• H.E. Khalid Al Bustani: The Authority has vastly expanded its tax services and customer base.

Dubai, UAE – “Over the past few years, the Federal Tax Authority has succeeded in setting the standard when it comes to excellence and innovation across all areas of its work,” said His Excellency Khalid Ali Al Bustani, Director General of the Federal Tax Authority (FTA), at the annual gathering of the FTA employees.

“This paves the way for us to achieve the Authority’s vision to become a world-leading tax authority, in line with the government excellence approach and guided by a forward-looking, results and value-driven vision,” H.E. Al Bustani added.

The gathering was held as part of the Authority’s strategy to continuously improve its institutional work environment, meet comprehensive quality standards, and encourage creativity and collaboration within its team in order to maintain high performance rates, as well as to honour outstanding and innovative team members.

The FTA received the Best Workplace certification for 2024 from Great Place to Work, the “global authority on workplace culture”, in recognition of its efforts to build a positive work environment that meets the highest international standards in the field.

The annual gathering included a ceremony to honour 68 employees across various categories, namely Employees of the Year, Teams of the Year, Founding Employees of the FTA, Innovators of the Year, Graduates from Government Diploma Programmes, Unknown Soldiers, and Members who have made their mark on the Authority’s journey since its establishment.

“The Federal Tax Authority has made a wide range of notable accomplishments, undergoing significant expansion in its customer base and services, as well as continuous development in its systems and processes,” asserted H.E. Khalid Al Bustani, citing some of the initiatives and transformational projects the FTA has launched, which include the Corporate Tax system, the EmaraTax smart application, the Muwafaq Package to facilitate business and tax compliance for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), the Tax Agent Classification initiative, and the VAT Refund Scheme for Building and Operating Mosques.

“The UAE tax system entered a new phase of expansion and development with the issuance of the Corporate Tax Law, where the Authority’s outstanding team managed to implement the law with the highest levels of efficiency and accuracy,” H.E. explained, adding that “the successful launch of the EmaraTax digital tax services platform, followed by the EmaraTax smart app, marked another significant step in the journey towards developing the FTA’s services.”

The FTA Director General explained that these steps complement the significant efforts that the Authority is making as part of its comprehensive strategy to drive digital transformation across all of its services, which serves to facilitate voluntary compliance with tax obligations and offer proactive services for customers.

“The Federal Tax Authority continues to launch initiatives to expedite tax procedures and contribute to the UAE’s Zero Government Bureaucracy Programme, which aims to eliminate 2,000 government procedures in a year and cut the time needed to avail government services by 50%,” H.E. Al Bustani said. “The Authority will continue to provide facilities in its services, cancelling more procedures, and reducing processing times in line with the Programme.”

H.E. noted that the Authority organised a series of workshops and brainstorming sessions for its employees, in partnership with various entities involved in the tax sector, to generate ideas and proposals to sustainably develop the FTA’s services and align with the Zero Government Bureaucracy Programme, in a bid to streamline government procedures and cut unnecessary procedures and requirements.

H.E. Khalid Al Bustani stressed the FTA’s commitment to enhancing concepts of excellence and innovation in the workplace by engaging employees from all categories in the institutional development process, motivating work teams to be creative and excel, and honouring team members who have contributed towards establishing the Authority as a leader in institutional work. The Federal Tax Authority has received numerous international certifications in the field of institutional environment excellence, which have strengthened its comprehensive quality ecosystem, bringing its various systems and services in line with the highest global standards.