Have a genuinely complex corporate tax question? Here's how a private clarification from the FTA actually works

Yes — it's called a Private Clarification request, submitted electronically through the EmaraTax platform, where you lay out the facts of your specific case for the Federal Tax Authority and ask how the law applies to them, and the FTA responds with a written opinion based on exactly those facts.

The request isn't free: AED 1,500 if it covers a single tax type, and AED 2,250 if it covers more than one tax type at once — corporate tax and VAT together, for instance — under Cabinet Decision No. 7 of 2023. The fee is paid upfront regardless of the final answer you receive.

Is it worth it? That's really the more important question. The FTA's published guides (such as the general Corporate Tax guide) already answer most recurring scenarios — registration, small business relief, standard exemptions. A private clarification earns its cost when a situation is genuinely complex or high-value and isn't directly covered by an existing guide — a specific restructuring, an unusual application of the participation exemption, or a bespoke contractual arrangement particular to your business.

A practical point worth flagging: the FTA's opinion only protects you for the exact facts you described in the request — any material change in the facts, or an omitted detail, means you can no longer rely on that answer. That makes it best used before you act on a decision (a registration choice, a restructuring), rather than after a return has already been filed and a discrepancy has surfaced.

At RASEEKH, the first thing we do with a complex question is decide whether it genuinely needs a formal clarification request with its fee and waiting time, or whether the answer already exists in published guidance — and if we do proceed with a request, we help frame the facts precisely so the answer you get back is actually one you can rely on.