The United Arab Emirates is committed to all international agreements, procedures and standards adopted and related to tax procedures, and works with all concerned parties and their partners at the international level, especially the European Union, to achieve compliance with these charters.
H.E. Younis Haji Al Khoori, Undersecretary of the Ministry of Finance, said: “The UAE is committed to all international agreements and standards. The Ministry of Finance is currently working with all stakeholders at local and international levels to reach a plan that meets all the required standards within the specified period of time. We are confident that the European Union will lift the United Arab Emirates’ name from its list of non-cooperative jurisdictions for tax purposes, and we look forward to moving on to the next phase of cooperation with the relevant authorities in the European Union on other important issues related to tax cooperation between the two parties. “
The UAE has made outstanding achievements in 2018, in line with its commitment to transparency and international tax standards, where it joined in May 2018 the Inclusive Framework on the BEPS program to become the 116th jurisdiction to join this framework. In June 2018, the nation signed the Multilateral Agreement (MLI), which is a successful means for governments to resolve any loopholes in tax agreements, prevent abuse of treaties and to improve the settlement of disputes. Additionally, MoF signed an agreement on the exchange of Country-by-Country reports (MCAA CbCR) under the Base Erosion and Profit Shifting (BEPS) Action 13 minimum standard based on the Convention on Mutual Administrative Assistance in Tax Matters (MAC). This agreement establishes the requisite rules and procedures for the appropriate authorities to annually exchange financial reports of multinationals with incomes of € 750 million or more. The reports are handed over to the tax authority of the country where these companies are based and exchanged with the tax authorities of the countries in which the group operates.
The nation is currently working with the relevant parties to prepare a legislation on the current economic activities to be completed during the second half of this year.