Abu Dhabi

  On 28 April 2021, the UAE Cabinet of Ministers issued Decision No. 49/2021 amending provisions of Cabinet Decision No. 40/2017 regulating tax penalties (the “new Decision”). Important highlights: – Late payment penalties reduced from 1% per day to 4% per month. – 300% cap still applies. – New starting date for calculating late payment […]

  Recently, in a dispute that Wasel & Wasel was counsel on, the Federal Primary Court ruled providing a definition and test for the ‘tax benefit’ penalty for the first time. What is the ‘tax benefit’ penalty? Of the various tax penalties that are applied by the Federal Tax Authority in the United Arab Emirates

  In March 2021, the highest court in the Emirate of Abu Dhabi, the Abu Dhabi Cassation Court, upheld the denial of the enforceability of an arbitration agreement due to the clause merely stating that arbitration shall be governed by the laws of the United Arab Emirates without explicit scope to any disputes. The Cassation

  Brief Since around September 2020, the tax dispute resolution committee of the Emirate of Dubai has been inoperable (under reformation). On 25 November 2020, the UAE Minister of Justice issued Ministerial Decree No. 691/2020 on the Formation of Tax Dispute Resolution Committees for the Emirate of Dubai. The Emirate of Dubai previously had only

  In a recent judgment, the highest Court in Dubai, the Dubai Cassation Court ruled that incorporating a FIDIC contract (general conditions) by reference into a transaction does not necessarily bind the parties to the arbitration clause therein that FIDIC contract (general conditions). In this judgment, the Dubai Cassation Court also sheds light on the

Background The Executive Regulations to the UAE Civil Procedures Law that came into effect in early 2019 amended the right of persons to appeal to seizure orders limiting the right to only the distrainee (the debtor whom the order is issued against). Prior to this amendment, the distrainee, the judgment creditor, and any concerned person

Amongst the flurry of expectations and predictions on the application of force majeure arguments in light of the employment terminations currently occurring globally, whether related or unrelated to COVID-19, a panel of judges in the Primary Circuit of the Rental Disputes Center of Dubai ruled that termination of employment fulfills the requirements of a force

  An announcement took place on 23 November 2020 that foreign investors can have complete ownership of Emirati companies that are governed by the Federal Commercial Companies Law (“CCL”) otherwise known as “on-shore” companies. The concession is limited to limited liability companies and private joint stock companies, including those owned by a single shareholder. The

Country-by-Country Reporting (CbCR) compliance obligations for multinational entity groups (MNCs or multinational companies) were introduced in the UAE in mid-2019 via Cabinet Resolution No. 32 of 2019, where the first notification and reporting deadline was set for 31 December 2019. There is no shortage of industry experts in the UAE to have assisted MNCs with

In comparison with general dispute practices, tax disputes are subject to a limited number of judges; three judges at the tax dispute resolution committees (TDRCs), one judge at the Tax Disputes Circuit of the Federal Primary Court, one judge at the Tax Disputes Circuit of the Federal Appeals Court, and the Chief Justice at the