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Compliance
FTA tax audit support
The FTA does not usually arrive without warning. It sends a notice, asks for records, and forms a view from what comes back. What comes back is the part you control.
- Notice
- In advance
- Records
- 5 years
- Closes the cheaper route
- The notice
The FTA notifies before an audit, with a stated scope.
The retention period VAT records must be kept for.
Once issued, voluntary disclosure drops to the 15% tier for that period.
How it runs
- We read the notice for its real scopeWhich periods, which tax, which questions. Answering more than was asked is how a narrow audit becomes a wide one.
- The record set is assembledReturns, ledgers, invoices, import declarations, reconciliations. Complete and indexed, so nothing arrives in a second batch.
- Exposure is quantified before we replyIf something is wrong, we want to know it before the FTA tells us, and to decide whether an undisclosed period can still take the lower penalty route.
- We handle the correspondenceReplies, follow-up requests, and the meeting if one is called.
What we ask you for
- The audit notification
- Returns and working papers for the periods in scope
- Sales and purchase ledgers
- Import and export documentation
- Any prior FTA correspondence or assessments
What we see go wrong
- Sending everything you have. Scope discipline matters; volunteered records create new questions.
- Answering from memory instead of from the ledger.
- Missing that periods outside the notice can still be disclosed voluntarily at the lower rate.
Questions we get asked
Does the FTA give notice before a tax audit?
Yes. The FTA notifies the taxable person in advance and states the scope, which normally identifies the tax and the periods under review.
How long must I keep VAT records in the UAE?
Five years, and longer for records relating to real estate. They must be retrievable, which in practice means indexed rather than merely stored.
Can I still file a voluntary disclosure once an audit starts?
Not at the reduced rate for the audited period — a fixed 15% applies there. Periods outside the notified scope can still be disclosed on the lower 1%-a-month basis.
General information about UAE VAT, current at 10 August 2026. It is not tax advice and does not create a client relationship — see our disclaimer. Confirm your own position with the FTA, or with us, before acting.
Send the return. We will tell you where it stands.
No charge for the first look. If nothing needs doing we will say so, and if something does you will know what it costs before you decide.