VAT for small businesses in the UAE: registering, your TRN and filing returns

VAT in the UAE is 5 percent. You must register once your taxable supplies and imports pass AED 375,000 over the last 12 months, or will within the next 30 days. Voluntary registration starts at AED 187,500. You then get a 15-digit TRN, charge VAT on invoices and file a return within 28 days of each tax period.

Those are the official figures as of November 2026, according to the Federal Tax Authority and the UAE government portal. VAT started in the UAE on 1 January 2018 and the rules are federal, so they are the same in Dubai, Abu Dhabi and every other emirate.

This guide is for owners of small businesses: a salon, a trading company, a consultancy, a contractor. It explains how to tell whether you have crossed the line, how registration works on EmaraTax, what a TRN is and how to check one, what a valid tax invoice looks like, a worked return calculation, and when to hand the job to licensed accounting firms. It is general information, not tax advice.

The test looks at your taxable supplies and imports, not your profit. Taxable supplies are sales charged at 5 percent or at 0 percent. Exempt supplies do not count towards the threshold.

• Mandatory registration: taxable supplies and imports above AED 375,000 in the previous 12 months, or expected to go above it in the next 30 days.
• Voluntary registration: if you are not yet required to register, you may apply once taxable supplies and imports, or taxable expenses, go above AED 187,500 over the same periods. This suits a new business with heavy start-up costs, because once registered it can reclaim the VAT on those costs.

The 12 months are rolling, not the calendar year. Check the total at the end of every month. A business that sells AED 35,000 a month reaches AED 420,000 after 12 months, so it crossed the line in month 11 and must act then.

Watch the 30-day test too. If you sign one contract worth AED 400,000, you are expected to pass the threshold in the next 30 days, even if your past sales were small.

Once you are required to register, the VAT Executive Regulation gives you 30 days to file the application, according to the Executive Regulation published by the Ministry of Finance (Article 7). Missing it is costly, as the penalties section below shows. If you are unsure whether your sales are taxable, zero-rated or exempt, ask an accountant before you count.

Registration is done online through EmaraTax, the FTA's portal. The Federal Tax Authority says its services are only available through UAE Pass, so set that up first.

1. Create or confirm your UAE Pass and log in to EmaraTax from tax.gov.ae.
2. Create a taxable person profile for the business, or open the existing one if you already registered for Corporate Tax.
3. Choose VAT registration and say whether it is mandatory or voluntary.
4. Enter the business details: trade licence, owners or partners, bank details, contact person and business activities.
5. Enter your turnover figures for the last 12 months and the next 30 days, and the date you crossed the threshold.
6. Upload the documents. Typically a valid trade licence, Emirates IDs and passports of the owners or authorised signatory, proof of authority, and evidence of turnover such as sales invoices or an accountant's summary.
7. Submit and track the application. The FTA may ask for more information. Answer quickly, because the clock on your obligations does not stop.

When it is approved, you receive a VAT registration certificate showing your TRN and your tax periods. Most small businesses are given quarterly periods. Note the exact dates on the certificate: your first period may start on the date you became liable, not the day you were approved.

If you are setting up a new company, our guide to Corporate Tax and VAT registration for a new company explains how the two registrations differ.

The TRN (Tax Registration Number) is the number the FTA gives a registered business. It is 15 digits long. It goes on every tax invoice you issue, on your quotes if you like, and on your VAT returns.

Checking a supplier's TRN is quick and free. On the Federal Tax Authority website, open TRN/TIN verification at the top of the page, enter the 15-digit number, type the security code and submit. The result shows the registered business name. Compare it with the name on the invoice and on the trade licence.

Why it matters to you:

• You can only reclaim VAT that was properly charged. If a supplier charges you 5 percent but is not registered, that money is not VAT and you cannot recover it.
• A wrong or invented TRN is a red flag. Some small suppliers add "VAT" to invoices to raise the price. A quick check protects you.
• Customers will check yours. Larger clients often verify your TRN before they pay, so make sure your invoices show it exactly.

Before you pay any new supplier, you can also verify their trade licence. The TRN tells you about tax registration, the licence tells you whether the business may trade at all.

