UAE VAT registration and returns
Who does this work. This is a regulated activity in the UAE and is carried out by a licensed partner firm there, who quote it directly. We coordinate the engagement and handle everything on the Indian side.
VAT has applied in the UAE since January 2018 at a standard rate of 5%. Registration becomes mandatory once taxable supplies and imports over the previous twelve months exceed AED 375,000, or are expected to in the next thirty days. Voluntary registration is available from AED 187,500, which is worth considering for a business with recoverable input tax and business customers.
The mechanics are familiar to anyone who has dealt with GST, but the categories differ. Exports of goods and services outside the GCC, international transport and certain healthcare and education supplies are zero-rated, meaning input tax remains recoverable. Bare land, local passenger transport and some financial services are exempt, meaning it does not. Getting a supply into the wrong category quietly overstates or understates recoverable input tax for as long as it stays there.
Returns are filed quarterly for most registrants and monthly for larger ones. The FTA compares what you file against what your customs records and your customers' filings show, and the reconciliation is what audits turn on.
Talk to us
VAT — and what it means for your Indian position
Tell us what you are setting up or filing. We come back with the UAE quote from our partner firm and the Indian side from us, so you see the whole cost at once.
Or call +91 98265 84555Who this is for
Businesses at or approaching the registration threshold, importers, exporters and any company that has been filing without reconciling to its accounts.
Scope
What the engagement covers
- Threshold testing against a rolling twelve-month calculation
- Registration or voluntary registration with the FTA, or a considered decision not to
- Tax group formation where several entities share ownership
- Supply classification — standard, zero-rated, exempt and out of scope
- Periodic return preparation, reconciled to the general ledger
- Input tax recovery review, including reverse charge on imported services
- Record-keeping set up to the standard the FTA asks for on audit
From you
Documents needed
- Trade licence and shareholder documents
- Customs registration code, where goods are imported
- Sales and purchase ledgers for the period
- Bank statements for the period covered
- Import and export documentation
- Existing FTA login details, where already registered
Worth knowing first
Where this goes wrong
Registering late is its own penalty
The obligation runs from when the threshold was crossed, not from when it was noticed. Registering afterwards means back-filing the intervening periods and accounting for VAT on supplies already invoiced without it — which usually cannot be recovered from the customer.
Zero-rated and exempt are not the same thing
Zero-rated supplies keep input tax recoverable; exempt supplies do not. Businesses that treat the two as interchangeable either over-recover, which is assessed on audit, or under-recover, which is simply money left behind.
Reverse charge on imported services is routinely missed
Software subscriptions, overseas consultants and group service charges from outside the UAE generally attract VAT under the reverse charge. It nets to nil for a fully recoverable business but still has to appear in the return, and its absence is visible.
The FTA reconciles your return against other people's records
Customs data and customer filings give the authority a view of your supplies independent of what you file. Returns prepared from a spreadsheet rather than from the ledger tend not to survive that comparison.
Before you act on this
UAE corporate tax, free zone qualifying income and substance rules are still being clarified, and thresholds change. This explains the position in general terms and is not advice on your facts. Confirm the current rule before you act on anything here.
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Priced before we start
Every service on this site carries its fee. You get a written scope and a number before any work begins, and the invoice matches it.
Two people on every filing
Nothing goes to a department on one pair of eyes. A second professional reviews the return before it is submitted.
A person, not a ticket
You get a named associate who knows your file, reachable on WhatsApp, not a queue and a different voice every call.
We watch the calendar
Once you are on our books we track your due dates and reach out before the deadline, not after the late fee.