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Private clarifications

Applies
FY2024 onwards
Reviewed
Rule
UAE-CT-CLARIF-2024.1
By

Can you ask the FTA for a clarification or an APA?

Yes. A Person can apply to the FTA for a clarification of how the law applies to a proposed or actual transaction, or for an advance pricing agreement.

Per Federal Decree-Law No. 47 of 2022, Article 59, Clarifications

A Person may make an application to the Authority for a clarification regarding the application of this Decree-Law, or for the conclusion of an advance pricing agreement, with respect to a transaction or an arrangement proposed or entered into by the Person. The application is made in the form and manner prescribed by the Authority.

The route to the Authority's own view where the position is unclear — and the route to an advance pricing agreement, which the same clause offers and which is a different thing. The article sets no timeline and promises no outcome.

Two applications, one clause

59(1) — what may be applied for

  • A clarification regarding the application of this Decree-Law
  • The conclusion of an advance pricing agreement
  • In each case with respect to a transaction or an arrangement proposed or entered into by the Person

They are not the same application

A clarification is the Authority's view on how the law applies. An advance pricing agreement is an agreement about pricing. Different applications, different outcomes.

"Proposed or entered into" is the article's own breadth

The route is open before a transaction happens and after. A reader who assumes clarifications are only prospective forecloses an option the article gives them.

59(2) — and what the article does not give

The form and manner are prescribed by the Authority. The article sets no timeline, and it does not say what a clarification will contain or that an agreement will be concluded. A page implying otherwise would be worse than one that says what the route is and stops.

The clarification process — FTA Private Clarifications Guide (TPGPC1, July 2026)

  • Made through EmaraTax, by the Person (for a Tax Group, the representative through the group's account) or its Tax Agent
  • Fee: AED 1,500 for one tax, AED 2,250 for more than one; non-refundable save as FTA Decision No. 5 of 2024 allows
  • Issued within 60 Business Days of a complete request; further information must be supplied within 40 Business Days or the request is rejected
  • Rejected outright for, among others, penalty waivers and instalments, and advance pricing agreements; may be rejected where the FTA has already published its position
  • Effect: binds only the Applicant; the FTA considers itself administratively bound where the facts are materially the same; void where facts differ, a material fact was withheld or a condition is not met; lapses when the law changes or the FTA publishes an updated position

Advance pricing agreements — FTA APA Guide (CTGAPA1, December 2025)

  • Unilateral (with the FTA) or bilateral/multilateral (with foreign administrations under a tax treaty)
  • Controlled Transactions of at least AED 100 million per Tax Period, measured at the group level for a Tax Group; safe-harbour transactions excluded
  • Covers three to five Tax Periods; fee AED 30,000, renewal AED 15,000
  • The Private Clarifications Guide (July 2026) records that the FTA is currently accepting only unilateral applications for domestic Related Party transactions, with other kinds to be announced

Order of testing

  1. 1

    Inputs requiring your determination

    Any input a person must decide and has not decided stops the computation. An undecided input is never read as a no.

  2. 2

    A transaction or arrangement proposed or entered into

    The application is made with respect to one. Where there is neither, the article offers no route on those facts.

  3. 3

    Application for an advance pricing agreement

    Available under the same clause, and distinct from a clarification: it concerns the pricing of the transaction rather than the Authority's view of the law.

  4. 4

    Application for a clarification

    Available in respect of the application of the Decree-Law to the transaction or arrangement.

Examples

Illustrative scenarios — ours, not the authority’s — each computed live by this rule. Change any fact and the outcome is the rule’s, not a hand-written answer.

A clarification on a proposed restructuring

A group considering a reorganisation wants the Authority's view on how the Decree-Law applies to it before proceeding.

