UAE said to implement 5% VAT from Jan 1, 2018

The UAE is reportedly set to implement 5 percent VAT from January 1, 2018, with 150 food items, health and education exempted, a senior official was quoted as saying on Wednesday.
Obaid Humaid Al Tayer, Minister of State for Financial Affairs said the Gulf Cooperation Council resolution covering the tax will come into effect in 2018 but countries will have until January 1 2019 to implement VAT.
“There’s a span of one year flexibility given the readiness of each country,” he reportedly said at a conference hosted by the Ministry of Finance in Dubai.
The minister said each country will have the flexibility to introduce VAT within this time frame.

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