VAT in UAE: what is exempt and what is not

Selected supplies in sectors such as transportation, real estate, financial services will be completely exempt from VAT

The Federal Tax Authority (FTA) has announced the supplies that will be subject to Value Added Tax (VAT) as of January 1, 2018, revealing selected sectors that will be assigned zero-rated tax, such as education, healthcare, oil and gas, transportation and real estate. 

Selected supplies in sectors such as transportation, real estate, financial services will be completely exempt from VAT, whereas certain government activities will be outside the scope of the tax system (and, therefore, not subject to tax). These include activities that are solely carried out by the government with no competition with the private sector, activities carried out by non-profit organizations.

The UAE Cabinet is expected to issue a Decision to identify the government bodies and non-profit organisations that are not subject to VAT. The below table outlines all supplies that will be subject to the 5% Value Added Tax, as well as zero-rated supplies and exempt supplies.

Editor's Note: This article was originally published in Gulf News on Tuesday December 5th, 2017 http://bit.ly/GulfNewsVat