Executive Council Resolution No. (2) of 2014
Approving the
Tourism Dirham Fee in the Emirate of Dubai[1]
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We, Hamdan bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Crown Prince of Dubai, Chairman
of the Executive Council,
After
perusal of:
Law No. (1) of 1997 Establishing the Department
of Tourism and Commerce Marketing and its amendments;
Law No. (3) of 2003 Establishing the Executive
Council of the Emirate of Dubai;
Law No. (9) of 2004 Concerning the Dubai
International Financial Centre and its amendments;
Law No. (25) of 2008 Concerning the Department
of Economic Development;
Law No. (32) of 2008 Establishing the
Government of Dubai Legal Affairs Department;
Law No. (35) of 2009 Concerning Management of
the Public Funds of the Government of Dubai and its amendments;
Law No. (15) of 2013 Establishing the Dubai
Corporation for Tourism and Commerce Marketing;
Decree No. (22) of 2009 Concerning Special
Development Zones in the Emirate of Dubai;
Decree No. (17) of 2013 Concerning Licensing
and Classification of Hotel Establishments in the Emirate of Dubai;
Decree No. (41) of 2013 Regulating the
Activity of Leasing out Holiday Homes in the Emirate of Dubai;
Regulation No. (2) of 2006 Concerning Municipal
Charges on Hotel Establishments' Sales in the Emirate of Dubai and its
Implementing Bylaw; and
The Legislation regulating free zones in the
Emirate of Dubai,
Do hereby issue
this Resolution.
Definitions
Article (1)
The
following words and expressions, wherever mentioned in this Resolution, will
have the meaning indicated opposite each of them unless the context implies
otherwise:
|
Emirate: |
The Emirate of Dubai. |
|
DTCM: |
The Department of Tourism and Commerce
Marketing. |
|
Director General: |
The director general of the DTCM. |
|
DCTCM: |
The Dubai Corporation for Tourism and Commerce
Marketing. |
|
Hotel Establishment: |
Hotels,
resorts, hotel apartments, guest houses, budget hotels, floating hotels,
holiday homes, and other hotel establishments as specified by the DTCM in
accordance with the above-mentioned Decree No. (17) of 2013. |
|
Tourism Dirham Fee: |
The fee charged to a Guest for his stay at a
Hotel Establishment. |
|
Guest: |
A natural person staying at any Hotel
Establishment in return for payment. |
This
Resolution will apply to all Hotel Establishments operating in the Emirate
including Special Development Zones and free zones such as the Dubai
International Financial Centre.
Collecting the Tourism Dirham Fee
Article (3)
For
each night of occupancy of a room at a Hotel Establishment, a Guest will be
charged the “Tourism Dirham Fee”. The fee will be assessed according to the
classification category of the Hotel Establishment and in accordance with the amounts
indicated in Schedule (1) attached to this Resolution.
a. A Hotel Establishment must:
1.
collect the Tourism Dirham Fee referred
to in Article (3) of this Resolution, and pay the proceeds to the DCTCM before the sixteenth (16th)
day of the month following collection;
2.
not collect any amounts as Tourism
Dirham Fee in excess of the amounts determined in this Resolution, or collect any
amounts in breach of its provisions;
3.
maintain accounting books and records
in which all Tourism Dirham Fee collection transactions are recorded in
accordance with the recognised accounting standards, keep such books and
records for at least five (5) years, and give competent employees of the DTCM
access to such books and records;
4.
inform Guests of the Tourism Dirham
Fee in the manner prescribed by the DTCM, and account for such Tourism Dirham Fee
in the invoice issued to the Guest;
5.
prepare a monthly account statement of
room occupancy collected Tourism Dirham Fee, and provide the DTCM with such statement
when the fee becomes due;
6.
at the end of each financial year, have
its final accounts audited by an auditor licensed to operate in the Emirate;
and
7.
