In particular, the United Arab Emirates (UAE) plans, on 1 January 2018, to implement VAT. Economic Department is currently finalizing legislation and will release more details in coming months. It is anticipated that compliance will be mandatory for businesses meeting the threshold limit and in case of non-compliance heavy penalties and fines will be levied.
Introduction of VAT will bring major changes and businesses will have to adhere to VAT regulatory and statutory compliances and report the same on a periodic basis. We foresee business community in general will face a real challenge to understand the new law and implement the same well before due date. Also, it will be mandatory for each business to maintain complete books of accounts under UAE VAT law.