Abu Dhabi- May 3, 2021:

Five of the major international institutions specialized in assessing competitiveness have ranked the UAE among the top 10 in the world in 28 indicators of competitiveness in the financial and tax sector.

This was highlighted by a report by the Federal Competitiveness and Statistics Centre (FCSC), which documented the rankings of the IMD World Competitiveness Yearbook, the Legatum Prosperity Index, the World Economic Forum’s Travel and Tourism Competitiveness Report, the Global Talent Competitiveness Index (GTCI) and the Global Competitiveness Index 4.0. The report states that the UAE was ranked first in the Real Personal Taxes Index, the Collected Personal Income Taxes Index, the Low Tax Evasion Rate Index, the Collected Indirect Tax Revenues Index, the Lack of Wastefulness in Government Spending Index and the Best Time to File Tax Returns Index.

The UAE was also ranked second globally in the areas of corporate tax collection, real increase in government expenditures, and collection of capital and real estate taxes, while it was ranked third in the areas of intergovernmental transfers, local central governmental debt and rate of low consumption taxes.

In early January 2018, the UAE implemented VAT at 5% on most goods and services that are supplied at every stage of the supply chain. Prior to that in 2017, an excise tax was applied to restrict the consumption of substances that affect health such as tobacco products and energy drinks.

At a time when many countries of the world tend to increase taxes on personal and corporate profits, the UAE ranked first in the world in the absence of income taxes and low rates of tax evasion which strengthens its eligibility to attract foreign investment.

Click here to view more.