About this area

The most expensive tax issue is the one no one tested before it became a return — and the second is the one no one defended properly when the FTA called.

We hold a substantial litigation portfolio on FTA-related matters — including a comprehensive litigation-support engagement and active cassation appeals (Emirates NBD, Hypermarket-related appeals, Little World, and a referred cassation matter through Dr. Mohamed Lari). Tax-dispute work in the UAE moves quickly through three court tiers, and we treat first-instance preparation as cassation preparation in advance.

On the advisory side, our work covers corporate-tax registration (including FTA penalty remediation for late or incorrect registrations), entity classification questions for free-zone qualifying-income analysis, VAT registration and treatment for healthcare, real estate, and financial-services activities, and the documentation that the FTA actually accepts in support.

First-instance preparation is cassation preparation in advance.

— Pillar II · Regulatory & Compliance

We coordinate closely with the client's tax-accounting team and external auditors where technical computation sits with them, and we own the legal-documentation, regulatory engagement, and litigation strands so that the client receives one coherent tax position.

The work, in detail

Four matter types we handle in tax advisory / fta.

Corporate-tax readiness and registration.

Corporate-tax classification, registration, and the practical work of cleaning up where registration was late or incorrect — including FTA penalty remediation, clarification requests, and free-zone qualifying-income analysis under the transitional rules.

VAT compliance and sector nuances.

VAT registration, invoicing discipline, reverse-charge mechanics, and the sector nuances that tend to create exposure in real estate, healthcare, and financial services — areas where the underlying activity classification drives the VAT outcome.

FTA engagement and voluntary disclosure.

Active engagement with the FTA — audit defence, clarification requests, voluntary disclosures, and objection drafting within the statutory windows — plus the upstream advisory work that determines whether engagement is needed in the first place.

Tax litigation and cassation.

An active UAE tax-litigation portfolio across first-instance, appeal, and cassation proceedings — including ongoing cassation appeals on financial-services and retail-sector tax positions, and a comprehensive litigation-support engagement under which we manage multiple FTA-adjacent cases concurrently.

Continue

Discuss a tax advisory / fta matter with us.

We're available to assess your position and advise on the most effective approach. Initial conversations are always without obligation.