Excise Tax Health Check in UAE

Excise Tax Health Check 

  1. Excise Pre-Audit Health Check

Excise Tax Pre-Audit Health Check-In Dubai

Since 2017, the United Arab Emirates has introduced excise duties on certain types of goods. All registered entities are required under the FTA to check whether their excisable goods are taxable, to file an excise duty return on a monthly basis, and to comply with other tax obligations. This is important to remember as the authorities can call you whenever they want to carry out an excise duty audit. If FTA auditors find non-compliance, the taxpayer can be fined heavily. That is why our tax consultants in Dubai will provide you with a professional excise duty pre-audit health check service. By taking these precautions, companies can avoid FTA penalties in the future.



Excise duty audit

An excise audit is a review and verification of a registered legal entity’s tax compliance. It is carried out to verify that the taxpayer’s excise tax liability is accurate and has been duly paid within a specified period of time.

Who will carry out a tax audit in the UAE?

According to the provisions of Decree-Law 13 of 2016, the Federal Tax Authority is responsible for the collection of taxes in the UAE for a given tax period. The FTA is the country’s official regulatory authority that can conduct VAT/excise tax audits to analyze companies’ operations and tax compliance.

How does the FTA decide whether to carry out an excise audit?

The Federal Tax Authority identifies companies for excise tax audits, but there are no specific criteria. It is entirely the FTA’s decision as to what will be audited and at what intervals. They can inspect a taxable business entity at any place or at any time for a formal tax audit. The relevant authority will normally take action against a company if it suspects that there is any risk, error, or tax evasion in the accounts.

The FTA sends five days’ notice to the taxable business of the excise duty inspection. Although in cases where tax evasion is suspected, auditors pay a surprise visit to the company. They usually fix the place and time of the excise duty inspection in the UAE. It is recommended that your legal representative is present to assist the FTA auditors throughout the procedure. The auditors may ask you to provide original or copies of excise documents. The inspection is mostly carried out on working days. They may also carry out a re-audit if the company fails to meet its tax obligations in the first round under the UAE Excise Procedure Law.

How to prepare for an excise audit?

The auditors will request relevant information and documents relating to your excisable goods. We will list the minimum requirements for an excise audit in the UAE:-

1-Overview of all excise goods produced, imported and accumulated in the last year

2-Evidence and documentation of excise products exported

3-Monthly sales of excise goods for the last tax period together with invoices

4-Statement of excise goods produced, imported and released from the designated zones

5-Tax records for all excise goods damaged or lost

6-Accounting of excise duties payable on imported, accumulated, and manufactured excise goods

7-Information on the type, quantity, and value of excise goods

8-Detailed data on stock levels of excise goods

9-Duty deduction register for excise goods

Why is a pre-audit tax health check important?

A pre-audit health check is important for all taxable companies operating in the United Arab Emirates. This pre-assessment analyses potential tax issues identifies areas of non-compliance with excise duty requirements and identifies business uncertainties. Your excise records should be corrected before the auditor examines them to eliminate errors or omissions. Otherwise, the UAE regulatory authorities will penalize your business account. We will conduct a pre-audit assessment of your excise records to eliminate any potential errors.

 

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