A UAE VAT return is filed online through the Federal Tax Authority's (FTA's) EmaraTax platform on form VAT 201, normally once a quarter, and the return and any VAT due must reach the FTA by the 28th day after the tax period ends. The answers below are based on FTA and UAE government sources.

What are the deadlines for filing VAT returns in the UAE?

Your VAT return, and any VAT payable, must be received by the FTA no later than the 28th day after the end of each tax period, unless the FTA directs another date. If that day falls on a weekend or an official holiday of the federal government, the deadline moves to the next business day.

For example, the return for a tax period ending on 30 September 2026 is due by 28 October 2026, which the FTA's announcements page lists as the final deadline for filing VAT returns. The rule is the same for monthly and quarterly periods.

Three points are easy to miss:

  • Payment has the same deadline as the return. The FTA must receive the VAT by that date, so allow time for a bank transfer to arrive.
  • A return is due for every tax period, including one with no sales or purchases (a "nil" return).
  • Deregistering still requires a final return for the last tax period in which you were registered.

If you are not yet sure whether your business has to register, see when VAT registration is mandatory in the UAE.

Is VAT filed monthly or quarterly?

Quarterly is the standard. The VAT Executive Regulation sets a standard tax period of three calendar months, but the FTA can assign a shorter or longer period. The UAE government portal says businesses with annual turnover of AED 150 million or more file monthly, and businesses below that level file quarterly.

Quarters need not match calendar quarters. The FTA decides when each business's tax periods end, and the Executive Regulation refers to quarterly periods ending on 31 January, the last day of February or 31 March and every three months after that. A business on the standard period can ask for its periods to end in a different month; the FTA decides at its discretion.

Check your own periods in EmaraTax, where each VAT return is listed against its tax period.

How do I file a VAT return step by step?

You file on EmaraTax: open the VAT 201 return for the tax period, enter your sales, imports and purchases in the relevant boxes, check the VAT the form calculates, then submit the declaration and pay any VAT due by the deadline. The steps follow the FTA's EmaraTax user manual.

  1. Log in to EmaraTax. The FTA's website states that its services are available only through UAE Pass. Select the taxable person, open the VAT module and go to your VAT 201 returns.
  2. Start the return for the period. Choose the period, read the instructions, tick the confirmation and click Start. You can save a draft at any stage, or fill in the FTA's offline template and upload it.
  3. Complete "VAT on Sales and All Other Outputs" (Boxes 1 to 8). Enter values in AED, excluding VAT, plus the VAT amount where the form asks for it.
  4. Complete "VAT on Expenses and All Other Inputs" (Boxes 9 to 11), including only VAT you are entitled to recover.
  5. Check the net VAT due. Box 12 shows the total VAT due, Box 13 the total recoverable VAT and Box 14 the VAT payable or refundable.
  6. Answer the Profit Margin Scheme question for the period.
  7. Review, declare and submit. Tick the declaration, click Submit, note the reference number and download the acknowledgement; the FTA also emails one.
  8. Pay any VAT due from My Payments, then Select and Pay, by card or by bank transfer using your GIBAN. For a GIBAN transfer, generate a payment reference number in EmaraTax and quote it exactly, because payments with incorrect details are rejected.

What goes in each box

  • Boxes 1a to 1g: standard-rated supplies, one line per emirate. A supply generally goes in the emirate of the fixed establishment most closely connected with it.
  • Box 2: tax refunds given to tourists, filled in automatically for retailers registered in the Tax Refunds for Tourists Scheme.
  • Box 3: supplies received under the reverse charge, such as services bought from overseas suppliers, with the VAT you account for on them. Imports of goods declared through customs go in Box 6 instead.
  • Boxes 4 and 5: zero-rated supplies and exempt supplies, as values only.
  • Box 6: goods imported into the UAE, filled in from customs data. Use Box 7 to adjust if that data is incomplete or wrong.
  • Box 9: standard-rated expenses, with the VAT you can recover on them.
  • Box 10: the recoverable part of the reverse-charge VAT declared in Boxes 3, 6 and 7.
  • Boxes 8 and 11: totals, calculated automatically.
  • Adjustment columns (Boxes 1 and 9): only for specific adjustments, such as bad debt relief.

