From the library to Wikipedia to conversational artificial intelligence chatbots, how we research questions and interrogate the information we retrieve has evolved. I am old enough to have lived through all three mediums.
Not without its health warning, I want to remind you of a saying from my university days: Learning from one source is dangerous but from many is research.
Without wishing to cast ill dispersions on any one single source, keep in mind that in complicated matters it is useful to look at variant descriptions of the same thing. In reading or listening to something, we naturally interpret them in the manner in which we are wired. And we are all wired slightly differently. So, test your understanding by getting a second opinion.
Over the past two years, I have given you my view of a broad range of tax issues. Today, I want to introduce you to a place very few will even have thought about visiting: the Federal Tax Authority’s (FTA) main website, not the reporting portal.
The vast majority of UAE entities face a filing and payment deadline of September 30. This is because most financial years are calendar.
It is not a matter of just taking your profit and loss statement and filling in headline numbers. Each business must review and make decisions about what costs are deductible. Additionally, they need certainty that their reported revenue are correct for the fiscal period being reported.
Their website, www.tax.gov.ae, is available in Arabic and English, but remember that when it comes to a challenge, all laws will be interrogated from the Arabic. Every reader today will understand how slippery the English language can be. More than a hundred years ago in Europe, a man was ultimately convicted because of the placement of a comma in a letter he had written. It created convictable doubt as to his intentions.
Moving from one language to another injects layer on layer of added distortion. It is why the courts are so important and judgements often so lengthy. Our learned friends after much deliberation, deliver a detailed considered enforceable decision.
The FTA website is laid out logically, a vertical central pillar with a tree of well-spaced topics to its left and right. The top offering is corporate tax topics and within that, an accessible list of useful information, laid out clinically.
First up is the very welcome small business relief. Thousands of businesses will be in position to take advantage of this election. For those with revenue under Dh3 million ($816,882), no tax to pay. But, you must still report.
In this page are clear definitional categories whose information is written for ease of understanding. Helpful examples are added for extra support.
Occasionally, a complex element may appear, such as what is a ‘Qualifying Free Zone Person’? Hyperlinks to any defined words or phrases would add to usability.
Sadly, the next tier – reporting – has yet to be launched. Given we are a couple of months away from the end of the first reporting cycle, this would have been a welcome component.
Proving there is no such thing as a stupid question, we move on to the Frequently Asked Questions tier. This is one of the most useful parts of the website. However, how do you begin to organise a cacophony of queries, the type and breath of which you might hear at a public information forum?
There are 158 of them over eight pages. It is a thankless ask, platitudes coming from the mostly nerdily curious and self-interested parties. Yet, what you can learn here is invaluable and I would beg all affected parties to invest the time and gain knowledge.
Then comes corporate tax workshops, publicly held forums, where the lead technical experts of the tax authority present to registered persons.
If only a few items are of interest, you have spent hours in the company of an audience who will probably know something you do not. Pre-, mid- and post-presentation breaks with refreshments are laid on. It is good to talk. With tax, its highly important.
Guides and clarifications follow. You are either comfortable reading technical documents or you are not and this statutory body’s document are all here. The titles of each clearly explain what topic is covered. Be aware of what detail exists.
For those who cannot travel to a public presentation, there are webinars. These are announced here on the second-last tier.
Finally, for those who wish to truly engage and educate themselves, there is a whole range of e-learning modules. Yes, after spending years trying to learn how to put on a bow tie while watching YouTube videos, I have singularly failed. But I never stop trying to learn. Neither should you.
