Voluntary Disclosure in Dubai
What is a voluntary disclosure?
A voluntary disclosure should be made by a taxable person to notify the FTA of an error or omission in their tax return, tax assessment, or tax refund application.
When should a voluntary disclosure be made? As per Article 8 of Cabinet Decision No. 36 of 2017 on the Executive Regulation of Federal Law No. (7) of 2017 on Tax Procedures, voluntary disclosures are required to be made in the following cases:
- Where a filed Tax Return or a Tax Assessment is incorrect resulting in a calculation of the Payable Tax being less than required i.e. an underpayment of tax due, in an amount of more than AED 10,000
- Where a filed Tax Return or a Tax Assessment is incorrect resulting in a calculation of the Payable Tax being less than required i.e. an underpayment of tax due, by not more than AED 10,000 and there is no Tax Return through which the error can be corrected or
- Where a filed Tax Refund Application is incorrect, resulting in a calculation of a refund to which the Taxpayer is entitled being more than the correct amount, unless the error was a result of an incorrect Tax Return or Tax Assessment.
The voluntary disclosure must be made within 20 business days of discovering the error or penalties may apply.
What are the steps to submit a voluntary disclosure in respect of a VAT return?
To submit a voluntary disclosure against a VAT return that has already been submitted to the FTA, the taxable person should go to the VAT201 – VAT Returns tab in the VAT section of the e-Services portal and click on the Submit Voluntary Disclosure button in the row of the relevant VAT return for which the voluntary disclosure is to be made.
