Shoppers at Carrefour in Mall of the Emirates. Businesses and consumers in the UAE have begun paying VAT since 1 January 2018. Reem Mohammed  /  The National
Shoppers at Carrefour in Mall of the Emirates. Businesses and consumers in the UAE have begun paying VAT since 1 January 2018. Reem Mohammed / The National

The winners and losers of VAT, one month on



Today I will light a candle in celebration of VAT’s mensiversary. Like anything one month old, we look to what we have learned to map our future expectations.

Firstly, arithmetic has been found lacking in many receipts: due to miscalculations by the seller, many places are in fact charging 4.5 per cent by mistake. These sellers will need to make up the difference when submitting their returns.

What has been a surprise to me is the amount of Wexpat (westernised expatriate) businesses that have depended on their knowledge of how VAT works in their home country in order to comply to rules here. As these businesses have interacted with each other and VAT-related requests and tales were traded, owners have now begun questioning how robust this solution was. In the absence of authoritative voices, these exchanges are creating their own uncertainty.

The Executive Regulations were law lite, thus recognising that it is impossible to legislate for every situation. In the absence of an authority offering FTA approved clarification, an early audit can useful as a chance to get quick decisions on a business's application of VAT. This mitigates the potential of penalties, which can be applied to every infraction.

The winners and losers of VAT so far are easily identified by their actions.

I spoke to Mark Hamill, executive director of Awards International LLC. He told me that his company have "turned the introduction of VAT into an opportunity to reconnect with customers," proving that it can be made into a positive.

He said: "During the process of obtaining Tax Registration Numbers, we are re-engaging with our entire base. [People and companies] we might not have spoken with in a while.”

The losers, however, are those who have tried to use the transition as an excuse to overcharge their customers – the press has diligently reported the FTA’s many interventions during January, when unscrupulous sellers have attempted just that. The critical failure of these businesses was ignoring that customers are already increasingly sensitive about the high cost of goods. Customers lost are not likely to return.

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Read more

Never assume a question about VAT is silly

More than 3,500 complaints on first day of VAT, says Economy Minister

Fitness First in dispute with members over VAT

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Carrefour more cleverly chose to award loyalty card points equal to the value of the extra cost of VAT on items. The cost to them is likely to be 1 or 2 per cent of the transaction value of an item, which is well within its marketing budget. Fitness First was caught up in some confusion when they requested members who signed up last year for a one year membership that they pay the extra 5 per cent VAT this year; however, a senior government official said health clubs could not charge VAT on membership contracts issued last year, unless they made clear reference to the tax at the time.

Any newborn brings early sleepless nights, now the challenge is what's to come a few months down the road.

David Daly is a chartered accountant (Cima) who leads a consultancy practice in the UAE.

Race 3

Produced: Salman Khan Films and Tips Films
Director: Remo D’Souza
Cast: Salman Khan, Anil Kapoor, Jacqueline Fernandez, Bobby Deol, Daisy Shah, Saqib Salem
Rating: 2.5 stars

COMPANY PROFILE
Name: Almnssa
Started: August 2020
Founder: Areej Selmi
Based: Gaza
Sectors: Internet, e-commerce
Investments: Grants/private funding
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COMPANY%20PROFILE
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APPLE IPAD MINI (A17 PRO)

Display: 21cm Liquid Retina Display, 2266 x 1488, 326ppi, 500 nits

Chip: Apple A17 Pro, 6-core CPU, 5-core GPU, 16-core Neural Engine

Storage: 128/256/512GB

Main camera: 12MP wide, f/1.8, digital zoom up to 5x, Smart HDR 4

Front camera: 12MP ultra-wide, f/2.4, Smart HDR 4, full-HD @ 25/30/60fps

Biometrics: Touch ID, Face ID

Colours: Blue, purple, space grey, starlight

In the box: iPad mini, USB-C cable, 20W USB-C power adapter

Price: From Dh2,099

Singham Again

Director: Rohit Shetty

Stars: Ajay Devgn, Kareena Kapoor Khan, Ranveer Singh, Akshay Kumar, Tiger Shroff, Deepika Padukone

Rating: 3/5

Joker: Folie a Deux

Starring: Joaquin Phoenix, Lady Gaga, Brendan Gleeson

Director: Todd Phillips 

Rating: 2/5

The specs
Engine: 77.4kW all-wheel-drive dual motor
Power: 320bhp
Torque: 605Nm
Transmission: Single-speed automatic
Price: From Dh219,000
On sale: Now
The specs

