On 18 October 2024, the Federal Tax Authority (FTA) released a Tax Procedures Guide TPGTR1 (the “Guide”) on Tax Residents and Tax Residency Certificate (“TRC”).
The Guide outlines the criteria for determining when individuals or legal entities qualify as Resident Persons under the UAE Corporate Tax Law (the “CTL”) (as defined by Article 11(3) of the CTL), Tax Residents under UAE domestic law or Tax Residents under Double Taxation Agreements (“DTAs”) (as defined by Articles 3 and 4 of Cabinet Decision No. 85 of 2022).
Tax residency rules in the UAE
Resident Persons under the CTL
For natural persons, the Guide confirms that regardless of domicile or residence, natural persons would be treated as Resident Persons for CTL purposes if they conduct Business or a Business Activity (as defined in the Guide) in the UAE, and turnover from such Business or Business Activity exceeds AED 1,000,000 per year.
Tax Residents under UAE domestic law
Natural persons are Tax Residents under UAE domestic law if:
- they were physically present in the UAE for 183 days or more within the relevant 12 consecutive months;
- they were physically present in the UAE for 90 days or more within the relevant 12 consecutive months, and:
- are a UAE or Gulf Cooperation Council national, or hold a UAE Resident Permit; and
- have a Permanent Place of Residence (as defined by Article 5 of Ministerial Decision No. 27 of 2023) in the UAE, or carry on an employment or Business in the UAE; or
- their usual or primary place of residence and centre of financial and personal interests were in the UAE.
For the purposes of assessing the relevant day count, any day, or part day, however brief, that an individual was present in the UAE will be included as a full day (although days spent in the UAE under “exceptional circumstances” may be disregarded).
The Guide contains a series of useful illustrative examples for determining the above tests.
Tax Residents under Double Taxation Agreements
A natural person will be considered a UAE tax resident for DTA purposes if they meet the conditions set out in the applicable DTA. The Guide notes that generally the residency criteria in a DTA require an individual seeking to apply the DTA to either be liable to tax, to have the relevant citizenship or nationality, to have physical presence in the relevant country, or to be domiciled or resident there.
The Guide also clarifies that if the DTA refers to being resident under the laws of the UAE, the criteria set out in Cabinet Decision No. 85 of 2022 should be used to establish tax residency.
Procedure for obtaining a TRC
TRCs are documents issued by the FTA proving that a person is a Tax Resident in the UAE. They can be obtained when relying on a DTA and other purposes.
A TRC can only be requested for the current or previous tax period. It cannot be obtained for a future period, as the FTA cannot certify that a person will continue to be a Tax Resident in the UAE for a future period. This is consistent with general international practice across other jurisdictions. For juridical persons, a tax period is the entity’s financial year, whereas for natural persons, a tax period is the Gregorian calendar year.
The FTA will process TRC requests in respect of natural persons as soon as the criteria to be a Tax Resident is satisfied.
The Guide outlines the procedure for applying for a TRC:
- A natural person can apply for a TRC via the EmaraTax portal, by filling in the requisite fields and supplying the supporting information.
- An application fee of AED 50 is payable on submission of the application.
- The FTA may request additional information, and may approve or reject the application.
- Once the application is approved by the FTA, the prescribed processing fees (ranging from AED 500 to AED 1,750) should be paid by the applicant within 30 business days.
- Once processed, the TRC will be available online for download. A printed certificate can also be requested in exchange for a fee of AED 250.
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