provide the DTCM with final accounts and
balance sheets no later than six (6) months from the end of the financial year
of the Hotel Establishment;
b. The records and statements prepared and provided by a Hotel
Establishment, as well as all the information contained therein, will be deemed
evidence against it.
a. Where a Hotel Establishment suspends its activities, the Tourism Dirham
Fee will not be collected to the extent proportionate to the suspension,
whether it is partial or complete, provided that the Hotel Establishment
immediately notifies the DTCM of the suspension and the reasons for such
suspension by a letter accompanied by supporting documents, and provided that
the DTCM approves such complete or partial suspension.
b. Where a Hotel Establishment resumes its activities, it must notify
the DTCM in writing at least three (3) days prior to resumption of the activities.
A
Hotel Establishment is deemed to have evaded the payment of the Tourism Dirham
Fee if it commits any of the following acts:
1.
failure to pay the Tourism Dirham Fee
within the time frame stipulated in paragraph (a)(1) of Article (4) of this Resolution;
2.
failure to collect the Tourism Dirham
Fee from Guests;
3.
failure to maintain accounting books
and records wherein Tourism Dirham Fee is recorded, or failure to include
Tourism Dirham Fee collection data in such books and records;
4.
failure to provide approved final
accounts and balance sheet within the determined time frame;
5.
manipulating accounting data or
providing incorrect, incomplete, or false information, records, or statements
in respect of the Tourism Dirham Fee;
6.
obstructing or preventing competent DTCM
employees from performing audits and inspections; and/or
7.
performing any other act deemed as
evasion from payment of the Tourism Dirham Fee.
a. Without prejudice to any stricter penalty stipulated in any other
legislation, a Hotel Establishment that commits any of the violations
stipulated in Schedule (2) attached to this Resolution will be punished by the
fine indicated opposite that violation.
b. Upon repetition of the same violation within one (1) year from the
date of the previous violation, the amount of the fine prescribed in the
Schedule mentioned in paragraph (a) of this Article will be doubled, provided
that the fine does not exceed fifty thousand Dirhams (AED 50,000.00).
c. In addition to the penalty of a fine referred to in paragraph (a)
of this Article, the DTCM may take, in coordination with the competent entities
in the Emirate, one or more of the following measures against the violating
Hotel Establishment:
1.
closing the Hotel Establishment or any
of its facilities for no more than three (3) months; and/or
2.
permanently closing the Hotel
Establishment.
d. Imposing the penalties stipulated in this Article will not preclude
the collection of the fee prescribed by this Resolution.
Employees
of the DTCM nominated by a resolution of the Director General, in coordination
with the Director General of the Government of Dubai Legal Affairs Department,
will have the capacity of law enforcement officers to record the acts committed
in breach of this Resolution or the resolutions issued in pursuance hereof. For
this purpose, they may access Hotel Establishments or any of their facilities;
have access to their books, records, statements, documents, and financial
systems; issue the relevant violation reports; and retain any of such documents
or records.
Any
affected party may submit a written grievance to the Director General against
any decision, procedure, or measure taken against him in accordance with this
Resolution within fifteen (15) days from the date of being notified of the
contested decision, procedure, or measure. The grievance will be determined by
a committee formed by the Director General for this purpose, within thirty (30)
days of its submission, and the decision issued on the grievance will be final.
For
the purpose of implementing the provisions of this Resolution, the DTCM may
seek assistance from Government entities in the Emirate, including police
personnel. Upon request, such entities must provide prompt support and
assistance to the DTCM.
Any
provision in any other resolution will be repealed to the extent that it
contradicts the provisions of this Resolution.
The
Director General will issue the resolutions required for the implementation of
the provisions of this Resolution.
This
Resolution will be published in the Official Gazette and will come into force
on 31 March 2014.
Hamdan bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al
Maktoum
Crown
Prince of Dubai
Chairman of the Executive
Council
Issued in Dubai on 24 January 2014
Corresponding to 23 Rabi al-Awwal 1435 A.H.
