How do you know this? Please don't tell me the same source that predicts the death of the big man every Eid?

These people are addicted to indirect taxes, I find income taxes a harder concept for them to deliver.

Income taxes would probably push down rents to some extent. This place will never be Singapore or HK, it's not an asian powerhouse, or next door to one.

Any country that modernises has to face the reality of taxes sooner or later.

Are there any developed economies offering first world standards that do not have income taxes?

What do they offer that you're not already paying for?

Healthcare = Insurance
Water / Elec = Bills
Building of Accom = Rent
Road tax = Tolls

CBA of thinking of more options, but nothing is for free in this country and everything is over priced.

I'd like to see how they roll out VAT and how they decide which products/services will be vatable and non-vatable etc.....most gvt offices can't even handle the most basic of computations.
Eg when I moved aprts in Dec I was given the wrong dewa account so my deposit of AED 2k went against another aprt....i was passed from pillar to post to just get, what should have been a simple thing to rectify on the systems, into almost a week's delay in my dewa being connected - I swear this place would send anyone into an early grave!

Exactly - in return for taxes people demand services (and sometimes representation). With a heavy expat population it becomes difficult to tax without providing services (or they will just leave) - and they don't want to do that. This is why it will be via every increasing indirect consumption taxes and fees for the foreseeable future.

Until they remove cash transactions from a large parts of the economy they will really struggle.

you mean cash transactions with no receipts

...or receipts from the second book

Not only ME.. a very SEA way of trying to compensate.

See above... lower sales, higher prices

Tight git.!

Keeps out the riff raff.!!


Personally.. I haven't been here long enough to notice inflation.. I just know everything is f**king expensive anyway.!!

I am not sure where you heard that. Sounds a bit high

No road in Abu Dhabi has 150k vehicles a day on it. Salam St. at the tunnel has a maximum of around 7000 per hour at the peak AM or PM. When at this level high speeding is not an issue as the road is too congested. For speeding on any road you tend to have lower flows as people speed up as they have more space

I think he meant AED 150,000, so 500 fines at the old price of AED 300 aed a ticket. Or he was just embellishing the size of the fines (like he does with his cock size)