As of January 1, 2023, some provisions of the Federal Decree-Law No 8 of 2017 on value-added tax (VAT) will be amended by the UAE Ministry of Finance.

According to the GCC Unified VAT Agreement, the amendments are aligned with international best practices. The recommendations also reflect business experiences, challenges faced by various sectors, and recommendations from relevant individuals.

As part of its efforts to reduce oil dependence and diversify the economy, the UAE introduced a 5 percent VAT on most goods and services in 2018.

The following are some of the major amendments introduced by Federal Decree-Law No 18 of 2022 to amend some provisions of Federal Decree-Law No 8 of 2017 on VAT:

• Registered person who makes taxable supplies are allowed to apply for an exception from VAT Registration if all their supplies are zero-rated or if they no longer make any supplies other than zero-rated supplies.
• Setting a 14-day period to issue a tax credit note to settle output tax, in line with the timeframe set for issuing tax invoices.
• The Federal Tax Authority may force the deregistration of registered persons in certain situations if deemed necessary.

As part of the decree law, specific provisions were amended to clarify and confirm the text's intended meaning, rephrase, or improve its legislative sequence. In addition, the VAT rate remains at 5 percent, unchanged from before.