FTA decisions · VAT & Corporate tax · penalty review
Received a tax assessment or penalty you believe is wrong? Preserve the decision and its notification date first. We help identify the correct procedure, test the grounds and organise an evidence-led response.
SAIF Chartered Accountants · FTA-registered tax agency TAN 30004113. Scope and representation are agreed for each matter.
The short answer
Yes. The FTA’s reconsideration service permits a concerned person to ask for review of an official FTA decision. The current service card states a 40-business-day period from notification of the original decision. The request needs factual and legal grounds with supporting documents; an unsupported appeal letter is rarely a useful starting point.
The notice may instead call for a tax assessment review, a separate administrative-penalty waiver or instalment request, a tax-return correction, or a direct answer to an FTA information request. Each has different eligibility and timing. We identify the document and its stage before advising which process to use.
Procedure matters
These are starting points, not interchangeable remedies. A company may have more than one issue, but the sequence and deadline for each must be mapped separately.
Use this route to ask the FTA to reconsider an official decision affecting you, in whole or in part. The written grounds and documentary evidence should address the decision itself.
An optional earlier review for a tax assessment and related penalties. Its sequence with reconsideration matters: if review is pending, the reconsideration route is not yet open for that assessment.
A separate application, subject to its own eligibility criteria, where the person seeks waiver or a payment plan rather than arguing that the FTA decision was incorrect.
If the underlying VAT return is inaccurate, first assess the correction route. Filing a VAT211 disclosure is not the same as challenging an FTA decision or seeking a penalty waiver.
A defensible request
The question is not simply whether a business dislikes the penalty. Explain what the FTA decided, why that point is wrong on the facts or law, and what corrected outcome is supported.
Reference the FTA notice, taxable person, tax type, period, amount and notification date. A portal balance alone may not show the reasoning or the formal decision that can be reconsidered.
Show how filed VAT returns or Corporate tax computations connect to the assessment, payment ledger and contested amount. Is the disagreement about the tax base, rate, period, duplication or penalty calculation?
Use contemporaneous invoices, contracts, registration applications, submission receipts, bank records and correspondence. Explain missing or contradictory records honestly; do not recreate evidence after the event.
Set out the disputed point and the revised amount or treatment, citing the relevant rule. Separate a legal challenge from a request for discretionary penalty relief under another procedure.
For a VAT penalty, check the underlying transaction and return; for a Corporate tax penalty, check the relevant registration or filing obligation and dates. The same generic letter will not fit every case.
Build a reviewable case
Send the complete FTA decision, not only a screenshot of the balance on EmaraTax. Include the date you were notified, the legal entity and TRN, relevant tax periods and what you believe is factually or legally incorrect. The FTA’s service card asks for documentary proof and relevant tax advice.
Our first output is a short route-and-deadline assessment. Where the grounds are supportable, the submission should let the reviewer move from each disputed point to a calculation and source document. If the records contradict the proposed position, we discuss that before anything is filed.
A draft saved in EmaraTax is not the same as a submitted request. Do not wait for a perfect evidence bundle without considering the applicable filing deadline and any formal extension mechanism.
Full FTA decision or penalty notice, attachments, reference number and the date it was notified.
Relevant filed returns, assessments, calculations, payment history and account statements.
Invoices, contracts, ledger entries, correspondence and a dated chronology of the underlying events.
A concise explanation of each disputed point, supported by the applicable tax rule and referenced document.
The taxable-person profile, representative member where a tax group is involved, and any agent appointment.
How SAIF helps
We can undertake a discrete decision review or coordinate the underlying accounting and tax work where the file is incomplete. The actual engagement defines who prepares, approves and submits.
Identify the decision, notification date, entity, tax type, open balance and procedural deadline.
Reconcile returns and assessments to the ledger, source documents and earlier FTA correspondence.
Distinguish a factual error, calculation issue or legal interpretation from a request for discretionary relief.
Prepare an indexed explanation, obtain approval and authorised access, and manage FTA follow-up in scope.
A registered tax agent or legal representative can submit on a client’s behalf when duly appointed. Tax-group requests require attention to the representative member. FTA submission rules →
EmaraTax procedure
The FTA’s current service card directs the applicant to sign in to EmaraTax, open the taxable-person profile, go to Other Services, select Reconsiderations and start a New Request. The applicant enters the grounds and uploads supporting proof. A registered tax agent or legal representative may submit when properly appointed.
