The UAE Cabinet has issued Cabinet Decision No. 17 of 2026, amending Cabinet Decision No. 74 of 2023 (Executive Regulation of Federal Decree-Law No. 28 of 2022 on Tax Procedures). The amending decision was issued on 23 March 2026 and takes effect from 1 April 2026.
Key amendments:
1. Record retention: additional retention period for pending refund claims
A new paragraph has been added to Article 3(2). Under the amendment, where a taxable person has submitted a refund application and the FTA has not yet issued a decision, the books and records must be retained for an additional two years, provided the refund claim was submitted within the statutory periods.
2. Voluntary disclosure: AED 10,000 threshold for error correction
Article 10 has been amended to distinguish between errors above AED 10,000 and errors of AED 10,000 or less.
Where a taxpayer becomes aware that a tax return submitted to the FTA, or a tax assessment issued by the FTA, is incorrect and this resulted in payable tax being lower than it should have been:
- if the error exceeds AED 10,000, a Voluntary Disclosure must be filed within 20 business days from the date the taxpayer became aware of the error;
- if the error is AED 10,000 or less, the taxpayer may correct it in the next tax return that has not yet become due for a previous tax period, or in the return for the period in which the error was discovered, whichever is earlier; and
- a Voluntary Disclosure remains necessary within 20 business days only if there is no return through which the error can be corrected.