  Engine: 2-litre or 3-litre 4Motion all-wheel-drive Power: 250Nm (2-litre); 340 (3-litre) Torque: 450Nm Transmission: 8-speed automatic Starting price: From Dh212,000 On sale: Now

The specs

Engine: 4-litre twin-turbo V8

Transmission: nine-speed

Power: 542bhp

Torque: 700Nm

Price: Dh848,000

On sale: now

COMPANY PROFILE

Company: Bidzi

● Started: 2024

● Founders: Akshay Dosaj and Asif Rashid

● Based: Dubai, UAE

● Industry: M&A

● Funding size: Bootstrapped

● No of employees: Nine

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MATCH INFO

Uefa Champions League semi-finals, first leg
Liverpool v Roma

When: April 24, 10.45pm kick-off (UAE)
Where: Anfield, Liverpool
Live: BeIN Sports HD
Second leg: May 2, Stadio Olimpico, Rome

COMPANY PROFILE
Name: ARDH Collective
Based: Dubai
Founders: Alhaan Ahmed, Alyina Ahmed and Maximo Tettamanzi
Sector: Sustainability
Total funding: Self funded
Number of employees: 4
Brief scores:

Pakistan (1st innings) 181: Babar 71; Olivier 6-37

South Africa (1st innings) 223: Bavuma 53; Amir 4-62

Pakistan (2nd innings) 190: Masood 65, Imam 57; Olivier 5-59

How green is the expo nursery?

Some 400,000 shrubs and 13,000 trees in the on-site nursery

An additional 450,000 shrubs and 4,000 trees to be delivered in the months leading up to the expo

Ghaf, date palm, acacia arabica, acacia tortilis, vitex or sage, techoma and the salvadora are just some heat tolerant native plants in the nursery

Approximately 340 species of shrubs and trees selected for diverse landscape

The nursery team works exclusively with organic fertilisers and pesticides

All shrubs and trees supplied by Dubai Municipality

Most sourced from farms, nurseries across the country

Plants and trees are re-potted when they arrive at nursery to give them room to grow

Some mature trees are in open areas or planted within the expo site

Green waste is recycled as compost

Treated sewage effluent supplied by Dubai Municipality is used to meet the majority of the nursery’s irrigation needs

Construction workforce peaked at 40,000 workers

About 65,000 people have signed up to volunteer

Main themes of expo is  ‘Connecting Minds, Creating the Future’ and three subthemes of opportunity, mobility and sustainability.

Expo 2020 Dubai to open in October 2020 and run for six months

How to help

Donate towards food and a flight by transferring money to this registered charity's account.

Account name: Dar Al Ber Society

Account Number: 11 530 734

IBAN: AE 9805 000 000 000 11 530 734

Bank Name: Abu Dhabi Islamic Bank

To ensure that your contribution reaches these people, please send the copy of deposit/transfer receipt to: juhi.khan@daralber.ae

COMPANY PROFILE
Name: HyperSpace
 
Started: 2020
 
Founders: Alexander Heller, Rama Allen and Desi Gonzalez
 
Based: Dubai, UAE
 
Sector: Entertainment 
 
Number of staff: 210 
 
Investment raised: $75 million from investors including Galaxy Interactive, Riyadh Season, Sega Ventures and Apis Venture Partners
Other acts on the Jazz Garden bill

Sharrie Williams
The American singer is hugely respected in blues circles due to her passionate vocals and songwriting. Born and raised in Michigan, Williams began recording and touring as a teenage gospel singer. Her career took off with the blues band The Wiseguys. Such was the acclaim of their live shows that they toured throughout Europe and in Africa. As a solo artist, Williams has also collaborated with the likes of the late Dizzy Gillespie, Van Morrison and Mavis Staples.
Lin Rountree
An accomplished smooth jazz artist who blends his chilled approach with R‘n’B. Trained at the Duke Ellington School of the Arts in Washington, DC, Rountree formed his own band in 2004. He has also recorded with the likes of Kem, Dwele and Conya Doss. He comes to Dubai on the back of his new single Pass The Groove, from his forthcoming 2018 album Stronger Still, which may follow his five previous solo albums in cracking the top 10 of the US jazz charts.
Anita Williams
Dubai-based singer Anita Williams will open the night with a set of covers and swing, jazz and blues standards that made her an in-demand singer across the emirate. The Irish singer has been performing in Dubai since 2008 at venues such as MusicHall and Voda Bar. Her Jazz Garden appearance is career highlight as she will use the event to perform the original song Big Blue Eyes, the single from her debut solo album, due for release soon.

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