Do-it-yourself corporate tax. How difficult can it be?
Which business person reading this has not reviewed dozens of contracts, be it trading or employment related?
While the two legal documents I have named are different, there is a structural integrity to each. Once you have read a few, you know what should appear when and where.
While this article is not meant to be corporate tax for dummies, adding to the well-known series of “how to” books, understanding how the legislation is built can be useful when having conversations with specialists.
No one wants to be the person who, brandishing the latest release, declares to all – with certainty – a particular perspective regarding an element of tax treatment.
Think of each formal publication as a single piece of a jigsaw. That will never be sufficient to comprehend the bigger picture.
This article will ignore core law, which underpins everything, as this does not directly instruct our actions with regard to corporate tax. Think of it as the foundation to the house of law you are entering.
Let us even set aside the corporate tax decree law released in December 2022, instead considering it part of our base understanding.
There are three primary sources of detailed supplementary statutory information. Two elements from the central government, Cabinet and ministerial departments, and one from the decree created by the Federal Tax Authority.
The senior party in this triumvirate is the Cabinet. Based on a special provision of the law, the Cabinet’s Council of Ministers may allow a minister or other competent authority to issue certain regulations.
Remember that each of these has other responsibilities besides corporate tax. That means when a decision is released using each respective body’s nomenclature, it will not necessarily sit in numerical order with regard to the subject matter.
For example, Cabinet Decision 49 of 2023 addresses the categories of businesses or their activities for resident and non-resident persons that are subject to corporate tax.
The determination of tax residency is Ministerial Decision No 27 of 2023.
Meanwhile, FTA decision No 5 of 2023 relates to changing an organisation’s tax period for corporate tax purposes.
Take one number off each of these and you have an entirely different subject matter area.
An additional challenge is that the information is not available in one place.
Most importantly, these decisions are coming into the public domain as they are ready for release.
Each can contain one or more components that can add a new dimension, clarification and complementary information to something already in the public domain.
The next category, while formal, should only be seen in a relatively supporting light.
Firstly, the public roadshows, where there are opportunities to ask questions after the formal presentations.
Meanwhile, the release in May of a 107-page corporate tax explanatory guide, written in English, has the potential to be remarkably helpful for any non-technical person.
To come is case law. Again, the relevant information will be published in another location. This is how all the countries in the world operate.
If you truly want to stay abreast of such a technical subject, the requirement is that you understand that world and surround yourself with all the data as it becomes available.
Let us look at two examples of having to take numerous sources of information from the official Cabinet, Ministerial and FTA communications.
Topic one: Natural persons and sole establishments
I’ve touched on these in my third article. You, the reader, are a natural person. Your entity is a juridical person.
A sole establishment is created through a juridical process, yet because it has unlimited liability, it is still a natural person.
That is the advice of the corporate tax explanatory guide. You may not have thought that reading the decree law.
Topic two: Threshold levels
These numbers come from three separate releases but must be read together.
Corporate tax becomes payable on amounts of taxable profits over Dh375,000. The small business relief applies to entities with revenue/turnover less than Dh3 million. These numbers exist on opposite sides of your profit and loss.
Finally, corporate tax will only apply to resident or non-resident individuals where the total business or business activity-related revenue exceeds Dh1 million.
In three days, corporate tax goes live.
If you have done nothing about it until now, have another read of this article and acquaint yourself with how best to prepare a reading list. Or find support.
After all, too many facts can be useless if you do not know how to use them.
David Daly is a partner at the Gulf Tax Accounting Group in the UAE
COMPANY%20PROFILE%20
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Zidane's managerial achievements
La Liga: 2016/17
Spanish Super Cup: 2017
Uefa Champions League: 2015/16, 2016/17, 2017/18
Uefa Super Cup: 2016, 2017
Fifa Club World Cup: 2016, 2017
Gertrude Bell's life in focus
A feature film
At one point, two feature films were in the works, but only German director Werner Herzog’s project starring Nicole Kidman would be made. While there were high hopes he would do a worthy job of directing the biopic, when Queen of the Desert arrived in 2015 it was a disappointment. Critics panned the film, in which Herzog largely glossed over Bell’s political work in favour of her ill-fated romances.
