What are the steps in filing an appeal?

Since all submittals of ESR Notifications and ES Reports are done through the Ministry of Finance (“the MOF”) portal, Licensees and Exempted Licensees must log in to their existing accounts on the MOF portal to submit the appeal.

For each administrative penalty, the appeal must be submitted separately.

What are the deadlines?

You have 40 working days from the date the administrative penalty is imposed to file the appeal and pay the penalty.

Payment deadline calculations are stopped upon filing an appeal request and resumed upon rejection or partial withdrawal of the appeal request. The deadline will not be extended if the appeal is approved in full.

An appeal must be decided on by the FTA within 40 working days and the applicant must be informed of its decision within 5 working days of the date it is issued.

Supporting documents as requested by the FTA

A new Regulation allows the Federal Trade Commission, in cooperation with the Regulatory Authorities, to request additional information, documents, and records necessary to fulfill its duties.

An appeal may be denied if the applicant does not submit the required information/documentation within five working days from the date of such request.

Upon receiving the additional required documents, the FTA extends the review period for an additional 40 working days. After the decision is issued, the applicant will be notified within five working days.

Penalties and timeframes

Apart from exchanging information with foreign authorities, FTA penalties may include:

• Failure to file the ESR Notification within 6 months from the end of the financial year – AED 20,000.
• Failure to file the ES Report within 12 months from the end of the financial year – AED 50,000.
• Failure to meet the Economic Substance Test – AED 50,000.
• Repeatedly committed one of the two violations mentioned in points 2 and/or 3 during the following financial year – AED 400,000

The FTA can impose the fine within six years from the violation date unless the licensee or exempt licensee committed a fraudulent act that prevented the FTA from imposing the fine within the stipulated period.

• Providing inaccurate information – AED 50,000.

The FTA may impose a penalty for this violation within 12 months of the date it became aware of the violation unless the Licensee or the Exempted Licensee committed a fraudulent act for which the FTA was unable to impose the penalties.

Licensees and Exempted Licensees may also have their trade licenses suspended, revoked, or not renewed.

Email address dedicated to ESRs

Send an e-mail with the legal name of the Licensee or Exempted Licensee, the name of the Regulatory Authority, and the Case ID to: FTAESR@tax.gov.ae.

Emails related to technical issues with the ESR Portal (for example, esr notifications not appearing on the Licensee’s dashboard, problems submitting requests, etc.) should be sent to ESRsupport@cbrain.com.