ABU DHABI, May 2, 2021 (WAM) – Five major global organizations that specialize in assessing competitiveness have ranked the UAE among the top ten countries in the world for finance and taxation in 28 competitive indices.
This was highlighted by a report from the Federal Competitiveness and Statistics Center (FCSC) which documented the rankings of the IMD World Competitiveness Yearbook, Legatum Prosperity Index, World Economic Forum’s Travel and Tourism Competitiveness Report, and Global Talent Competitiveness Index (GTCI) ) and the Global Competitiveness Index 4.0.
According to the report, the UAE 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 Government Spending Index, and the Best Time Index submit for tax returns.
The United Arab Emirates ranked second in the world for corporate tax collection, real growth in government spending, and collection of capital and property taxes, while it ranked third for interstate transfers, local central government debt and low tax rates in consumption taxes.
In January 2018, the UAE introduced Value Added Tax (VAT), a 5 percent indirect tax on most products and services delivered at every stage of the supply chain.
In the fourth quarter of 2017, the country also introduced an excise tax to stop the consumption of products that are detrimental to health, including tobacco, energy drinks and soft drinks.
In addition, thanks to its policy of not collecting income taxes and focusing only on indirect taxes such as VAT and excise taxes, the United Arab Emirates have merged into the ten most competitive countries in finance and taxation.
While many countries plan to increase taxes on personal profits and businesses, the UAE has come first in the world for its lack of real personal taxes and low tax evasion rates, making it more attractive for FDI.
In its 2020 report, the World Economic Forum (WEF) ranked the UAE third in the world for its low excise tax rates and fifth in the world for the low impact of taxes on employment incentives. In addition, the country ranked eighth in the world for the impact of taxes on investment and seventh in the world for the availability of investment capital, according to the Legatum Prosperity Index.