A documentary
A project that did do justice to Bell arrived the next year: Sabine Krayenbuhl and Zeva Oelbaum’s Letters from Baghdad: The Extraordinary Life and Times of Gertrude Bell. Drawing on more than 1,000 pieces of archival footage, 1,700 documents and 1,600 letters, the filmmakers painstakingly pieced together a compelling narrative that managed to convey both the depth of Bell’s experience and her tortured love life.
Books, letters and archives
Two biographies have been written about Bell, and both are worth reading: Georgina Howell’s 2006 book Queen of the Desert and Janet Wallach’s 1996 effort Desert Queen. Bell published several books documenting her travels and there are also several volumes of her letters, although they are hard to find in print. Original documents are housed at the Gertrude Bell Archive at the University of Newcastle, which has an online catalogue.
ELIO
Starring: Yonas Kibreab, Zoe Saldana, Brad Garrett
Directors: Madeline Sharafian, Domee Shi, Adrian Molina
Rating: 4/5
WITHIN%20SAND
%3Cp%3EDirector%3A%20Moe%20Alatawi%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3EStarring%3A%20Ra%E2%80%99ed%20Alshammari%2C%20Adwa%20Fahd%2C%20Muhand%20Alsaleh%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3ERating%3A%203%2F5%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
FINAL RESULT
Sharjah Wanderers 20 Dubai Tigers 25 (After extra-time)
Wanderers
Tries: Gormley, Penalty
cons: Flaherty
Pens: Flaherty 2
Tigers
Tries: O’Donnell, Gibbons, Kelly
Cons: Caldwell 2
Pens: Caldwell, Cross
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
How to avoid crypto fraud
- Use unique usernames and passwords while enabling multi-factor authentication.
- Use an offline private key, a physical device that requires manual activation, whenever you access your wallet.
- Avoid suspicious social media ads promoting fraudulent schemes.
- Only invest in crypto projects that you fully understand.
- Critically assess whether a project’s promises or returns seem too good to be true.
- Only use reputable platforms that have a track record of strong regulatory compliance.
- Store funds in hardware wallets as opposed to online exchanges.
Small Victories: The True Story of Faith No More by Adrian Harte
Jawbone Press
JOKE'S%20ON%20YOU
%3Cp%3EGoogle%20wasn't%20new%20to%20busting%20out%20April%20Fool's%20jokes%3A%20before%20the%20Gmail%20%22prank%22%2C%20it%20tricked%20users%20with%20%3Ca%20href%3D%22https%3A%2F%2Farchive.google%2Fmentalplex%2F%22%20target%3D%22_blank%22%3Emind-reading%20MentalPlex%20responses%3C%2Fa%3E%20and%20said%3Ca%20href%3D%22https%3A%2F%2Farchive.google%2Fpigeonrank%2F%22%20target%3D%22_blank%22%3E%20well-fed%20pigeons%20were%20running%20its%20search%20engine%20operations%3C%2Fa%3E%20.%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3EIn%20subsequent%20years%2C%20they%20announced%20home%20internet%20services%20through%20your%20toilet%20with%20its%20%22%3Ca%20href%3D%22https%3A%2F%2Farchive.google%2Ftisp%2Finstall.html%22%20target%3D%22_blank%22%3Epatented%20GFlush%20system%3C%2Fa%3E%22%2C%20made%20us%20believe%20the%20Moon's%20surface%20was%20made%20of%20cheese%20and%20unveiled%20a%20dating%20service%20in%20which%20they%20called%20founders%20Sergey%20Brin%20and%20Larry%20Page%20%22%3Ca%20href%3D%22https%3A%2F%2Farchive.google%2Fromance%2Fpress.html%22%20target%3D%22_blank%22%3EStanford%20PhD%20wannabes%3C%2Fa%3E%20%22.%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3EBut%20Gmail%20was%20all%20too%20real%2C%20purportedly%20inspired%20by%20one%20%E2%80%93%20a%20single%20%E2%80%93%20Google%20user%20complaining%20about%20the%20%22poor%20quality%20of%20existing%20email%20services%22%20and%20born%20%22%3Ca%20href%3D%22https%3A%2F%2Fgooglepress.blogspot.com%2F2004%2F04%2Fgoogle-gets-message-launches-gmail.html%22%20target%3D%22_blank%22%3Emillions%20of%20M%26amp%3BMs%20later%3C%2Fa%3E%22.%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
Dengue%20fever%20symptoms
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Blonde
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UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Vidaamuyarchi
Director: Magizh Thirumeni
Stars: Ajith Kumar, Arjun Sarja, Trisha Krishnan, Regina Cassandra
Rating: 4/5
'How To Build A Boat'
Jonathan Gornall, Simon & Schuster
We Weren’t Supposed to Survive But We Did
We weren’t supposed to survive but we did.
