Paying taxes is seller's responsibility: Expert

Dubai - Paying taxes is seller's responsibility not the buyer's, said a tax expert in Dubai on Wednesday.
Citing an example, Aly Rehan Khan, GCC VAT Trainer at Qadi Accountants, said: "If you bought goods but didn't pay the tax and claimed the VAT from the government because you can claim VAT input. So tax is entirely seller's responsibility. It's one-way road. I am responsible for my sales to pay government tax when I have reported not collected."
Khan was speaking on "How to prepare your company for the VAT" at the two-day CFO Strategies Forum Mena at JW Marriott Marquis hotel.
He noted that VAT applies only on successful transactions.
According to him, fines are not for buyers but for the sellers and they have to report within 14 days otherwise Dh5,000 is fine for not reporting one transaction.
The UAE will implement five per cent VAT from January 2018 as part of the GCC-wide agreement. Saudi Arabia is the only other regional country to impose VAT from next year. While the other GCC countries will introduce VAT later.
He noted that how can companies claim their preparedness when the executive regulations have yet to be released.
Highlighting the challenges, He said there are 180-degree differences between the Saudi and the UAE in certain regulations because the local legislations are different. Citing an example, he said health sector is exempted in the UAE but the private health in Saudi is taxed. Similarly, private education in taxed in Saudi too.
-waheedabbas@khaleejtimes.com