Computed

An application for a clarification is available as computed: Article 59(1) lets a Person apply to the Authority for a clarification regarding the application of the Decree-Law with respect to a transaction or arrangement proposed or entered into. That is a different application from one for the conclusion of an advance pricing agreement, which the same clause also offers. Under the FTA's Private Clarifications Guide (TPGPC1) the request is made through EmaraTax with a fee of AED 1,500 (AED 2,250 where it covers more than one tax), and a clarification is issued within 60 Business Days of a complete request. The FTA treats itself as administratively bound where the facts are materially the same; a clarification is void if the facts differ, a material fact was not disclosed or a stated condition is not met, and it lapses if the law changes or the FTA publishes an updated position. It binds only the Applicant. Article 59(2) leaves the form and manner of the application to the Authority; the article itself sets no timeline. What the Authority would clarify or agree is its own determination and not something this page predicts.

Decided by the application for a clarification

A clarification on something already done

The same group, after completing the reorganisation — the article reaches a transaction entered into as well as a proposed one.

Computed

An application for a clarification is available as computed: Article 59(1) lets a Person apply to the Authority for a clarification regarding the application of the Decree-Law with respect to a transaction or arrangement proposed or entered into. That is a different application from one for the conclusion of an advance pricing agreement, which the same clause also offers. Under the FTA's Private Clarifications Guide (TPGPC1) the request is made through EmaraTax with a fee of AED 1,500 (AED 2,250 where it covers more than one tax), and a clarification is issued within 60 Business Days of a complete request. The FTA treats itself as administratively bound where the facts are materially the same; a clarification is void if the facts differ, a material fact was not disclosed or a stated condition is not met, and it lapses if the law changes or the FTA publishes an updated position. It binds only the Applicant. Article 59(2) leaves the form and manner of the application to the Authority; the article itself sets no timeline. What the Authority would clarify or agree is its own determination and not something this page predicts.

Decided by the application for a clarification

An advance pricing agreement on intra-group services

A group seeking agreement with the Authority on the pricing of a continuing intra-group services arrangement.

Computed

An application for the conclusion of an advance pricing agreement is available as computed: Article 59(1) lets a Person apply to the Authority for one with respect to a transaction or arrangement proposed or entered into. That is a different application from a clarification on the application of the Decree-Law, and concerns the pricing of the transaction rather than the Authority's view of the law. Under the FTA's Advance Pricing Agreements Guide (CTGAPA1) an application requires Controlled Transactions of at least AED 100 million per Tax Period, covers three to five Tax Periods, and carries a fee of AED 30,000 (AED 15,000 on renewal). The FTA's Private Clarifications Guide (July 2026) states that it is currently accepting only unilateral applications for domestic transactions between Related Parties, with other kinds to be announced; a unilateral agreement binds only the Person and the FTA, not a foreign administration. Article 59(2) leaves the form and manner of the application to the Authority; the article itself sets no timeline. What the Authority would clarify or agree is its own determination and not something this page predicts. Whether an agreement is concluded, and on what terms, is the Authority's determination.

Decided by the application for an advance pricing agreement

A general question with no transaction behind it

A Person wanting the Authority's view on the law in the abstract, with no transaction or arrangement proposed or entered into.

Computed

Article 59(1) does not offer a route on these facts as computed: the application is made with respect to a transaction or an arrangement proposed or entered into by the Person, and you have indicated there is neither. The article's breadth is worth noting — it reaches a transaction already entered into as well as a proposed one. Article 59(2) leaves the form and manner of the application to the Authority; the article itself sets no timeline. What the Authority would clarify or agree is its own determination and not something this page predicts.

Decided by the a transaction or arrangement proposed or entered into

Try it

Supply the facts and this rule computes the outcome in your browser, live. Leave a determination undecided and it blocks the result — it is never read as a no.

Not computed yet

2 inputs still need your determination:

  • Is the application for a clarification on the application of the Decree-Law, or for the conclusion of an advance pricing agreement? Article 59(1) offers both, and they are different applications.
  • Does the application concern a transaction or arrangement that has been proposed or entered into? The article covers both — the route is not only prospective.

Computed in your browser from the figures you supply. Nothing is sent anywhere, and the result is a computation against a rule — reference, not tax advice.

Sources

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Reference, not tax advice.

Pankaj Agarwal — Tax Technology Leader