We weren’t supposed to remember but we did.
We weren’t supposed to write but we did.
We weren’t supposed to fight but we did.
We weren’t supposed to organise but we did.
We weren’t supposed to rap but we did.
We weren’t supposed to find allies but we did.
We weren’t supposed to grow communities but we did.
We weren’t supposed to return but WE ARE.
Amira Sakalla
J%20Street%20Polling%20Results
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'Texas Chainsaw Massacre'
Rating: 1 out of 4
Running time: 81 minutes
Director: David Blue Garcia
Starring: Sarah Yarkin, Elsie Fisher, Mark Burnham
Key facilities
- Olympic-size swimming pool with a split bulkhead for multi-use configurations, including water polo and 50m/25m training lanes
- Premier League-standard football pitch
- 400m Olympic running track
- NBA-spec basketball court with auditorium
- 600-seat auditorium
- Spaces for historical and cultural exploration
- An elevated football field that doubles as a helipad
- Specialist robotics and science laboratories
- AR and VR-enabled learning centres
- Disruption Lab and Research Centre for developing entrepreneurial skills
Company profile
Date started: 2015
Founder: John Tsioris and Ioanna Angelidaki
Based: Dubai
Sector: Online grocery delivery
Staff: 200
Funding: Undisclosed, but investors include the Jabbar Internet Group and Venture Friends
box
COMPANY PROFILE
Company name: Letstango.com
Started: June 2013
Founder: Alex Tchablakian
Based: Dubai
Industry: e-commerce
Initial investment: Dh10 million
Investors: Self-funded
Total customers: 300,000 unique customers every month
RACE CARD
5pm: Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed Al Nahyan Racing Festival Purebred Arabian Cup Conditions (PA); Dh 200,000 (Turf) 1,600m
5.30pm: Sheikha Fatima bint Mubarak Cup Conditions (PA); Dh 200,000 (T) 1,600m
6pm: Sheikh Sultan bin Zayed Al Nahyan National Day Cup Listed (TB); Dh 380,000 (T) 1,600m
6.30pm: Sheikh Sultan bin Zayed Al Nahyan National Day Group 3 (PA); Dh 500,000 (T) 1,600m
7pm: Sheikh Sultan bin Zayed Al Nahyan National Day Jewel Crown Group 1 (PA); Dh 5,000,000 (T) 2,200m
7.30pm: Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed Al Nahyan Racing Festival Handicap (PA); Dh 150,000 (T) 1,400m
8pm: Wathba Stallions Cup Handicap (PA) Dh 100,000 (T); 1,400m
The team
Photographer: Mateusz Stefanowski at Art Factory
Videographer: Jear Valasquez
Fashion director: Sarah Maisey
Make-up: Gulum Erzincan at Art Factory
Model: Randa at Art Factory Videographer’s assistant: Zanong Magat
Photographer’s assistant: Sophia Shlykova
With thanks to Jubail Mangrove Park, Jubail Island, Abu Dhabi
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
