UAE generates AED 11.6 billion in VAT revenue from January-August

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The UAE collected AED 11.6 billion in Value Added Tax (VAT) revenue during the first eight months of this year.

A further AED 1.9 billion was generated from excise tax, which is a 47 per cent increase compared to the same period in 2019.

According to the Ministry of Finance (MoF), 30 per cent of the VAT revenue will be distributed to the federal government and 70 per cent to local governments.

Saeed Rashid Al Yateem, Assistant Under-Secretary of Resource and Budget Sector at MoF, confirmed that there are no plans at the moment to raise VAT to more than 5 per cent in the UAE.

He added that the federal government's share of excise tax revenues on tobacco products is 45 per cent - with 55 per cent for local governments - and the federal government's share of excise tax revenues on other excise goods (i.e. energy drinks, soft drinks as well as beverages sweetened with added sugar) is 30 per cent.

"Tax revenues contribute to the continued implementation of development projects in accordance with the UAE government’s plans, and to mitigating the repercussions of the COVID-19 pandemic," added Al Yateem.

The UAE collected tax revenues worth AED 31 billion in 2019, which is a seven per cent annual increase compared to AED 29 billion generated in 2018.