(MENAFN - Khaleej Times) More small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in the Northern Emirates are lagging behind compared to hose in Dubai and Abu Dhabi in complying and implementing VAT due to human and financial resources constraints.
According to Jai Prakash Agarwal, manager of Oracle implementation at Aster DM Healthcare Services, the Northern Emirates - Sharjah, Ajman, Umm Al Quwain, Ras Al Khaimah and Fujairah - are facing the issue of availability of consultants on a regular basis.
"Dubai and Abu Dhabi are big markets as compared to Northern Emirates, so companies have consultants to discuss VAT. But these smaller emirates have limitation of availability of consultants who can't travel there every day. The companies there in the Northern Emirates want these VAT experts to come over, but one can't travel every day," says Agarwal, also a member of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of India - Dubai Chapter.Khaleej Times, the leading UAE English newspaper, and the ICAI - Dubai Chapter with the support of Qadi Accountants, a boutique advisory firm that provides services ranging from audit, accounting, advisory and taxation, will hold roadshows on VAT in Sharjah, Ajman and Ras Al Khaimah in the coming weeks to help create awareness for companies and assist them put in place a system and mechanism for VAT, which is being introduced for the first time in the country.
"Big companies in the Northern Emirates have the resources and potential to hire consultants. But a smaller retailer running a hyper market in Al Ain is getting covered by VAT but he is lagging the resources and expertise. Because from January 1, retailers will have to display all the prices VAT inclusive," says Agarwal.According to the Federal Tax Authority, those achieving an annual turnover of more than Dh375,000 will have to register and obtain a tax registration number. Earlier, the FTA announced that it was issuing provisional TRNs to those companies that failed to register by the December 4, 2017 deadline.
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