Can I appoint a tax agent to deal with the FTA?

Article 14 - Appointment of the Tax Agent 1. A Person may appoint a Tax Agent to act in his name and on his behalf with regard to his Tax affairs under this Decree-Law or the Tax Law without prejudice to that Person’s responsibility under this Decree-Law or the Tax Law. 2. Subject to Clause 2 of Article 15 of this Decree-Law, the Authority may not deal with a Tax Agent in relation to any Person if such Person informs the Authority of the end of the appointment of the Tax Agent or his dismissal in accordance with the mechanism specified by the Authority.

2. Tax Agents 2.1. Definition of a Tax Agent A tax agent is any natural person registered with the FTA in the register of tax agents, who is appointed on behalf of another person to represent him before the FTA and assist him in the fulfilment of his tax obligations and the exercise of his associated tax rights. Notably, there are certain minimum requirements which a tax agent must meet before the FTA approves that person’s application as a tax agent. 2.2. Register of Tax Agents In order to act as a tax agent, you must be listed on the register of tax agents. This register is established at the FTA and will include a file for every tax agent, in which all matters related to his/her professional conduct shall be lodged. It is imperative to note that it is not permitted for any person to practice the profession of a tax agent in the UAE unless he/she is listed in the register and licensed for this purpose by the Ministry of Economy and/or the competent local authority. 2.3. Is it mandatory to appoint a tax agent? While the concept of a tax agent is to help businesses to be compliant in respect of their tax obligations, it is not mandatory for a taxable person to appoint a tax agent. The appointment of a tax agent does not relieve the taxable person of their obligations; the taxable person bears the ultimate legal responsibility for the dealings with the FTA by the tax agent on their behalf. It is also not the FTA’s role to promote the use of tax agents generally, or to promote individual tax agents. The FTA will publish a list of approved tax agents on its website for information purposes in order to assist taxable persons to identify suitably qualified tax agents. The taxable person is free to make its own choice regarding whether or not it wishes to use the services of a tax agent to assist in its compliance obligations. 4