The Federal Tax Administration (FTA), in collaboration with Planet Tax Free, It started a 100% digital VAT refund system for tourists on September 14.
The announcement was made during a press conference attended by FTA Director-General His Excellency Khalid Ali Al Bustani and Planet Tax Free General Manager Ayad Al Kourdi.
The new technology is electronically connected between retail establishments and the tax return program, enabling a fluid digital procedure for tourists to issue, submit, revise, and save invoices.
“The system achieves high satisfaction rates by users for its simple, effective and smooth tax-refund process for eligible tourists,” Al Bustani said.
As the number of tourist VAT refund transactions doubled to 2.31 million during the first eight months of this year, the number of transactions increased by 104.15 percent. In 2021, 1.13 million transactions were registered during the same period. The total value of Tourist VAT Refunds increased by 113.48 percent from the beginning of January to the end of August 2022 compared to the same period in 2021, which is attributed to the easing of global travel restrictions. Increased by 113.48 percent from the beginning of January to the end of August 2022 compared to the same period in 2021, which is attributed to the easing of global travel restrictions.
