Reconsideration Request Against a Late Vat Payment Penalty

A reconsideration request asks the FTA to review its own penalty assessment — here, the 14% per annum penalty for late VAT payment imposed under as amended by Cabinet Decision No. 129 of 2025 (applies from 14 April 2026): 14% per annum, charged monthly for each month or part of a month from the day after the due date. Article 29(1) gives you 40 business days from notification, and requires the request to specify its reasons. 'I disagree' is not a reason; each reason must map to a fact the reviewer can verify.

File in EmaraTax under the reconsideration service: select the penalty assessment, state the notification date, number your reasons, and upload one indexed evidence bundle. The filing is free. Keep the submission reference — it proves you beat the clock if the portal timestamp is ever questioned.

Two regimes now exist and the FTA must apply the right one to the right period: the old escalating scale for pre-14-April-2026 liabilities, 14% per annum after. Transitional periods are the richest dispute ground — plus the usual payment-allocation fights where money paid was credited late or against the wrong period.

Structure the argument in layers. First, the computation: 14% per annum on the unpaid VAT, charged for each month or part of a month starting the day after the due date (for periods from 14 April 2026; earlier periods used the old 2% then 4% monthly scale capped at 300%). Recompute it independently before arguing anything else — wrong start dates and misapplied uplifts are common and need no legal theory. Second, the liability facts: paying VAT after the return deadline (or 20 business days after a voluntary disclosure or assessment). If the trigger never happened on your facts, the penalty falls entirely. Third, mitigation: a clean compliance history and immediate correction after discovery.

Do not ask the reconsideration reviewer for mercy on cash-flow grounds — that belongs to the Article 50 instalment/waiver committee, a separate track that does not pause your 40-day clock.

The FTA has 40 business days from receipt to decide and 5 business days to notify you (Article 29(2)); its service card quotes up to 45 business days to respond. Outcomes: cancellation, reduction, or refusal. Read a refusal carefully — the reasons given (the FTA must state them) tell you exactly what the TDRC objection must answer.

If refused, you have 40 business days from notification to object to the Tax Disputes Resolution Committee under Article 32, with the connected tax paid in full. The Committee — a Ministry of Justice body, not the FTA — decides within 20 business days. If the deadline is close or the amount is large, get help before you file. Call +971 58 541 4616, message us on WhatsApp at https://wa.me/971585414616, email info@taxadvisors.ae, or use the contact form at /contact/.