How to File a UAE VAT Return
Tax periods, the 28-day deadline, what goes in the VAT 201 return, and the penalties for filing or paying late.
General information, not tax advice
This guide explains how UAE VAT returns work, based on the Federal Tax Authority's (FTA) published guidance. It is not tax advice. Check your own tax periods and figures on EmaraTax, or with a registered tax agent.
Tax periods and the deadline
The FTA assigns each VAT-registered business a tax period when it registers. Most businesses file quarterly; some larger businesses are assigned monthly periods. Your exact periods are shown in your EmaraTax dashboard.
The return must be filed, and any VAT due must be paid, by the 28th day after the end of the tax period. For a quarter ending 30 September, that is 28 October.
What goes in the VAT 201 return
The return is called VAT 201. These are the boxes most small businesses use:
| Box | What you enter |
|---|---|
| 1 | Standard-rated (5%) sales, split by emirate |
| 2 | Tax refunds given to tourists under the Tax Refunds for Tourists Scheme |
| 3 | Supplies where you account for VAT under the reverse charge |
| 4 | Zero-rated sales |
| 5 | Exempt sales |
| 6 | Goods imported into the UAE |
| 7 | Adjustments to goods imported into the UAE |
| 9 | Standard-rated purchases and expenses (input VAT you can recover) |
| 10 | Purchases where you accounted for VAT under the reverse charge |
EmaraTax adds up the totals and works out the net VAT: output VAT minus recoverable input VAT. A positive figure is payable. A negative figure is a credit you can carry forward or ask to have refunded.
Step by step
- Gather your sales invoices, credit notes, purchase invoices and import documents for the period.
- Total your sales by VAT treatment (standard-rated, zero-rated, exempt) and by emirate.
- Total the VAT on purchases you are entitled to recover, using valid tax invoices.
- Log in to EmaraTax with UAE Pass, open VAT, then VAT Returns, and choose the period.
- Enter the figures, check the totals, and submit before the 28th day.
- Pay any VAT due by the same deadline, using the payment reference EmaraTax gives you.
Penalties for filing or paying late
- Late filing: AED 1,000 the first time, and AED 2,000 for a repeat within 24 months.
- Late payment: from 14 April 2026, unpaid VAT attracts a penalty of 14% a year, calculated monthly, under Cabinet Decision No. 129 of 2025. This replaced the old 2% and 4% monthly penalties.
Both amounts are in Table No. 1 of Cabinet Decision No. 40 of 2017 and its amendments, as amended by Cabinet Decision No. 129 of 2025 (in force from 14 April 2026).
Check the FTA's current penalty table before relying on these figures, because the penalty rules were changed in 2026.
Fixing a mistake
If you find an error in a return you have already filed, you correct it with a voluntary disclosure on EmaraTax. Small errors where the tax difference is AED 10,000 or less can usually be corrected in your next return instead. Correcting a mistake yourself, before the FTA finds it, keeps any penalty lower.
Use your VAT credits within 5 years
Since 1 January 2026, excess recoverable VAT has to be used or refunded within five years of the end of the tax period it arose in. Older credits had a short transitional window. If you have a large credit building up, consider asking for a refund rather than carrying it forward indefinitely.
Official sources and review date
Checking the VAT on an invoice?
Add or remove 5% UAE VAT in one step with the free VAT calculator.
Open VAT calculator