Once registered, your invoices must follow Article 59 of the VAT Executive Regulation. A full tax invoice shows:

• the words "Tax Invoice" clearly
• your name, address and TRN, and the customer's name, address and TRN if they are registered
• a sequential or unique invoice number
• the date of issue, and the date of supply if different
• a description of the goods or services
• for each item, the unit price, quantity, rate of tax and amount payable in AED
• any discount, the gross amount payable in AED, and the VAT amount in AED (with the exchange rate if you invoiced in another currency)

A simplified tax invoice is allowed when the customer is not registered, or when the customer is registered and the value is AED 10,000 or less. It needs the words "Tax Invoice", your name, address and TRN, the date, a description, and the total with the VAT amount in AED.

Keep copies of every invoice you issue and receive. Your input VAT claim is only as good as the purchase invoices behind it.

E-invoicing is coming. As of November 2026, the Federal Tax Authority says businesses subject to the e-invoicing system with annual revenues below AED 50 million must appoint an accredited service provider by 31 March 2027 and go live by 1 July 2027. Larger businesses have earlier dates. Ask your accountant now whether and when it applies to you.

The idea is simple. You collect 5 percent on your sales (output tax), you pay 5 percent on business purchases (input tax), and you pay the FTA the difference. If input tax is higher, you have a refund position.

Adding VAT to a price: multiply by 0.05. A service priced at AED 2,000 before tax carries AED 100 VAT, so the customer pays AED 2,100.

Finding the VAT inside a VAT-inclusive price: multiply by 5 and divide by 105. A receipt of AED 1,050 including VAT contains AED 50 of VAT and AED 1,000 of value.

A quarter for a small interiors company:

1. Sales before VAT: AED 120,000. Output tax at 5 percent: AED 6,000.
2. Business purchases with valid tax invoices: AED 40,000 before VAT. Input tax: AED 2,000.
3. A purchase from a supplier with no valid TRN: AED 5,000 plus "VAT" of AED 250. This AED 250 cannot be reclaimed.
4. VAT payable for the quarter: AED 6,000 minus AED 2,000 = AED 4,000.

If the quarter ended on 30 September, the return and the AED 4,000 payment are both due by 28 October.

Many accounting packages do this for you, and the FTA website also has a simple VAT calculator. The hard part is not the arithmetic. It is knowing which sales are zero-rated or exempt and which costs are recoverable, and that is where an accountant earns their fee.

You file the VAT return on EmaraTax and pay any VAT due within 28 days of the end of each tax period, according to the Federal Tax Authority. File even when you had no sales: a nil return is still a return.

VAT refund: if your input tax is higher than your output tax, for example in a quarter with big equipment purchases, you can ask the FTA to refund the excess through EmaraTax, or keep it as a credit against later returns. Expect the FTA to check your purchase invoices before it pays.

Penalties. As of November 2026, the amounts below come from Cabinet Decision No. 40 of 2017 as amended by Cabinet Decision No. 129 of 2025, which took effect on 14 April 2026, in the consolidated text published by the FTA:

• Late VAT registration application: AED 10,000.
• Late VAT return: AED 1,000 the first time, AED 2,000 for a repeat within 24 months.
• Late payment of tax: a monthly penalty at a rate of 14 percent a year on the unpaid amount, from the day after the due date.
• Not keeping the required records: AED 10,000, or AED 20,000 for a repeat within 24 months.

Penalties change, so check the current table on tax.gov.ae before you rely on any figure.

You can register and file yourself if your business is simple: a few sales a month, all standard-rated, and clean records. Many owners do the first registration alone and hire help once returns become routine.

Get professional help when:

• you sell a mix of standard-rated, zero-rated and exempt supplies (property, exports, some education and healthcare)
• you import goods or buy services from abroad
• you crossed the threshold months ago and need to register late and fix the past
• the FTA has written to you, or you need a refund checked before you claim it
• e-invoicing will apply to you and your software needs to change

There are two kinds of help. An accountant keeps your books and prepares the return. A tax agent is registered with the FTA and can represent you in front of it. The FTA publishes a list of registered tax agents, so ask any firm for the agent's name and check it there.

As a rough guide, firms typically charge AED 500 to 1,500 for VAT registration and AED 300 to 1,000 for a quarterly return, as of November 2026. See the accounting price guide for more ranges, and our guide to choosing an accountant for the questions to ask. If you are a growing company, a strong tax record also matters for the investor route in our golden visa guide.

When you are ready, you can compare licence-checked accounting firms in Dubai or across the UAE on our accounting services page and request quotes from a few.