Abu Dhabi to grant tax waiver on industrial imports

The Industrial Development Bureau of the Abu Dhabi Department of Economic Development (Added) and the General Administration of Customs in Abu Dhabi have stated that starting from January 15, Abu Dhabi will grant a tax waiver on imported industrial inputs.

These include raw materials, machinery, equipment and spare parts.

The announcement was made at a press conference yesterday at which Ali Alhumami, director of industrial organisation department at the Industrial Development Bureau and a number of officials from the General Administration of Abu Dhabi Customs were present.

Ali Alhumami said the volume of transactions pertaining to exempting industrial inputs from customs duties received by the Bureau in 2017 amounted to 26,000 transactions with a total value of Dhs1.5bn, noting that the total amount has been waived.

The news of this latest tax waiver comes in the wake of several initiatives announced to provide a stimulus to Abu Dhabi’s economy.

In November, it was announced that all new economic licenses issued in Abu Dhabi will be exempt from local fees for two years from the date of their issuance, according to a new resolution approved by the Abu Dhabi Executive Council.

The council also approved another decision to cancel the fees for 75 basic services in Abu Dhabi municipalities and cut the cost of a further 23 municipality fees by 10 to 50 per cent.

They are part of reforms under the Abu Dhabi government’s “Ghadan 21” programme, which was unveiled by Abu Dhabi Crown Prince Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan in September.

The three-year Dhs50bn ($13.6bn) programme includes plans to create 10,000 Emirati jobs, ease business licence requirements, support investment and speed up contract payments.