Being registered for VAT in the UAE means that the Federal Tax Authority (FTA) recognises that a company has reached a turnover threshold and is authorised and/or required to collect VAT from its customers and remit the same to the government.
No, not all companies in the UAE need to register for VAT. There are those that have reached a turnover threshold that requires them to register for VAT, those that have reached a turnover threshold that allows them, voluntarily to register for VAT and those that have yet to reach the minimum threshold who are exempt from VAT registration.
VAT registration is mandatory for all businesses whose taxable supplies and imports for the previous 12 months exceed AED 375,000 or if any company expects to exceed the threshold in the next 30 days.
Businesses can voluntarily register for VAT in the UAE if their taxable supplies and imports for the previous 12 months exceed AED 187,500 but do not reach the mandatory threshold of AED375,000. Or if the company expects to reach the threshold in the next 30 days.
For the purposes of VAT registration, a business is defined as any activity conducted on an ongoing basis and can be industrial, commercial, professional or trading related. This includes:
Taxable supplies are used to determine whether there is a requirement for VAT registration and refer to the supply of goods or services to customers as part of a company’s business activities.
For the purposes of determining if a product or service transaction is within the requirement for tax to be levied, it should be:
The VAT thresholds are not applicable to businesses that are not resident in the GCC. However, any non-resident business will be obliged to register if:
To facilitate registration, businesses can submit an online application to the Federal Tax Authority (FTA). This can be done by following these steps:
When you have submitted your application, you can check on its status by looking at the Dashboard page of the eServices portal.
If you need assistance with VAT registration in the UAE, or any other related company set up, restructuring, local partner or PRO support matter in Abu Dhabi, Dubai, the wider UAE, Oman, Qatar or Saudi Arabia, then please do get in touch with us on +971 (0)4 456 1761 for Dubai or +971 (0)2 448 5120 for Abu Dhabi, email us at SovPPG@SovereignGroup.com or complete the contact form below and we will be delighted to assist you.
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