Tax Procedures Law

The common procedural code for all federal taxes: registration, record keeping, returns, voluntary disclosures, FTA audits and assessments, tax agents, administrative penalties and reconsideration, objections to the Tax Disputes Resolution Committee and courts, refunds and evasion offences; repeals Federal Law No. 7 of 2017 and is amended by Federal Decree-Laws No. 17 of 2024 and No. 17 of 2025.

Summary

Federal Decree-Law No. 28 of 2022 is the Tax Procedures Law, the common procedural code for corporate tax, VAT and excise tax. It took effect on 1 March 2023, repealing Federal Law No. 7 of 2017, and is in force as amended by Federal Decree-Law No. 17 of 2024 (effective 30 October 2024, which added the Electronic Invoicing System to Article 4 bis) and Federal Decree-Law No. 17 of 2025 (effective 1 January 2026, which rewrote the statute of limitation in Article 46 and made it the single limitation rule for all federal taxes). Article 3 applies it to the administration and enforcement of the tax laws and the collection of tax and penalties; each tax law then applies it wherever the tax law is silent.

Articles 4 to 7 set the standing obligations: keep accounting records and commercial books under the Executive Regulation's controls, submit returns and documents in Arabic or provide an Arabic translation on request at the person's own cost, quote the tax registration number, notify the FTA within 20 business days of any change to registration data, and, for a legal representative, notify the appointment within 20 business days and file the returns. Article 10 makes a voluntary disclosure compulsory where a return, assessment or refund application understated the tax or overstated the refund, and optional where the error went the other way; errors with no tax difference are corrected by disclosure or in a return.

Articles 12 to 15 regulate tax agents and Articles 16 to 22 govern FTA audits. Article 24 requires an administrative penalty assessment, notified within five business days, for the standard list of breaches: records, Arabic documents, late registration and deregistration, unreported changes, late returns, late payment, incorrect returns, voluntary disclosures and audit obstruction. Article 25 makes tax evasion a crime punishable by imprisonment and a fine of one to three times the evaded tax, with up to AED 1,000,000 for false information, concealing or destroying records or obstructing FTA staff; participants are jointly liable for the tax.

Articles 28 to 36 set the dispute ladder, each step within 40 business days: a review request of an assessment, a reconsideration request of any FTA decision, an objection to the Tax Disputes Resolution Committee (admissible only after reconsideration and payment of the disputed tax in full), and an appeal to the competent court, which requires payment of the tax and at least 50% of the penalties. Committee decisions on disputes up to AED 100,000 are final. Article 38 limits refund applications to five years. Article 46 bars audits and assessments more than five years after the end of the tax period, extended to four years after an audit notice, one year after a late voluntary disclosure or two years after a late refund claim, and to 15 years for tax evasion or failure to register.

Who it applies to

Every person subject to corporate tax, VAT or excise tax in the UAE, including those who should be registered but are not, their legal representatives and tax agents, government licensing bodies that must notify the FTA of licences issued, and the Federal Tax Authority, the Tax Disputes Resolution Committee and the courts that administer tax disputes.

Contents

English official text in 51 articles. Open the full text or jump to a provision:

1. Article 1 — Definitions
2. Article 4 — Record Keeping6
3. Article 4 bis — Electronic Invoicing System7
4. Article 5 — Language
5. Article 7 — The Legal Representative
6. Article 8 — Tax Return Preparation and Submission
7. Article 9 — Determination of Payable Tax
8. Article 10
9. Article 11 — Methods of Notification
10. Article 12 — Registration of Tax Agent
11. Article 13 — Conditions of Registration of the Tax Agent,
12. Article 14 — Appointment of the Tax Agent
13. Article 15 — Person’s Records with the Tax Agent
14. Article 16 — The Right of the Authority to Perform a Tax Audit
15. Article 17 — The Right of the Authority to Obtain the Original
16. Article 18 — Timing of the Tax Audit
17. Article 19 — New Information Surfacing after the Tax Audit
18. Article 20 — Cooperation during the Tax Audit
19. Article 21 — The Rights of Persons subject to Tax Audit
20. Article 22 — Notification of the Tax Audit Results
21. Article 23 — Tax Assessment
22. Article 24 — Administrative Penalties Assessment10
23. Article 25 — Tax Crimes and their Penalties
24. Article 26 — Procedures and Measures
25. Article 27 — Reconciliation in Tax Evasion Crimes
26. Article 28 — Tax Assessment Review Request
27. Article 29 — Request for Reconsideration
28. Article 30 — Tax Disputes Resolution Committee
29. Article 31 — Jurisdictions of the Committee
30. Article 32 — Procedures for Submitting the Objection and Cases
31. Article 33 — Procedures of the Committee
32. Article 34 — Enforcement of the Committee’s Decisions
33. Article 35 — Extension of Deadlines
34. Article 36 — Procedures of Appeal before Courts
35. Article 37 — Special Procedures for Objection and Appeal
36. Article 38 — Application for Refund of Credit Balance11
37. Article 39 — Tax Refund Procedures
38. Article 40 — Collection of Payable Tax and Administrative
39. Article 44 — Professional Confidentiality
40. Article 45 — Conflict of Interest
41. Article 46 — Statute of Limitation13,14
42. Article 47 — The Authority's Right to Claim
43. Article 48 — Period for Obligations16
44. Article 49 — Calculation of Time Periods
45. Article 51 — Proving Accuracy of Data
46. Article 52 — Judicial Officers
47. Article 53 — Tax Resident
48. Article 54 — Authority’s Fees
49. Article 54 bis — 17
50. Article 55 — Abrogation
51. Article 56 — Executive Regulation

Key provisions

Obligations and deadlines

• Keep accounting records and commercial books under the Executive Regulation and produce Arabic translations of tax documents when the FTA asks (Articles 4 and 5).
• Notify the FTA within 20 business days of any change to tax registration data (Article 6).
• Legal representatives: notify the FTA of the appointment within 20 business days and file the taxable person's returns (Article 7).
• File a voluntary disclosure whenever a return, assessment or refund claim understated tax or overstated a refund (Article 10).
• Cooperate with FTA tax audits and give auditors the facilities and documents they request (Article 20).
• Request review or reconsideration within 40 business days of a notified assessment or decision, and object to the Committee within 40 business days of the reconsideration decision (Articles 28, 29 and 32).
• Pay the disputed tax in full before objecting to the Committee, and at least 50% of the penalties before appealing to court (Articles 32 and 36).
• Apply for any refund within five years of the end of the relevant tax period (Article 38).

Penalties

Article 24 lists the breaches that attract administrative penalties, with the amounts in Cabinet Decision No. 40 of 2017 (VAT and excise) and Cabinet Decision No. 75 of 2023 (corporate tax). Article 25 makes tax evasion a crime: imprisonment and a fine of between one and three times the evaded tax, or either; deliberately not paying a penalty carries a fine of one to three times the penalty; false information, destroying records, stealing FTA documents or obstructing FTA staff carries imprisonment or a fine up to AED 1,000,000, rising to the evasion scale where evasion results. Participants are jointly liable, reoffending within five years aggravates, and the court may order publication of the judgment at the offender's cost.

History and citations

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