5% VAT in UAE from Jan 2018
 

Just announced:
Dubai: The UAE is to implement 5% VAT from January 1, 2018, but 150 food items, health and education will be exempted, according to Obaid Humaid Al Tayer, Minister of State for Financial Affairs.

And so it continues, the ramping up of the cost of living in the UAE. Yet another reason to leave ........ :ugh:

It looks like this is only the beginning.... Income taxes will follow at some point.

http://www.emirates247.com/news/impo...02-22-1.621884

For sure, but only for expats.

Well, dear German Aussie (autsch!)

Simply looking at my roster, there must be a serious shortage of pilots. But you seem to blow the same dumb horn as EK management: Nothing to do with attrition ....:ugh:

By the way, of my friends with similar seniority there are 10 (!) buddies leaving between Jan and May .... and they are leaving to a place close to yours.

If you don't know what you're talking about, better get informed before blowing.

Once the system for VAT is in place will be very easy to raise it....

seriously who has plans to be here 2018 :p

I strongly suggest you start digging a hole in your backyard 'cause this lady is after your hard earned cash...:mad:
Have a look at what she says.

Lagarde said that one of the ingredients for successful 21st-century economies is international taxation. “This is an essential means by which governments mobilise their revenues in a globalised economy,” she said.

“We need a tax system in which ordinary citizens are convinced that multinational companies and wealthy individuals are contributing a fair share to the public purse, to the common good,” the IMF head noted.

No the first time a date for the introduction of the VAT has been announced. Here is a clip from 2008. Google shows articles from 2002.

Dubai wants VAT rate set at 3%
Dubai Customs has recommended a rate of three per cent for the value added tax (VAT) the UAE would introduce next year as part of a Gulf initiative.
Published: 23:32 June 2, 2008
By Shakir Husain, Staff Reporter
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Dubai: Dubai Customs has recommended a rate of three per cent for the value added tax (VAT) the UAE would introduce next year as part of a Gulf initiative.

A final decision on the rate and timing of VAT's implementation will be taken by the federal government.

This will mark the country's exit from a perceived 'tax-free' haven to a tax regime.

Although the country is yet to formally launch direct tax, its residents have been paying indirect taxes in the form of fees, surcharges, and road tolls, etc.

Dubai Customs director-general Ahmad Butti Ahmad said the UAE is likely to be the first country of the Gulf Cooperation Council to introduce the tax on goods and services.

"VAT makes sense for Gulf states diversifying into sectors like tourism, hospitality and financial services," Ahmad said at a media briefing on Sunday night, and described it as "the best tax system" for boosting the UAE economy.

Do you think that VAT will increase overall expenditure for business despite the low rates? How? Tell us at [email protected] or fill in the form bellow to send your comments.

Lying to yourself pretending that it might not happen I guess is a way to tackle the bad news.

I rather go with preparing for it... Since it is now official and happening in less than 2 years.

If working conditions were already deteriorated to the worst in Emirates' 25+ years history, this news actually represent the end of one of the few benefits of working as an expat pilot in the UAE - tax free environment.

For those who aren't familiar with the UAE, prices in Dubai are already nowadays between 20% to 50% higher than those in western europe or US. I'm talking about food, clothes and basically everything you find in a mall. And this is now, before VAT becomes a reality!!!

With salaries lagging behind inflation for a decade, and working conditions deteriorating (including upgrade time now for new joiners around 10 years).. What reasons are left to choose to come to work here?

Just a word of advice, do your homework before you accept a job offer. Just my 2c.

With the implementation of income tax there will be no reason for expats remain expats unless there's a total lack of jobs back home or near it. To retain employees one way to do it is the company paying the tax as the chinese and KAL do. Who knows.

Imported a large and expensive item recently and was charged 5% import tax on the item, it's shipping cost and it's insurance....

PJ,

Bout bloody time. Now don't break it until I get to have a go.

Ya dream'n....

VAT in UAE 2018
 

In The UAE, will be implemented VAT at the rate of 5% from 1 January 2018. Some sectors such as food, health, education and social services would be exempted from the VAT.

Items exempt from VAT are
*Staple foods (rice,milk,bread etc about 150 items)
*Bicycles (yes you read correctly)
*Education and Healthcare.

and like all things in Dubai I am guessing it will go up every year. :mad:

Got to love these people-no shame

https://www.forbes.com/sites/robertw.../#77cbd88977cb

It's interesting that the EMF, which has been so well discredited of late (especially Lagarde) and has utterly failed to rectify the crumbling economics of both the EU and the Euro, is telling another group of nations how to run its finances. It's just a lever to try to get money out of expats to plug some holes in Europe or to stop more professional Europeans coming to the ME as the Euro continues to collapse - pure self interest. Hopefully they'll give her all the consideration she is due and spend more time thinking about what to choose for lunch.

And she gets paid how much........

"her IMF salary of $467,940 plus an $83,760 additional allowance is not subject to any taxes" ... from the article

From the FAQs
 

"Why is the UAE implementing VAT?

The UAE government offers many public services to the residents such as hospitals, roads, public schools, parks, waste control, and police services, which are paid by government funds. VAT will provide an additional source of generating revenues for the government to provide high quality public services into the future."

There you go. These public schools and hospitals are good aren't they?