FTA applies AED 2.9bln VAT refund for 35,000 UAE Nationals

The Federal Tax Authority (FTA) announced that the cumulative total of approved applications by UAE nationals who received VAT-refunds for the expenses they have incurred for the construction of their newly built residences reached 34,900 valued at AED 2.9 billion.

The authority said that its digital refund systems, including the VAT-refund system for UAE nationals for the construction of new residences and the VAT-refund system for tourists, achieved outstanding results in 2024 due to a continuous development of digitalisation plans.

That figure can be compared to the cumulative total number of applications by the end of 2023, which was a little over 27,000 and a total value of over AED 2.2 billion, reflecting an annual increase of 27.52 per cent in the number of approved applications, and 32 per cent in the monetary value of refunds.

According to statistics, the number of applications approved during 2024 for UAE nationals VAT-refunds, related the construction of new residences, reached 7,520 applications with a total value of AED 704.38 million.

The FTA explained that regarding the digital VAT-refund scheme for tourists, the number of retail outlets linked electronically to the system has witnessed a remarkable expansion across the UAE.

The number of outlets registered for VAT-refund increasing to 17,847 outlets by the end of 2024, compared to 16,357 outlets by the end of 2023 – an increase of nine per cent over the previous year.

A total of 1,490 new retailers joined the scheme, in 2024, following the 1,518 outlets that were linked to the scheme in 2023. This brings the total number of outlets that have joined the digital VAT-refund system for tourists to 3,008, over the past two years.

The FTA confirmed its ambition to increase the number of self-service kiosks across the UAE, through which tourists can finalise tax refund procedures as they leave the country.

With all transactions processed in less than two minutes, self-service kiosks are currently situated in major shopping malls and hotels, in addition to airport terminals.

The number of self-service kiosks for tax refunds for tourists saw an increase to 97 kiosks by the end of 2024, compared to 82 kiosks by the end of 2023 – an increase of 18.3 per cent, over the past year.