The FTA is getting closer to you
By Consaya Editorial — 2026-07-29
The Federal Tax Authority just started the Emirates Majalis initiative. It's a direct-communication programme with UAE nationals, held in community spaces.
The idea is straightforward. Rather than sit behind a desk in a government office, the FTA is going to the majlis — the traditional gathering space — to listen to what citizens think about tax. Questions, complaints, suggestions. All of it.
This isn't marketing. It's the FTA acknowledging that tax compliance is a conversation, not a one-way instruction. If you own a consultancy, agency, IT firm, or architecture practice here, you file VAT returns every quarter, you'll file corporate tax returns (at 9% on profits over AED 375,000), and you probably have questions about what counts as deductible, or what the FTA actually wants in your filing pack. Right now, you phone a hotline or email. The majlis approach just invites you to turn up and ask face-to-face.
The timing matters too. Corporate tax filing started recently. VAT has been here since 2018. Most businesses in the UAE now have tax filing routines built into their calendar, but the routine doesn't mean the questions stop. Every quarter brings edge cases — is this expense deductible? Should I be filing this separately? What happens if I miss a deadline?
Direct access helps. Less so.
But here's what helps more: having your books and filing records structured so tightly that you don't need to ask. When your invoices, expenses, and payroll are tagged correctly as they happen — not retroactively sorted three months later — your VAT 201 and corporate tax filing pack almost writes itself. The FTA gets what they need. You don't wake up in a panic wondering what's due.
That's where software that actually knows UAE compliance sits. It keeps your records filing-ready. It tells you what's due and when. It flags missing paperwork before the deadline hits.
Majlis or email, the filing itself still has to be right.