Dubai Housing Fee

[777boyindubai]

From Arabian Business....

A nasty fright this week opening my monthly water and electricity bill. It's gone from the usual AED150 to something horribly close to AED700, a rise of more than 400 percent. Some mistake? The patient lady on the telephone at DEWA - Dubai's water and electricity authority - explains it is the newly added Housing Fee, which everyone in Dubai should have been paying since its inception in early 2005.

The reason some people are only starting to pay it now is because the process of adding everyone's name to the relevant database has been a long and painstaking one, she said. The Housing Fee, for those of you still not acquainted with it - and judging from internet forums for Dubai expatriates, that is quite a lot of people - is either an annual five percent of your rent, or one percent of the property's purchase price, payable monthly.

Still indignant at the sudden hike in the bill, I asked if people could expect a backdated bill for all the months they hadn't been paying, through no fault of their own. "Yes," was the answer. Of course, the lady on the phone wasn't an official spokeswoman for DEWA, she was a call centre operative trained to answer customer queries.

When I called back again, the man who answered said there would be no backdated bills. Efforts to get hold of DEWA spokesperson proper have proved about as fruitful as catching a Mossad secret agent. Can anyone clarify the situation? Because on top of speeding fines, SALIK penalties (which are essentially a tax on forgetfulness), parking fines, property service fees and maintenance charges, a backdated bill for housing fees (for road cleaning and public bins, the lady on the phone explained) would be highly unwelcome at the moment.

[xkred27]

everyone in dubai is a fu@#$ng retard, what do you expect.

[Will Rogers]

The fee has been here for a looooong time and was always added to my DEWA bills...

Apparently EK housing is exempt from the fee (doesn't work if you've bought your own or elected to take the allowance and rent unfortunately).

Always something eh :yuk:

Will

[Gulfstreamaviator]

So the UAE is TAX free........eat my pants....

Extract from local news release:

All occupants of residential units in Dubai will compulsorily have to pay housing fees from January 1, 2011, as the Dubai Municipality (http://www.zawya.com/cm/profile.cfm/cid1000464)Dubai Municipality (http://www.zawya.com/cm/profile.cfm/cid1000464) Dubai MunicipalityDM UAE | Governmental Institutions News (http://www.zawya.com/cm/company_news.cfm/cid1000464/) | Profile (http://www.zawya.com/cm/profile.cfm/cid1000464/) | Officers (http://www.zawya.com/cm/officers.cfm/cid1000464/) » Research (http://www.zawya.com/cm/reports.cfm/cid1000464/)
aims to bring in around 300,000 unit occupants who are evading the fees, a top government official told Emirates Business.

Abdulla Hashim Abdulghafoor, Head of Housing and Marketing Fees at the Dubai Municipality (http://www.zawya.com/cm/profile.cfm/cid1000464)Dubai Municipality (http://www.zawya.com/cm/profile.cfm/cid1000464) Dubai MunicipalityDM UAE | Governmental Institutions News (http://www.zawya.com/cm/company_news.cfm/cid1000464/) | Profile (http://www.zawya.com/cm/profile.cfm/cid1000464/) | Officers (http://www.zawya.com/cm/officers.cfm/cid1000464/) » Research (http://www.zawya.com/cm/reports.cfm/cid1000464/)
, said the municipality expects to earn revenues of between Dh500 million and Dh600m by 2011 end from the housing fee collection, primarily from people who are currently not paying the fee...... etc etc

I have just received my notice to inform DEWA......it takes 2 months for me to receive written statements, and enclosures, so rather late in advising them....

glf

[Payscale]

I have been paying it for 5 years. Why shouldnt you? Just consider yourself lucky you have escaped so far

[MrSandman]

Heard an interesting theory that it is only for expat tennants so if your tennancy contract is in your employer's name and that is a UAE business (airline, govt department etc) you should not have to pay it. In theory sounds good, in practice not so much as I pay it while the contcat is not in my name. Anyne have an alternate experience on this?

[tailstrike1]

Food for thoughts


Dubai Properties plans August land auction - Real Estate - ArabianBusiness.com (http://www.arabianbusiness.com/592215-dubai-properties-plans-august-land-auction)

BRGDS

[Jet II]

What is this fee for?

similar things as local municipality taxes in most countries - trash removal, street lighting/cleaning etc.

Shouldnt pay the Landlord this (his) fees?
Why is it the tenants fee?

It is paid by whoever has the Dewa contract for the property - usually the tenant

Is it only for villas or also for appartments?


Both

[Kapitanleutnant]

Is this a one off charge.....

Is it charged each month.....

Is it only once a year charge....

Thanks

K

[Gulfstreamaviator]

It has been in existance for a long time, but never really pushed, so most of us were never even aware of it.

Now the DM are keen to receive these taxes, and have determined that the best method of collection is via the Utilities monthly bills, (DEWA).

A recent inclusion in the monthly bill was a statement, that the tax would be collected by DEWA, following the disclosure of your rent (5%) of a calculated figure if you own the property.

If there is no disclosure then DM will guestimate a figure based on your consumption of electricity, and water.

This sum will be collected with 100% compliance from 1st January 2011.

But as is so typical in UAE, I have no idea if this will actually happen.

As mentioned I also suspect that a UAE National will be exempt, they already have a reduced utilities bill.

As an aside, there is no extra charge for not collecting the sewage that flows out of the drains, this is totally FOC. In Al Barsha this week, overflowing drainds, leaving the area close to Mall of the Emitates smelling rather rank. Whne the rains come, its best to relocate. (or buy wellies).

glf

[BoardingGateCrasher]

Is this a one off charge.....

Is it charged each month.....

Is it only once a year charge....

Thanks

K
Nope this charge is on your bill monthly, and is for ever. (or as long as Dubai Government want to charge it)

You will see your bills rise quite substantially. mine went from 150-175 to 500 ... But I live in a one bed. Its hefty for the likes of villa's etc.

Get used to it, as I cannot see it changing any time soon.

[Lite Bulb]

I had a notice with my DEWA bill to say unless I register my rental contract on line a charge based on DM's rental charge index will be applied. This index is a year out of date at least and rents have plunged in that time so if you do not register declaring your actual rent you will be charged more. The on line process took two minutes, now waiting for the bill.

[outboundjetsetter]

lite bulb this all seems a bit new to me.. would you mind posting the web page/ link to register for this ?

thanks

Outbound Jetsetter

[juzlime]

Got this from 2003..

You are basically right when you say the allowance is a non starter. This has been hashed out on other threads if you care to do a search. In a nutshell, the allowance is 85000dhs for an F/O, and it will cost you upwards of 120000 plus utilities to live in an equivalent villa in a preferred area. That is why few people do it.

Any updates on the latest housing allowance if you chose to stay on your own?