UAE tourist VAT refunds surge 14.41% in 2023: FTA
The Federal Tax Authority (FTA) has reported a 14.41 per cent increase in tax refund transactions for tourists, totalling 4.18 million transactions in 2023, with a daily average of transactions of 11,460.
Khalid Ali Al Bustani, director-general of FTA, said that the electronic system for refunding value-added tax to tourists has exceeded expectations in recent years, with a significant rise in tax refund transactions. The FTA’S data indicates that approximately 14 million electronic transactions for tax refunds to tourists have been processed since the system’s launch in November 2018 until the end of the previous year.
He noted that the daily average of electronic transactions executed for tax refunds to tourists has consistently increased over the past four years, rising from 4,130 transactions as a daily average in 2020 to about 7,390 transactions daily in 2021, and jumped significantly to about 10,020 transactions daily in 2022, and continued to rise, with the daily average of tax refund transactions for tourists executed during 2023 reaching about 11,460 transactions.
Al Bustani said: “With the tourism recovery witnessed by the UAE, and the continuous development operations carried out by the Authority for the electronic system for VAT refunds to tourists; the total annual number of electronic transactions executed for tax refunds to tourists has witnessed continuous growth in recent years, rising from 1.51 million transactions in 2020 to 2.7 million transactions in 2021, with an increase of 78.54 per cent. The increase continued to 3.66 million transactions in 2022, with an increase of 35.44 per cent. It rose again to 4.18 million transactions in 2023, with an increase of 14.41 per cent.”
He stated that the electronically linked retail base to the tourist VAT refund system witnessed significant expansion across the country in recent years, surpassing a total of 16,480 stores by the end of last year, with a total increase of 60.62 per cent compared to around 10,260 stores at the end of 2020. He noted that the current number of selfservice VAT refund devices is 85, compared to 71 devices at the end of 2020.