United Arab Emirates Tax Updates 2023 February Edition

Ministry of Finance (MoF) issues decision on implementation of certain provisions on determination of tax residency

The UAE MoF released Ministerial Decision No. 27 of 2023 on implementation of certain provisions of Cabinet Decision No. 85 of 2022 on determining tax residency for natural persons and legal persons on 01 March 2023.

This decision clarifies on the following aspects:

• What constitutes an individual’s ‘usual place of residence’?

• How to calculate the time period to meet the threshold of 183 or 90 days as applicable?

• What constitutes permanent place of residence?

It also indicates that further clarifications and directives to determine tax residency shall be issued in future.

Ras Al Khaimah launches free zone for digital and virtual asset firms

The Government of Ras Al Khaimah (RAK) has launched the RAK Digital Assets Oasis, which is the world's first free zone dedicated to digital and virtual asset companies.

This free zone is designed to facilitate non-regulated activities in the virtual assets sector and will be the only free zone in the world dedicated solely to digital and virtual assets service providers. The RAK Digital Assets Oasis aims to support companies innovating in new and emerging sectors such as the metaverse, blockchain, utility tokens, virtual asset wallets, NFTs, DAOs, DApp, and other Web3-related businesses.

It is expected to open for applications in the second quarter of 2023.

MoF launches third phase of Digital Procurement Platform (DPP)

MoF has introduced the third phase of the Digital Procurement Platform (DPP). This platform is designed to streamline and digitize the procurement process across all UAE federal entities, making it easier for registered suppliers to participate in bidding and for federal entities to manage procurement activities.

With the deployment of the DPP, 32 ministries and federal entities are now able to complete all stages of the procurement process online, including announcement, bidding, following up on tenders, placing purchase orders, and generating invoices.

Corporate Tax