2.7 million tax refund transactions for tourists in 6 months

The Federal Tax Authority (FTA) confirmed that transactions conducted through the digital system for refunding value-added tax (VAT) to tourists have witnessed good growth rates since the beginning of this year, as the number of tax refund transactions for tourists based on refund stickers issued by retail stores electronically linked to the system reached 2.7 million transactions during the first half, at a daily rate of about 15,000 transactions, compared to 2.55 million transactions during the same period last year, at a daily rate of 14.18 thousand transactions, an increase of 5.62%.

The Authority explained in a statement yesterday that the total number of electronic transactions that were implemented to refund the tax to tourists amounted to about 19.67 million transactions since the start of the system’s implementation until the end of the first half of this year, compared to a total number of 14.54 million transactions by the end of the first half of 2023, an increase of 35.25% over 12 months, indicating that over the course of a year (from the end of June 2023 until the end of June 2024), 5.13 million electronic transactions were implemented to refund the tax to tourists, at a daily rate of more than 14,000 transactions.

She added that the base of retail stores electronically linked to the Tourist Tax Refund System has witnessed a remarkable expansion across the country, as their total number exceeded 16.87 thousand stores by the end of the first half of this year, compared to about 15.61 thousand stores by the end of the first half of last year, with an addition of 1.26 thousand stores, an increase of 8.07% during the year (from the end of June 2023 to the end of June 2024), after the number of retail stores linked to the system witnessed a continuous increase over the past years from 10.26 thousand stores by the end of 2020 to 13.88 thousand stores by the end of 2021, then rose to 15.24 thousand stores by the end of 2022, and continued to rise to 16.48 thousand stores by the end of 2023.

She pointed out that there has been a significant increase in the spread of self-service devices through which tax refund procedures are carried out for tourists upon their departure from the country in approximately two minutes for each transaction; their total number increased by the end of the first half of this year to 95 devices, compared to 79 devices by the end of the first half of 2023, with the addition of 16 new devices, a significant increase of 20.25% during the year (from the end of June 2023 to the end of June 2024), and during the first six months of this year, six new devices were added, compared to one device that was added during the same period in 2023.

The Director General of the Authority, Khalid Ali Al Bustani, said, “The noticeable increase in tax refund transactions for tourists is due to the great tourism boom witnessed by the country, reflecting the vision of the wise leadership to expand diversification policies.”

He added: “Among the main factors that also led to the increase in tax refund transactions for tourists is the continuous development undertaken by the Federal Tax Authority to continuously upgrade the digital system for tax refunds for tourists, as the system relies on 100% digital mechanisms.”

He pointed out that the Authority is adopting ambitious plans for digital transformation to accelerate tax services and meet the requirements of the Zero Bureaucracy Program.