VAT registration of Sole Establishment

Following is an extract from Public Clarification VATP026, which replaces Public Clarification VATP021.

What is the Issue with respect to VAT registration of Sole Establishments?

A natural or legal person may own more than one sole establishments in UAE. There has been uncertainty on whether each sole establishment needs to obtain a separate VAT registration or whether all such establishments should be included under one VAT registration.

So, this Public Clarification clarifies the VAT registration obligations of a person in respect of its sole establishments.

Summary of the public clarification on VAT registration of Sole Establishment:

Person may hold more than one sole establishment but only one VAT registration required for all its sole establishments. And it is not allowed to register each entity separately under vat for each sole establishment.

The Federal Tax Authority (‘FTA’) will review, in certain cases, the VAT registrations by taxable persons in respect of sole establishments and will inform them of the corrective steps to be taken, if any.

Detailed discussion:

Meaning of sole establishment:

A sole establishment or sole proprietorship is a form of business which is 100% owned by a person. A sole establishment does not have a legal personality that is independent of its owner, and is accordingly considered to be the same person as its owner. It should be noted that, for VAT purposes, a One-Person Company LLC or other similar entities are not considered sole establishments, and are seen as a distinct and separate legal person from their owner (unless the relevant applicable legislation state otherwise).

VAT registration obligations of Sole Establishments:

A person may own a number of sole establishments, which may undertake different lines of business.

• Each person can obtain only one VAT registration (TRN number) and person should include all its sole establishment licenses under one VAT registration.
• In such cases VAT registration should be in the name of person that who owns the sole establishments. But if a person having more than one sole establishment and wants to register on the name of Its sole establishment instead of person may apply to FTA accordingly.

It is important to note that the taxable supplies by a person as well as his sole establishments must be considered collectively in order to determine the VAT registration obligations.

 

Review of previous VAT registrations of sole establishments

The FTA noted that there are some instances where a person may have received separate VAT registrations for different sole establishments.

The FTA also stated that it will review such VAT registrations in certain cases and inform the relevant registrants of the corrective steps they should take, if any. For any VAT registrations received in the past, no action is required to amend the VAT registrations, until specifically any direction by the FTA. For all future VAT registration applications, the applicants must confirm to the position stated in this Public Clarification.

For the avoidance of doubt, please note that, if a person owns one or more sole establishments, the value of supplies made by the person and all its sole establishments must be aggregated to assess whether the VAT registration threshold has been exceeded.

And if a registrant disregarded any of his sole establishments or his own taxable supplies for VAT purposes (for example, on the basis that the sole establishment or his taxable supplies did not reach the VAT registration threshold on a stand-alone basis), the registrant is required to inform the FTA of any undeclared output tax by submitting a voluntary disclosure.

If the person and his sole establishments failed to register for VAT, even though the aggregate value of supplies listed in Article 19 of the Federal Decree-Law No. 8 of 2017 on Value Added Tax made by the person and his sole establishments exceeded the mandatory registration threshold of AED 375,000, the person will be required to notify the FTA and corrective action must be taken to account for the outstanding VAT.

 

How can Spectrum Auditing help you registering a Sole Establishment for VAT?

Spectrum Auditing team is well equipped to advise and take care of your requirements of Value Added Tax (VAT). Our passion and heart lie in serving the clients and we aim to keep client’s satisfaction as our primary motto. We are registered Auditors under the Ministry of Economy UAE and also registered Tax Agent from Federal Tax Agency UAE, Dubai providing dedicated Audit, Accounting, Tax services, Financial Advisory and Business Advisory Services complying regulatory requirements.

Reach us to have a frills free life in your journey in UAE. We at Spectrum will assist you in taking care of all the procedures involved in the VAT process. Call us today for any kind of assistance at +971 4 2699329 or email us at [email protected] to get all your queries addressed. Spectrum is your partner in your success.