VAT to be Charged on Currency Exchange in UAE
- Currency exchange houses in UAE confirmed that they would pass on the VAT charges on the remittance fee to the consumers from January 2018
- For remittances of up to AED 1000, AED 10-16 will be charged, and for amount over AED 1000, AED 15-22 will be charged, depending on the exchange house
- The starting fee of VAT might be considerably low (80 fils- AED 1) on small transactions; however, 5% VAT can amount to a large number for trade transactions
- FERG chairman predicted remittances from the UAE by the end of 2017 would be AED 120 – AED 130 billion, with an average of AED 10 billion transferred a month
- Value Added Tax (VAT) is a general consumption tax that is added to products and services at every stage of its production, which differs in value from country to country
- VAT of 5% will be introduced on goods and services across UAE from 1st January 2018
- There are approximately 125 exchange houses in the UAE with over 1000 branches, employing around 13000 people
- Water, electricity and other commodities like groceries, property and health insurance premium will be taxed at 5% in UAE from 1st January 2018
- VAT will be implemented across all GCC countries by 1st January 2019
