across the UAE over the past years.
The number of outlets registered for VAT refunds increased to 17,847 outlets by the end of 2024, compared to 16,357 outlets by the end of 2023—an increase of 9 percent over the previous year. A total of 1,490 new retailers joined the scheme in 2024, following the 1,518 outlets that were linked to the scheme in 2023. This brings the total number of outlets that have joined the digital VAT refund system for tourists to 3,008 over the past two years.
Increase in self-service kiosks for tax refunds
The FTA confirmed its ambition to increase the number of self-service kiosks across the UAE, through which tourists can finalize tax refund procedures as they leave the country.
With all transactions processed in less than two minutes, self-service kiosks are currently situated in major shopping malls and hotels, in addition to airport terminals.
The number of self-service kiosks for tax refunds for tourists saw an increase to 97 kiosks by the end of 2024, compared to 82 kiosks by the end of 2023—an increase of 18.3 percent over the past year. The 15 new kiosks installed during 2024 represent a more than doubling of units over 2023, which saw 6 kiosks added.
Read more: 450,000 businesses registered for corporate tax: UAE’s FTA
Commitment to digital transformation
Khalid Ali Al Bustani, director-general of FTA, said, “The FTA pays great attention to the continuous development and update of its digital systems in accordance with global best practices, in line with the UAE’s digital transformation strategy. Indicators show that FTA’s efforts in this field have positively reflected on the quality and performance of its mandate in general, including the digital systems for VAT refunds for eligible categories.
“Two key examples are the tax refund service for new housing construction for UAE nationals and the tax refund service for tourists, both of which have witnessed successive development processes over the past years. This has been achieved by introducing more facilities to streamline and accelerate the procedures related to self-service tax refund systems.”
He added, “Building on the positive results of the FTA’s development of digital services, during 2024, in 2025 we will continue to launch various projects and initiatives in the field of digital transformation in the tax sector to keep pace with the smart transformation strategy laid out by our wise leadership, which entails transformation of all services based on seamless and proactive digital procedures, supporting efforts to reduce bureaucracy and maintain high levels of customer happiness.”
