Sharjah, UAE:– In collaboration with the Department of Islamic Affairs in Sharjah, the Federal Tax Authority (FTA) held a new session under the Customer Councils initiative, launched by the UAE Government to improve the quality of government services by engaging customers in designing innovative experiences based on their ideas and suggestions.

The Council that the Authority convened in Sharjah was attended by a group  of donors wishing to recover the Value Added Tax (VAT) they incurred on the construction and operation of mosques. It included an overview of the Customer Councils initiative, before a team of experts from  FTA gave an induction on the conditions and mechanism for recovering VAT collected on constructing and operating mosques, launched by the Federal Tax Authority, in line with the Cabinet Decision and Ministerial Decision in that regard, which applies  to all mosques in the UAE.

As per the mechanism, refund requests are submitted within specific timelines based on the date of completion of the construction of the mosque or the start date of operation of the mosque by the applicant.

Participants were able to ask questions to be answered by  FTA’s experts and communicated their views and observations about the VAT refund mechanism on the construction and operation of mosques, as well as the Authority’s services in general. Attendees also shared their perspectives and suggestions for the continuous improvement of these services.

The Authority affirmed its commitment to communicating directly with customers and engaging them in the continuous development and modernisation plans that the FTA undertakes to meet their aspirations.

Customer Councils are an integrated platform that aims to facilitate communication between customers and the UAE Government to align the services provided by government entities with the aspirations of customers, understand their needs, and enhance communication with them, in an effort to streamline the process for accessing these services with minimal time and effort to complete transactions. The Councils seek innovative ways to develop and upgrade government services to meet the highest standards, establishing an effective and direct communication channel with customers from various segments, where ideas and initiatives that serve them can be presented and opportunities for improvement can be explored. Furthermore, the initiative offers a platform for presenting key projects that were designed based on takeaways of Customer Councils sessions.

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The Federal Tax Authority was established by Federal Decree-Law No. (13) of 2016 to help diversify the national economy and increase non-oil revenues in the UAE through the management and collection of federal taxes based on international best practices and standards, as well as to provide all means of support to enable taxpayers to comply with the tax laws and procedures. Since its inception in 2017, the FTA has been committed to cooperate with the competent authorities to establish a comprehensive and balanced system to make the UAE one of the first countries in the world to implement a fully electronic tax system that encourages voluntary compliance, with simple procedures based on the highest standards of transparency and accuracy – beginning from registration, to the submission of tax returns, to the payment of due taxes through the Authority’s website: www.tax.gov.ae