The Federal Tax Authority has called on official participants to take advantage of the facilities of the mechanism for refunding value-added tax paid on goods and services related to Expo 2020 Dubai, which is applied by the Authority based on the esteemed Cabinet Resolution No. “1” of 2020 regarding refunding value-added tax paid on goods and services related to Expo 2020 Dubai.
His Excellency Khalid Ali Al Bustani, Director-General of the Federal Tax Authority, said: “The authority has prepared during the last period in cooperation with the competent authorities to ensure the smooth implementation of the procedures for refunding value-added tax paid for goods and services related to Expo 2020 Dubai.”
He added, “There is daily direct communication between the Federal Tax Authority and the Department of International Participants in the Office of the Integrated Platform for Expo 2020 Dubai Services, to coordinate joint efforts, and quickly process requests for official participants in the exhibition, whether with regard to requests from participating countries to register for value-added tax, or processing requests for value-added tax.” recovery as well as responding to inquiries from countries participating in this important event.”
He stated that “the Federal Tax Authority provides a special telephone service to facilitate and expedite the procedures for registering international participants in Expo 2020 Dubai for value added tax, by making phone calls through which the employees of the registration department of the authority explain in detail the requirements for participants to fill out the electronic application through the integrated platform for Expo 2020 Dubai services, Priority is given to processing VAT registration applications received from international participants in the exhibition.”
He explained that “the authority has already completed registration processes during the last period for many of the participating countries that submitted applications for registration for value added tax, and the authority is processing the applications it receives through its electronic system to recover value added tax for goods and services related to Expo 2020 Dubai, and special refund requests are also processed.” received by the authority through the integrated platform office responsible for receiving and reviewing requests for refunds of participants who are not registered for value added tax.
Special refund requests are examined and reviewed through the tax agent who is appointed by the integrated platform office, then the refund requests are sent via e-mail to the authority expo2020@tax.gov.ae, where they are received and reviewed by the authority’s specialists.
His Excellency Khalid Al Bustani stressed that “the authority is working to implement a mechanism to refund the value-added tax paid for goods and services related to Expo 2020 Dubai, with standards characterized by transparency, accuracy and ease of implementation of procedures in the context of contributing to the intensive efforts made by all concerned authorities in the country to make this giant event, whose activities were launched, to succeed. On the first of this October, with the participation of 192 countries, it constitutes an important international platform for the United Arab Emirates that brings the world together over a period of 6 months and embodies its vision in the field of international cooperation.
The authority had issued a guide for official participants in Expo 2020 Dubai, explaining the five categories for which the tax paid can be refunded, and the first category is the value-added tax paid by the official participant on goods and services directly related to the establishment, installation, modification, decoration and dismantling of the private exhibition space While the second category is the value-added tax paid by the official participant on goods and services directly related to the business and activities of organizing and operating the spaces of the official participants in the exhibition and any reviews and events at the Expo 2020 site.
According to the guideline, the third category is the value-added tax paid by the official participant on goods and services related to the actual organizing work of the official participant, provided that the value of each good or service for which the official participant’s office is requesting a refund of the tax paid is not less than 200 dirhams.
The guide indicated that the fourth category represents the value-added tax paid by the official participant and associated with all operations, services and activities provided for the purpose of participating in Expo 2020 Dubai, whether it takes place within the boundaries of the Expo 2020 site or outside, and the fifth category represents the value-added tax paid on the import of goods Intended for personal use by the Commissioner General of the Department of the Official Participant, Department Team and Beneficiaries.
The guide clarified that in order for the official participant to be eligible to recover value-added tax paid on expenditures under the first and second categories, or “expenditures related to several categories, including the first and second”, he must have a refund eligibility certificate issued by the Expo 2020 Dubai office established by Decree No. /30/ for the year 2014 issued by the Ruler of the Emirate of Dubai, but in cases where the expenses are not related to the first and second categories, but include the third, fourth or fifth categories, the official participant will not need to obtain a certificate of eligibility for a refund in order to apply for a tax refund.
The guide – available on the website of the Federal Tax Authority www.tax.gov.ae – explains the refund mechanism, the refundable value added tax, the special case of imports, the certificate of eligibility for refund, the eligibility criteria for obtaining this certificate, and how to apply for the certificate, The application form for obtaining it, the documents supporting the form, the processing of the application for a certificate of eligibility for refund by the Expo 2020 Dubai office, the refund request and how to submit it, the procedures related to the offices of registered official participants for value-added tax, the offices of official participants who are not registered for value-added tax, and documents supporting the application Refund, processing of the application by the Expo 2020 Dubai office, the periodicity of the application process, and payment of tax when selling imported goods.
The Honorable Council of Ministers Resolution (No. 1) for the year 2020 set
