audit services

Introduction

The government of UAE has recently been venturing into new strategies as to bring economic growth and prosperity in the country, as the oil prices continue to decline the government has taken initiatives to increase the revenue through different sectors, specially through Foreign Direct Investment.

Therefore, UAE has introduced a law namely “Foreign Direct Investment” which will enable and attract foreign investors to contribute in the economy of the country.

An Overview

This law now allows to permit the foreign shareholding percentage from 49% to 100% in many sectors, enabling the foreign investors to invest in the country and no longer requiring the need for local sponsorship which was mandatory previously.

The UAE cabinet has approved 122 economic activities across 13 sectors that will be eligible for up to 100% foreign ownership which includes transport and storage, agriculture, Hospitality and food services, Art and entertainment Construction, Educational activities, Healthcare etc. and also has published a list

of activities where the foreign direct investment will be restricted such as the oil and gas sector as to promote and safeguard the Emirati welfare.

The law has highlighted other provisions as well which have defined the application for investment, the rejection of the application for investment, what constitutes the capital invested and penalties imposed for certain non-compliances.

This step aims to promote the investment environment, economic growth and prosperity in the country and seems like a significant step forward, inviting investors to enjoy the UAE’s geographical location and be a factor in the growth of the country’s economy.

TRC Pamco will be happy to assist you in making this determination; provide preliminary assessments of your company’s current shareholding structure and assist with possible future strategies that can result in strengthening your shareholding, in compliance to UAE legislation.

Please let us know if you have any queries and our team will be happy to schedule a session to address all your queries and requirements.

 

Customs Notice No. (8/2019) Concerning “Excise Goods and Taxes”

Pursuant to Cabinet resolution number (52) for the year 2019 related to excise goods and taxes imposed on them and how to calculate excise prices, for tobacco products, and the resolution of the Minister of Finance number (236) for the year 2019 on setting a date of implementation for the cabinet resolution number (52) for the year 2019 and number (237) for the year 2019 on setting a date of implementation for the Cabinet resolution number (55) for the year 2019 and the resolution of the Federal Customs Authority number H A J/K J/S 2019/2249 on 12/11/2019 on implementing  expanded excise tax and resolution number H A J/K J/S/2019/2344 on 25th November 2019 regarding addition and amendment of the customs tariff articles, version 2017.

Introduction & Summary

Introduction

On 30 April 2019, the UAE Cabinet issued the Cabinet of Ministers Resolution No.31 of 2019 (concerning economic substance regulations in the UAE, “the Regulations”), requiring all in-scope UAE entities (“Relevant Entities”) that carry on certain activities (“Relevant Activities”) to have demonstrable economic substance in the UAE from 30 April 2019.

The Regulations apply to all UAE onshore and free zone companies that carry on a “Relevant Activity”.

The following are considered as “Relevant Activities” under the Regulations:

• Banking
• Insurance
• Fund management
• Lease-finance
• Headquarters
• Shipping
• Holding company
• Intellectual property (IP)
• Distribution and service centre.

The UAE entities carrying above mentioned relevant activity, needs to satisfy economic substance test. To satisfy the economic substance requirements in relation to a Relevant Activity, a Relevant Entity must:

• Conduct the relevant “core income generating activities” in the UAE;
• Be “directed and managed” in the UAE;
• With reference to the level of activities performed in the UAE
• Have adequate number of qualified full-time employees in the UAE
• Incur an adequate amount of operating expenditure in the UAE
• Have adequate physical assets in the UAE

Action point

Economic Substance regulation is applicable from 1^st January 2019. The companies on which above regulation applicable, has to submit economic substance report to relevant authorities till 31^st December 2020 for the year 2019.

Relevant reporting formats, regulation and detailed guidance are yet to be notified by the government.

TRC Pamco will be happy to assist you in making this determination; provide preliminary assessments of your company’s current compliance obligations, and assist with possible future strategies, in response to this new legislation

Please let us know if you have any queries and our team will be happy to schedule a session to address all your queries and requirements.

Introduction

Federal Decree Law No. (7) of 2017 (Excise Law) has applied excise tax to all goods listed in Cabinet Decision No. (38) of 2017 (Decision 38), with effect from 1 October 2017. Decision 38 currently imposes excise tax on “Excise Goods” at the following rates:

• Tobacco and tobacco products – 100%
• Carbonated drinks– 50%
• Energy drinks– 100%

Recently, The United Arab Emirates (UAE) Federal Tax Authority (FTA) has published the Cabinet Decision No.52 of 2019 on Excise Goods, Excise Tax Rates and the Methods of Calculating the Excise price (Cabinet Decision). Same will be applicable from 1^st December 2019.

The Cabinet Decision announced that Excise Tax will be levied on sweetened drinks, liquids used in electronic smoking devices and tools as well as electronic smoking devices and tools.

