UAE Law and Practice Contributed by: Marios Palesis, Theodora Charalambous and Giorgos Kinanis, Kinanis Tax Consultancy Middle East Limited
on Mutual Administrative Assistance in Tax Matters, as well as a participant in the Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (FATCA) and the Common Reporting Standards (CRS) regime. As such, the UAE shares as well as gathers informa - tion automatically, spontaneously and upon request through treaties or other conventions. 6.2 Joint Audits The UAE does not yet operate a formal joint audit pro - gramme, but co-operation with foreign tax authorities is possible through treaty-based mechanisms. 6.3 Simultaneous Controls While there is no specific provision in UAE domestic law on simultaneous controls, the UAE is a signatory to the Multilateral Convention on Mutual Administra - tive Assistance in Tax Matters, which provides for simultaneous tax examinations between tax admin - istrations in Article 8. 6.4 International Compliance Assessment Programme (ICAP) The UAE does not currently participate in the OECD ICAP or similar programmes. 7. Advance Pricing Agreements (APAs) 7.1 Programmes Allowing for Rulings Regarding Transfer Pricing Article 59 of the Corporate Tax Law permits a taxpayer to make an application to the FTA for the conclusion of an APA with respect to a transaction or an arrange - ment proposed or entered into by a taxpayer. In December 2025, the FTA issued its non-binding Guide on Advance Pricing Agreements, setting out a clear procedure for taxpayers who wish to enter into an APA to reduce their transfer pricing risks and enhance the predictability of the tax treatment of their controlled transactions. The FTA intends to implement three types of APAs in a phased manner. For unilateral APAs, the FTA started accepting applications in December 2025 for domes - tic APAs, and will begin to accept applications for
cross-border transactions during 2026. Bilateral and multilateral APAs will be implemented at a later phase, along with additional guidance for each. 7.2 Administration of Programmes The programme is administered by the FTA of the UAE. 7.3 Co-Ordination Between the APA Process and Mutual Agreement Procedures Since only applications for unilateral APAs are being accepted by the FTA, co-ordination with the mutual agreement procedure (MAP) is not needed at this stage. Additional guidance will be issued by the FTA once bilateral and multilateral APAs are implemented. 7.4 Limits on Taxpayers/Transactions Eligible for an APA Even though all taxpayers are eligible for an APA if they have proposed or entered in a controlled trans - action, the FTA will generally consider an application only if: • the total/expected value of the controlled transac - tion to be covered is at least AED100 million per tax period; and • it does not relate to transactions that fall under safe harbour provisions, including low value-adding intra-group services. The Guide notes that the FTA will evaluate each case based on its own facts and circumstances, even if the foregoing criteria are not met. 7.5 APA Application Deadlines Following an initial pre-filing consultation, if accepted by the FTA, a taxpayer must submit its APA applica - tion within two months from the date of notification by the FTA, or at least 12 months prior to the commence - ment of the first tax period to be covered under the APA, whichever is earlier. 7.6 APA User Fees An APA application is accompanied by a fee of AED30,000 at the time of filing, inclusive of any revi - sions/amendments to the application. Each renewal of an APA is accompanied by a fee of AED15,000.
279 CHAMBERS.COM
Powered by FlippingBook