The FTA lists the application itself as free. It may take up to 45 business days to respond after it receives a completed request, and the Authority may extend its response period. SAIF’s professional fee, if engaged, is separate and depends on the scope of review and records.
After submission, retain the acknowledgement and complete file. Monitor requests for further information and the eventual decision. If you disagree with the outcome, obtain timely advice on whether a Tax Disputes Resolution Committee objection is available; that is a separate procedure with its own conditions.
Practical example
The first question is what the FTA actually decided and when the decision was notified. We would compare the registration obligation and statutory date with the EmaraTax application history, licence or incorporation documents, FTA acknowledgements and any resubmission requests.
If the evidence supports an error in the decision, a reconsideration request may be appropriate. If the obligation and penalty are correct but exceptional circumstances exist, the waiver criteria are a different test. The example is a route illustration, not a reported client result or a promise that either application succeeds.
Common questions
Answers reflect current published FTA service information. The decision, tax type, notification date and applicable law control a real case.
It asks the UAE Federal Tax Authority to review an official decision issued in connection with the person, in whole or in part. It is not a general enquiry or a substitute for correcting an inaccurate return.
Potentially. First establish whether an official decision was issued, why the penalty arose, when notification occurred and whether the underlying position is genuinely disputed. Reconsideration, assessment review and waiver are different applications.
The FTA reconsideration service card currently states 40 business days from notification of the original decision. Record the actual notification date immediately and obtain case-specific deadline advice; an extension request may be possible under the FTA rules but is not automatic.
The FTA lists its reconsideration service as free. SAIF’s professional review and submission assistance, if engaged, is quoted separately according to the scope and records.
The current FTA service card says the Authority may take up to 45 business days from receiving a completed reconsideration request and may extend its response period. That is an authority timeframe, not a guaranteed outcome date.
Yes. The concerned person can submit through EmaraTax. The FTA also accepts a request from an appointed tax agent or legal representative; a tax adviser who is not a registered tax agent cannot submit it on another person’s behalf.
The FTA says a reconsideration request for a tax-group member should be submitted by the representative member. Verify the group structure and portal access before filing.
Not every message is an official decision. The FTA says general enquiries, complaints and clarifications are not reconsideration-eligible decisions. Examine the actual notice before selecting this route.
Do not assume a reconsideration request automatically suspends a tax or penalty balance. Payment, enforcement and any later committee objection have separate rules; obtain advice on the specific notice and stage.
For the same assessment, the FTA says reconsideration follows the assessment-review decision or expiry of the FTA decision period, taking account of an extension. Do not run the two procedures in parallel without checking the statutory sequence.
An objection to the Tax Disputes Resolution Committee may be available subject to statutory conditions, payment requirements and deadlines. Committee and court proceedings are separate from this service and require a separate legal scope.
No. SAIF can test the grounds, prepare the evidence and support an authorised submission, but the FTA decides the request. We will distinguish a weak case from a supported one rather than promise a waiver or reversal.
The FTA service card says to log in, open the taxable-person profile, choose Other Services, select Reconsiderations and then New Request. Prepare the decision reference, grounds and evidence before starting; saving a draft does not stop the statutory clock.
The FTA says a person may request an extension of the reconsideration submission period under FTA Decision No. 1 of 2025. Eligibility and acceptance depend on the reasons and evidence. Do not assume an extension is granted or wait to seek advice.
No. Reconsideration challenges an official decision. A waiver request asks for relief under separate statutory criteria, even where the penalty may otherwise be valid. An instalment request addresses payment scheduling, not whether the decision is correct.
A reconsideration request may address an official decision in whole or in part. Identify the disputed paragraph, amount or period precisely and explain what outcome you seek, with a calculation and evidence for that part.
Related help
Checked 12 October 2026. The FTA’s current reconsideration service card is used for the 40-business-day submission period and 45-business-day response estimate. The FTA’s older general dispute-law summary shows a different figure, so do not use that summary to calculate a live deadline. Seek case-specific advice promptly.
Act on the actual notice
Share the full notice and notification date securely. We will identify the immediate deadline, records needed and a proportionate scope for a tax or penalty review.
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