In a strategic move towards advancing customer service excellence, the Federal Tax Authority (FTA) has upgraded three key services to align with the UAE's pioneering ‘Government Services 2.0’ framework. This initiative falls under the Government Services Quality Charter, designed to eleVATe the efficiency and effectiveness of public services, guaranteeing a seamless and user-friendly experience for all customers.

In a press release today, the FTA revealed the successful implementation of three transformative strategies aimed at improving services for "Tax Refund for UAE Nationals Building New Residences", "Issuance of Tax Certificates" and " Excise Goods Registration Inquiry Response."

H.E. Khalid Ali Al Bustani, the Director General of the Federal Tax Authority, emphasised that this initiative reflects the FTA's commitment to eleVATing service standards to meet the highest global benchmarks and practices set forth in the Government Services Quality Charter.

Al Bustani explained, "The FTA has significantly ramped up its efforts to execute a comprehensive plan in line with the Government Services Quality Charter. It has implemented effective transformation measures to expedite the completion of three priority services, minimising required documentation to deliver tangible outcomes swiftly and enhance customer experience.

He further added, "In order to simplify procedures and enhance integration with other systems and entities, the FTA has refined the process for ‘Issuance of Tax Certificates’ to expedite their issuance and improve customer experience. This includes issuing the Tax Residency Certificates to enable applicants to benefit from tax treaties in which the UAE is a party, and the Tax Residency Certificate for Domestic purposes. Additionally, the FTA issues certificates for business activities. In terms of the chat service, the Authority has enhanced the ‘Excise Goods Registration Inquiry Response' service to improve customer experiences and provide information about the services offered by the Authority through electronic systems to partners via a single channel."

The Federal Tax Authority highlighted significant enhancements in three key services. These include cutting the processing time for the "Tax Refund for UAE Nationals Building New Residences" from 25 to 20 minutes. The number of steps was reduced from 6 to 5, and the fields were brought down from 35 to 28. Moreover, the FTA has also revamped its website's search feature to incorporate a direct service application link on the most visited pages for easier access. The number of mandatory fields in the application process was reduced, thereby expediting applications by utilizing essential information from the UAE Pass.

The number of necessary documents for the ‘Issuance of Tax Certificates’ service has been cut down from 6 to 5, while reducing the number of fields from 12 to 9. The key service enhancement measures include refining the search feature on the Authority's website for easier access to the service login link, automating data verification through electronic linkage, enabling the request for multiple certificate copies, integration with the UAE Pass, and providing Electronic Seal on the Digital Certificate for authenticity and validation.

The Federal Tax Authority clarified that for "Excise Goods Registration Inquiry Response", the service application time has been reduced from 5 minutes to 2 minutes, and the service delivery time has been cut from 2 days to 5 minutes. Key enhancements to the service include providing immediate responses to customer inquiries without redirecting them to the FTA's partners' websites, saving customers’ time in accessing inquiry services, and offering information about the services provided by the FTA through its partners' platforms.