Abu Dhabi, UAE – The Federal Tax Authority (FTA) has enhanced its holistic quality scheme, designed to bring its operating systems and services in line with the highest international quality standards, earning the ISO 22301 for Business Continuity Management for its Business Continuity and Crisis Recovery System.

FTA Director General His Excellency Khalid Ali Al Bustani said: “The new certification we have earned reaffirms confidence in the Federal Tax Authority’s systems, as well as in its efficiency and ability to face challenges and maintain business continuity. The ISO 22301 for Business Continuity Management reflects the Authority’s commitment and excellence in implementing technological systems and hiring the right talent, capable of ensuring continuity in our service provision, while maintaining the highest levels of quality and safety.”

“Abiding by the international standard for business continuity management ISO 22301, for which the Authority has obtained a renewal certificate, allows us to handle any potential threats and address them with efficiency and flexibility,” H.E. added. “The FTA’s business continuity and disaster recovery system supports the efforts made to determine the requirements needed to reduce the likelihood of accidents and mitigate their negative effects.”

H.E. Al Bustani stressed that the FTA’s Business Continuity and Disaster Recovery System provides practical and quick solutions for recovery. “The requirements for the ISO 22301 provide many advantages for the Authority, including the ability to identify potential risks, set appropriate controls to manage or eliminate them, and adopt a preventative approach to minimise the impact of operational accidents and ensure continuity of basic business activity in times of crisis, which serves to reduce downtime in the event of an accident,” H.E. explained.

The FTA secured the ISO 22301 certificate, thus renewing accreditation for its Business Continuity and Disaster Recovery System, after updating all of its practices and procedures in the sector. The independent assessment and audit team reviewed compliance with requirements to meet the ISO 22301 standard, as well as internal protocols and documented procedures that have been implemented.

A press statement issued by the Authority underlined the continuous growth in the number of FTA employees who obtained international accreditation certificates related to the international standard for business continuity, which is now 74 employees, compared to just 49 at the end of last year. This marks a 51% increase during the first 10 months of 2022, highlighting the FTA’s commitment to developing its human capital in accordance with the highest international standards. The Authority strives to continuously upgrade its services and systems to meet customers’ needs, save time, cut costs, and boost efficiency in resource management, in addition to motivating employees to integrate into the work environment.

The FTA went on to list some of the international accreditation certificates obtained by many of its employees, which include ISO 22301 Lead Implementer, ISO 22301 Master Class, ISO 22301 Internal Auditor, ISO 22301 Lead Auditor, in addition to the ITDR Implementer Certificate, and ISO 22301 ITDR Specialist Certificate.

The statement indicated that the Federal Tax Authority’s systems earned two international IT accreditations over the past year, namely the ISO 20000 and ISO 27001 accreditation certificates for information technology services management system, and the information security management system. The new certifications are an addition to the comprehensive quality system the FTA is targeting, having already secured the ISO 9001:2015 Quality Management System Certificate. This is set to boost the Authority’s efforts to further develop business performance across its various fields of work, ensure compliance with the requirements of an effective quality management system with all services provided by the FTA.

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About The Federal Tax Authority

The Federal Tax Authority was established by Federal Decree-Law No. (13) of 2016 to help diversify the national economy and increase non-oil revenues in the UAE through the management and collection of federal taxes based on international best practices and standards, as well as to provide all means of support to enable taxpayers to comply with the tax laws and procedures. Since its inception in 2017, the FTA has been committed to cooperate with the competent authorities to establish a comprehensive and balanced system to make the UAE one of the first countries in the world to implement a fully electronic tax system that encourages voluntary compliance, with simple procedures based on the highest standards of transparency and accuracy – beginning from registration, to the submission of tax returns, to the payment of due taxes through the Authority’s website: www.tax.gov.ae