If Box 14 shows a refundable amount, the FTA first sets it against any VAT or penalties you owe, and you can claim the balance on form VAT311 in EmaraTax. Since 1 January 2026, you must claim or use an excess within five years of the end of the tax period in which it arose, or the right lapses. Under a transitional rule, a balance whose five years had already run out by 1 January 2026 can still be claimed or used if you apply within one year of that date.

Can I file my VAT return myself?

Yes. The law makes each taxable business responsible for preparing and submitting its own return, and any registered business can file through its EmaraTax account. Appointing a tax agent is optional, and a business that uses one remains responsible for the accuracy of its return.

A tax agent acts in your name with the FTA. Only people on the FTA's register of tax agents, licensed by the competent local authority, may practise as tax agents, and the FTA's website has a searchable list of registered agents.

Filing yourself is simplest when you only buy and sell standard-rated goods and services within the UAE. Imports, services bought from abroad, zero-rated or exempt supplies, the Profit Margin Scheme and corrections to earlier returns all need more care.

What records do I need to prepare a VAT return?

You need records of every sale and purchase in the period: tax invoices and credit notes issued and received, import and export records, reverse-charge transactions, adjustments and corrections, and a VAT account showing the VAT due and the VAT recoverable. These are the records the VAT Law requires every taxable business to keep.

In full, the VAT Law lists:

  • records of all supplies and imports of goods and services, and of exported goods and services;
  • tax invoices, tax credit notes and alternative documents, both issued and received;
  • records of goods and services used for non-business purposes or disposed of, showing the VAT paid, and of purchases on which input tax was not deducted;
  • records of adjustments or corrections to accounts or tax invoices, and of supplies made or received under the domestic reverse charge, with any related declarations; and
  • a tax record of the VAT due (including under the reverse charge) and the VAT recoverable, before and after any corrections or adjustments.

Also keep records showing the emirate each standard-rated supply belongs to, since Box 1 is split by emirate, and your customs import declarations, to check the import figures EmaraTax fills in for Box 6.

Keep VAT records for at least five years after the end of the tax period they relate to, and records relating to real estate for 15 years. The five years are extended in some cases, for example during a dispute or tax audit, and, since 1 April 2026, by two years while a refund application awaits an FTA decision. For the documents the FTA typically asks for and how long to keep them, see what the FTA asks for in a UAE VAT review.

What happens if I file or pay late?

The penalty for a late VAT return is AED 1,000 the first time and AED 2,000 for a repeat within 24 months. Since 14 April 2026, late payment attracts a monthly penalty at a rate of 14% a year on the unpaid VAT, for each month or part of a month. Penalties are in addition to the VAT itself.

These figures come from Cabinet Decision No. 40 of 2017 on administrative penalties, as amended by Cabinet Decision No. 129 of 2025 with effect from 14 April 2026. The amendment changed how the late-payment penalty is calculated, so older guidance may differ.

  • How the late-payment penalty runs: it starts on the day after the payment deadline and is charged again on the same date each month while the VAT remains unpaid.
  • Assessments: if you miss the filing deadline, or file but do not pay the VAT shown, the FTA issues a tax assessment; where it cannot establish the actual amount, it may issue an estimated one.
  • Disputes: you can ask the FTA to reconsider a decision, giving your reasons, within 40 business days of being notified of it.

Mistakes in a return you have already filed are handled differently. If an error understated the VAT due by more than AED 10,000, you must make a voluntary disclosure within 20 business days of finding it; smaller underpayments are corrected in your next return. See VAT return errors: correction limits, deadlines and cost risks.

Getting help

If you would like help preparing or reviewing a VAT return, see our VAT and indirect taxation services or contact us.