Refund of VAT for EXPO 2020

[Abdelhamid_Co_CPA_AuditorA]

Official Participants of the Expo 2020 are able to claim a refund of VAT incurred by them on the import or supply of certain Goods and Services in accordance with the Cabinet Decision No. 1 of 2019. For this purpose, Official Participant must register for VAT if the value of their taxable supplies or imports (for commercial or non-official purposes) in the UAE exceeds, or is anticipated to exceed, the mandatory registration threshold of AED 375,000.

Official Participants of Expo 2020 will be incurring VAT on Goods and Services connected to the Expo 2020 as per normal UAE VAT rules are eligible to recover VAT Goods and Services which were imported or acquired on certain conditions. A person may only recover VAT incurred in the UAE on Goods and Services, where the Goods and Services are used or intended to be used for making taxable supplies.  Where incurred expenses do not relate to any taxable supplies made by the person, VAT is not recoverable.

Notwithstanding the above, Official Participants are able to reclaim VAT incurred on the import and acquisition of the following four categories of Goods and Services without the need to use them for making taxable supplies:

A.    VAT incurred by the Official Participant on Goods and Services in direct connection with the construction, installation, alteration, decoration and dismantlement of their exhibition space;

B.    VAT incurred by the Official Participant on Goods and Services in direct connection with the operation of their exhibition space and any presentation within the Expo 2020 site; 

C.    VAT incurred by the Official Participant on Goods and Services relating to the actual operation of the office of the Official Participant, provided that the value of each Good or Service for which a claim is made is not less than AED 200; and

D.    VAT incurred on import of Goods for personal use of the Official Participant’s Section Commissioner-General, Section Staff and the Beneficiaries.

 Under categories A and/or B, the Official Participant must be in possession of a Certificate of Refund Entitlement issued by the Bureau to reclaim VAT. An Official Participant can be eligible to apply for the certificate in the following conditions.

·       The applicant must be an Official Participant of the Expo 2020 in Dubai, holding a valid Expo 2020 trade licence number.

·       Not more than 20% of the exhibition space or presentation is, has been, or is intended to be used for non-official or commercial purposes.

The application to recover VAT incurred can be made by one of the following methods:

·     Where the Official Participant is not registered for UAE VAT, the refund applications can be made through the Bureau by submitting a special refund application to the Bureau and it can claim refund within 15 days of the end of the calendar month in which the total VAT value to be claimed is AED10,000 or more, or within 15 days of the end of the calendar quarter where the total VAT value to be claimed is less than AED10,000.

·       Where the Official Participant is registered for VAT, it may reclaim VAT via its regular UAE VAT return.