Schedule (1)
Tourism Dirham Fee
|
SN |
Hotel Establishment
Classification Category |
Fee per Occupied
Room per Night (in Dirhams) |
|
1 |
Five-Star or Higher-Rated Hotel or Resort |
20.00 |
|
2 |
Four-Star Hotel or Resort |
15.00 |
|
3 |
Three-Star Hotel or Resort |
10.00 |
|
4 |
Two-Star Hotel |
10.00 |
|
5 |
One-Star Hotel/ Budget Hotel |
7.00 |
|
6 |
Luxury Hotel Apartment |
20.00 |
|
7 |
Deluxe Hotel Apartment |
15.00 |
|
8 |
Standard Hotel Apartment |
10.00 |
|
9 |
Guest House |
7.00 |
|
10 |
Luxury
Holiday Home |
15.00 |
|
11 |
Standard
Holiday Home |
10.00 |
Schedule (2)
Violations and Fines
|
SN |
Violation |
Fine (in Dirhams) |
|
1 |
Failure to pay the Tourism Dirham Fee within
the prescribed time limit |
Ten percent (10%) of the unpaid fee (fine must
not be less than AED 1,000.00) |
|
2 |
Failure to collect the Tourism Dirham Fee
from Guests |
Ten percent (10%) of the uncollected fee
(fine must not be less than AED 1,000.00) |
|
3 |
Failure to submit, within the prescribed
time limit, the final accounts and balance sheet audited by an auditor
licensed to operate in the Emirate |
5,000
.00 |
|
4 |
Submitting final accounts of the Hotel
Establishment audited by an unlicensed auditor |
3,000
.00 |
|
5 |
Failure to include the Tourism Dirham Fee
collection data in the accounting books and records |
5,000
.00 |
|
6 |
Failure to maintain accounting books and
records in which the Tourism Dirham Fee is recorded |
5,000
.00 |
|
7 |
Failure to record the Tourism Dirham Fee in
all accounting documents, records, and books, and the financial systems used
by the Hotel Establishment |
5,000
.00 |
|
8 |
Manipulating accounting data or providing incorrect,
incomplete, or false information, documents, records, or statements |
15,000
.00 |
|
9 |
Obstructing or preventing the competent
employees of the DTCM from performing the audits and inspections or from collecting
the Tourism Dirham Fee |
5,000
.00 |
|
10 |
Performing any act with the intention to
evade the payment of an outstanding Tourism Dirham Fee |
5,000
.00 |
|
11 |
Failure to inform a Guest of the Tourism
Dirham Fee as specified by the DTCM, or failure to account for the Tourism
Dirham Fee in the invoices issued to the Guest |
1,000
.00 |
|
12 |
Failure to prepare a monthly statement of
room occupancy and collected Tourism Dirham Fee, and submit it to the DTCM
when the fee becomes due |
3,000
.00 |
|
13 |
Delay in submitting the monthly statement of
room occupancy and collected Tourism Dirham Fee |
1,000
.00 |
|
14 |
Failure to comply with the amount of Tourism
Dirham Fee prescribed for the category of a Hotel Establishment |
AED 5,000.00 (in addition to payment of
the outstanding fee, if any) |
|
15 |
Failure to comply with the prescribed
Tourism Dirham Fee according to the number of rooms |
AED 5,000.00 (in addition to payment of
the outstanding fee, if any) |
|
16 |
Collecting any amounts as Tourism Dirham Fee
in excess of the amounts stipulated by this Resolution or in breach of its
provisions |
AED 5,000.00 (in addition to transfer to
the DCTCM the fees wrongfully collected, if any) |
©2015
The Supreme Legislation Committee in the Emirate of Dubai
[1]Every effort has been made to produce
an accurate and complete English version of this legislation. However, for the
purpose of its interpretation and application, reference must be made to the
original Arabic text. In case of conflict the Arabic text will prevail.