The UAE introduced Corporate Tax in June 2023 (Federal Decree Law No. 47/2022) and has had a VAT regime since January 2018 (Federal Decree Law No. 8/2017). For UAE businesses and their Registered Tax Agents (UAETA), the FTA's notice and audit framework under the Tax Procedures Law (Federal Decree Law No. 28/2022) is still relatively new — and the timelines are tight: reconsideration requests must be filed within 20 business days of the notice, and TDRC (Tax Dispute Resolution Committee) objections within 40 business days.
FTAGuard AI makes the response process instant. Upload the FTA notice. Claude Haiku extracts the TRN, tax period, notice type, issues, amount in AED, and response deadline. Claude Sonnet generates a formal Registered Tax Agent response letter citing the applicable Decree Law and article numbers — with penalty waiver arguments under Cabinet Decision No. 105/2021 where applicable.
FTA notice types handled by FTAGuard
Tax Assessment (Tax Procedures Law Art. 27): FTA raised a tax assessment for underpaid VAT or Corporate Tax. FTAGuard drafts a reconsideration request within the 20-business-day window.
Administrative Penalty Assessment (Cabinet Decision No. 105/2021): FTA imposed administrative penalties. FTAGuard analyzes the penalties and drafts a waiver request citing Cabinet Decision No. 105/2021 grounds (first-time offense, voluntary compliance, etc.).
Tax Audit Notice: FTA is commencing an audit. FTAGuard extracts the audit scope and drafts the opening response letter, document preparation checklist, and timeline.
Tax Refund Rejection (VAT): FTA rejected a refund application. FTAGuard drafts a reconsideration letter addressing the FTA's basis for rejection.
UAE tax law timeline — key FTA deadlines
Reconsideration request: 20 business days from notice date (Tax Procedures Law Art. 27) TDRC objection: 40 business days from FTA reconsideration decision (Art. 33) Federal Court appeal: Within 40 business days of TDRC decision (Art. 38) Voluntary Disclosure: Available before FTA audit commencement — penalty reduction under FTA VATP030 Administrative penalty waiver: Cabinet Decision No. 105/2021 — waiver for first-time violations with voluntary correction
FTA Helpline: 600 599 994. eServices: eservices.tax.gov.ae.
Corporate Tax meets VAT — the dual compliance challenge
The UAE now has two major tax regimes running simultaneously: VAT (since Jan 2018) and Corporate Tax (since Jun 2023). FTA audits are increasingly cross-regime — auditing both VAT and CT together. FTAGuard AI is built to handle both: it detects the tax type from the notice, applies the relevant Decree Law, and drafts a response that addresses both regimes where the notice spans both.
For multinational clients, FTAGuard also understands the UAE's participation exemption, transfer pricing documentation requirements, and Qualifying Free Zone Person (QFZP) conditions — generating briefings that help the tax agent identify issues before the FTA does.