New Products that will be levied with Excise Tax

1. Liquids used in electronic smoking devices and tools, whether or not containing nicotine or tobacco.

Excise Tax Rate – 100%

1. sweetened drinks: Sweetened drinks that come under excise tax include any product to which a source of sugar or sweetener is added and is produced either as a ready to drink beverage or Concentrates, powders, gel, extracts or any other similar product that can be made into a sweetened drink. Excise Tax Rate – 50%

Sweetened drinks that are excluded from Excise Tax

• Ready to drink beverages that contain at least 75% milk or its substitutes
• Baby formula, follow up formula or baby food
• Handling of Foods for Special Medical Purposes
• consumed for special dietary needs
• Beverages which include alcohol

What Businesses Need to do

The Federal Decree-Law No. 7 of 2017 on Excise Tax stipulates that businesses/ persons that are engaged in any of the below activities must register for tax;

• Importing of excise goods;
• Production of excise goods;
• Releasing goods from an Excise Tax Designated Zone;
• Stockpilers of excise goods, in certain cases; and
• Warehouse keepers, in certain cases.

Accordingly, importers, producers, stockpilers warehouse keepers, etc. of electronic smoking devices, liquids used in devices and sweetened drinks need to register for excise tax as soon as possible. Failure in registering within the specified time period can lead to fines and various other obstacles.

When a business would qualify as Stockpiler

A business would consider as Stockpiler in the UAE if the following conditions are met:

• The business held excise goods in free circulation in the UAE, intended to be sold in the course of business and Excise Tax on those goods has not been paid, remitted, relieved or deferred; and
• The business held ‘excess’ excise goods.

Where a business meet the above conditions, they become liable to pay Excise Tax on “excess” excise goods held as on 1^st December, 2019.

TRC Pamco is offering specialized VAT advisory services to many of its clients for Excise Tax implementation and post implementation support.

Please connect us in case you have any queries.

Accounting and Bookkeeping are both very essential financial functions, and while they might be mistaken to be the same thing – they’re actually very different from one another.

Let’s first understand what each one stands for! Bookkeeping is the art of identifying and maintaining accounts and financial statements. Accounting is the process of summarizing, interpreting, and analyzing financial transactions which were classified in the records. This stands to be the basic difference between Accounting and Bookkeeping.

They’re very inter-dependent but they have their share of similarities and differences – and many accounting firms in Dubai can take you through the same process.

The major difference is that the management can never take crucial decisions based on bookkeeping records, they would need a thorough analysis which can be provided by tax firms, to be able to take important decisions in the business. Also, the next major difference would be the objective why both these functions are carried out – Bookkeeping is done to maintain records in one place and to be able to serve it as and when required, while the objective of Accounting is to understand the standing of your business. It helps you gather exactly where you stand in the financial world, and what needs to be taken care of.

Also, another important thing to note is that bookkeeping is a direct process and doesn’t require specialist skills whereas Accounting requires a specialist to make important and relevant inferences and help the management take decisions.

Coming to the similarities, it must be noted that to get into bookkeeping or accounting, one needs to hold basic accounting knowledge. And when working in smaller firms, professionals simply follow the accounting process instead of bookkeeping. While they may not hold the specialist degree, they’re able to do these tasks because accounting software’s make this classification easy.

However, it’s best to let the best audit firms in Dubai, TRC Pamco, handle the process for you, since they are better equipped with a team of knowledgeable and experienced professionals, and are known as the leading VAT firm and Tax firm in Dubai.

For more information and ideas about Vat firm in Dubai, please follow the link

More often than not, companies rely on auditors to help them with correct financial information and decisions, with reconciling accounts, and writing financial statements. The relationship between accountants and auditors has evolved quite a bit with the management urging all to work closely with auditors.

The relationship between an auditor and company management is one that filled with a bit of friction, given their different roles – although both strive for the same result. Standard and regulatory authorities require the auditor to be independent which doesn’t always go down too well with the client/company creating a very different viewpoint of an auditor. While the management expects a fully independent report on the financial performance of the company, in compliance with accounting standards and tax laws, they seem to be disappointed with the auditor If that’s not the case.

With the introduction of VAT in the UAE, there has been a lot of debate on the matter regarding VAT consultancy firms in Dubai, and whether or not the companies operating here are tax compliant or not. Here is when the need arose to partner with audit firms in Dubai, to avoid any legal issues.

Tax Firms and Vat firms also like to avoid conflict as much as possible, but clients tend to miss out on this very important fact. In fact, the truth it, most auditors actually wish to avoid this confrontation, they just believe that their audit must have minimum issues and their judgements should be in sync with that of the management.

While working with auditors, it’s best to be transparent and provide them with all the support, as they will be the best ones to help you with the financial condition of your business and help you take all the right decisions in your business. Knowing what’s happening to the business is good, but having it on paper in all its glory helps you understand where exactly you stand.

While there are many accounting firms in Dubai, there is TRC Pamco, a boutique consultancy firm ready to assist you with any accounting and assurance services which can help you grow your business further, while keeping in compliance with all the tax laws.