United Arab Emirates, October 1, 2018

(WAM) -- Etisalat announced today that it has teamed up with Skylines Tax Consultancy to offer free Value Added Tax (VAT) filing services exclusively for its Small and Medium Business (SMB) customers at the ‘Hello Business Hub’.

This is keeping in line with UAE government’s VAT legislation which introduced a five percent VAT on 1st January this year. Under the new law, a VAT return has to be filed by registered tax payers at the end of the tax period.

Esam Mahmoud, Senior Vice President, Small and Medium Business, Etisalat, said, 'In collaboration with our tax consultancy partner at the ‘Hello Business Hub’, we are pleased to support our SMB customers with this new initiative that aims to help them meet their VAT responsibilities by providing consultation and guiding them through every step of the way, giving them peace of mind.

'Small and medium businesses are important contributors to the UAE’s economy today, and we at Etisalat work closely with SMBs and start-ups by enabling them with the right tools and services all under one roof. Etisalat and Skyline Tax Consultancy will work actively together with SMBs to ensure proper VAT compliance and adoption.'

In addition to VAT filing, SMB customers will also enjoy other free services including, archiving of documents for five years, cloud-based financial accounting software, filing of VAT return, cash flow management, balance sheet, profit and loss, access to a VAT help desk, bank reconciliation, import/export activities, VAT registration, and four free accountant’s visits per month at customer premises.

Etisalat’s Hello Business Hub, which opened in February this year, caters to the needs of SMBs by offering comprehensive integrated propositions, ranging from company setup to company registration, banking to insurance, office leasing to furniture, combined with the latest telecom products and services from Etisalat and more. Etisalat currently serves more than 300,000 SMB customers in the country, working closely with them in their digital transformation journey.

The specialised business hub located at One JLT building, Jumeirah Lake Towers, Dubai offers latest telecommunications solutions tailored for start-ups and SMBs and an extended platform provided by its strategic business partners.