The Sharjah Chamber of Commerce & Industry (SCCI), in cooperation with the Federal Tax Authority, organized an awareness workshop on new developments in the tax system in the UAE, mechanisms for applying value-added tax (VAT), procedures for registering at the Federal Tax Authority, and the entailed commitments, auditing and paperwork for importers and exporters.

The workshop, which was hosted at SCCI premises today, 23, august, 2017  under the slogan "VAT for Importers and Exporters and Registration Mechanism," saw wide participation by representatives of the business community and retail, import, and export companies operating in Sharjah.

The session was attended by H.E  Abdullah Sultan Al Owais, Chairman of Sharjah Chamber of Commerce & Industry, H.E Walid BuKhatir, SCCI Second Vice Chairman, and

 Mohammed Ahmed Amin, Assistant Director-General for Communication and Business Sector at SCCI, Saida Kaddoumi-Osman representing the Federal Tax Authority, in addition to representatives of a number of government agencies and heads of work groups operating under SCCI's umbrella.

“Sharjah Chamber Commerce and Industry”, stressed the importance of close cooperation between government institutions and agencies and the active partnership between the public and private sectors in organizing economic life and prosperity of its commercial, industrial and professional sectors at all levels and keeping pace with the civilization development witnessed by the UAE and Sharjah.

Sharjah Chamber of Commerce and Industry added, that organizing this seminar is motivated by SCCI's commitment to informing the business community in Sharjah about the tax laws issued by the government last March 2017, and to help raise awareness among members about new developments in the state's tax system, mechanisms for applying VAT, procedures related to it, and the entailed commitments.

SCCI also mentioned, that the workshop provided valuable information and answered the questions of several company owners about new legislations regulating tax procedures for the business community, which should enable companies in various economic sectors to put their affairs in order and take the necessary steps to improve their performance during the upcoming stage before the deadline for applying VAT in early 2018.

For her part, Saida Kaddoumi-Osman , representative of the Federal Tax Authority, said that the workshop achieved its goals and managed to inform a large number of private sector establishments in Sharjah about the goals of applying indirect taxes in the UAE and their role in supporting economic diversity by diversifying the sources of government revenues in order to fund infrastructure projects and improve the quality of services provided by the government.

The workshop focused on informing retail, import, and export companies about the concept of VAT in the UAE and the necessary procedures for preparing to apply the tax in January 1st 2018, in addition to the requirements of compliance which include as a first step the registration mechanism at the Federal Tax Authority for tax purposes.