UAE Census Does Not Herald New Tax, Officials Say

by Lorys Charalambous, Tax-News.com, Cyprus

13 September 2005

A top government official has dismissed rumours that a recent census in the United Arab Emirates is a prelude to a new tax regime or the introduction of new labour and immigration laws.

"We want to tell all residents that we do not have anything to do with labour or immigration matters, and we wholly depend on people's authentic answers," Majid Sultan Al Ali, Head of the Supervision Unit of the General Census of Population, Housing and Establishments, stated in a report in the Khallej Times.

"Some people think that we have to do with a tax regime, and I do not know where people came with that assumption. The data we collect has to do only with the interests of society and we need all help from residents in this national duty," he added.

Hafsa Abdullah AI Ulama, Assistant Under-Secretary for Planning and Director-General of Census 2005, assured residents of the UAE that the census is purely for the purpose of collecting statistical information, and has nothing to do with the status of any one individual.

Mr Al Ali continued that:

"If we ask an Indian man, for example, about his nationality and he tells us that he is a US citizen, we will not ask him for documents to prove that. The information we are collecting from people is just for purposes that serve the country."

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