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Filing
VAT return filing in the UAE
A VAT return is not a form-filling exercise. It is a reconciliation that happens to end in a form, and almost every correction the FTA raises starts in the ledger rather than on the screen.
- Deadline
- 28 days
- Late filing
- AED 1,000
- Late payment
- 14% a year
After the end of your tax period, 23:59 GST. Return and payment both.
AED 2,000 if it happens again within 24 months.
On unpaid tax, charged monthly from the day after the due date.
How it runs
- We reconcile before we reportSales ledger to output tax, purchase ledger to input tax, bank to both. Any number that does not tie gets chased now, not after the FTA asks.
- Imports and reverse charge get their own passBox 6 arrives pre-filled from Customs and is often not entirely yours. Reverse-charge purchases have to appear twice, on the output side and the input side.
- Blocked input tax comes outClient entertainment, cars available for private use, most staff perks. Article 53 blocks them whatever the invoice says.
- The return goes in on EmaraTaxWith the workings archived against that period, so an audit two years from now has something to read.
- Payment is timed to clearNot sent on the 28th. Cleared by it. Transfers between UAE banks are not instant and the FTA counts the value date.
What we ask you for
- Trade licence and TRN certificate
- Sales and purchase ledgers for the period
- Bank statements covering the period
- Customs declarations for any imports
- Last filed VAT201, if this is not your first
What we see go wrong
- Standard-rated sales all posted to one emirate because that is where the licence was issued. The total is right, the return is not.
- A foreign software subscription treated as a normal expense. It is an import of services and carries the reverse charge.
- The payment initiated on the 28th. Initiating is not clearing.
Questions we get asked
When is my UAE VAT return due?
Twenty-eight days after your tax period ends, so the 28th of the following month at 23:59 Gulf Standard Time. Both the return and the payment are due by then. The FTA assigns and staggers periods at registration, so yours may not follow calendar quarters — the dates are on your EmaraTax dashboard.
What happens if I file on time but pay late?
The filing penalty does not apply, but the late-payment charge does: 14% a year on the unpaid tax, applied monthly and not compounded, running from the day after the due date until the tax is settled.
Can you take over filings mid-year?
Yes, and most engagements start that way. We reconcile the periods already filed before touching the next one, because an error carried forward is cheaper to find now than during an audit.
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.