Guides
The busywork, explained plainly.
Practical answers for Gulf finance teams, written by accountants. No email wall.
Cabinet Decision 149 of 2026: what changes for UAE input VAT recovery from 1 October 2026
The September 2026 amendments to the UAE VAT Executive Regulation: the cash-payment block on input tax, the redrafted employee-benefit exceptions, the composite-supply substance test, the capital asset definition, and the 2028 move to turnover-based apportionment. What to test on every invoice, and when.
Can you recover VAT on staff accommodation in the UAE? The MoHRE test from 1 October 2026
From 1 October 2026, input VAT on staff and labour accommodation passes the legal-obligation test in Article 53(1)(c) only where MoHRE decisions make it mandatory. The test, cost by cost, with a worked AED example.
VAT on cash payments and petty cash in the UAE: the input tax block from 1 October 2026
From 1 October 2026, new Article 54(3) blocks input VAT on supplies above a Minister-set value paid in cash. What the rule says, what is still pending, how it hits petty cash, and what to fix before October.
Composite or mixed supply? Bundled VAT rates in the UAE after 1 October 2026
How UAE VAT treats a package whose parts carry different rates. The Article 4 tests, what new Article 4(6) changes from 1 October 2026, why a separate price is no longer a safe answer, and a worked AED example.
Saudi Real Estate Transaction Tax (RETT): the 5% tax on property transfers, explained
How Saudi Arabia's 5% Real Estate Transaction Tax works under the 2025 RETT Law: what counts as a transaction, the fair-market-value floor, who pays, when it is due, the first-home relief, penalties, and how RETT sits beside VAT.
RETT exemptions in Saudi Arabia: every exemption, its conditions and the clawback periods
The Saudi Real Estate Transaction Tax exemptions under the 2025 RETT Law: inheritance, gifts to relatives, wills, endowments, in-kind contributions, 100% group transfers, off-plan developers, M&A, listed securities and funds. What each requires, and the three- and five-year holding periods that bring the 5% back.
RETT on share transfers in Saudi real estate companies: the 50% and 30% tests
When selling shares in a Saudi company triggers the 5% Real Estate Transaction Tax: the real estate company definition, the 30%-in-three-years threshold, how the tax base is calculated, capital increases, and the group, in-kind and M&A exemptions.
Accounting for Saudi RETT under IFRS: buyers, sellers, developers and clawbacks
How to book the 5% Saudi Real Estate Transaction Tax under IFRS as adopted by SOCPA: capitalised into property, plant and equipment, investment property or inventory for the buyer; deducted from the gain for the seller; expensed on sale by developers. Plus share deals, exemption clawbacks and the month-end checks.
FTA Decision 13: supplier checks before input VAT
From 1 October 2026, UAE businesses must check suppliers and supplies before deducting input VAT. The checks, the AED 10,000, 100,000 and 375,000 tests, an example.
Invoice without a TRN: can you still claim the VAT?
A UAE invoice with no supplier TRN, an invalid TRN or the wrong company name is not a valid tax invoice. When you can claim the VAT, and how to get it fixed.
Simplified vs full tax invoice: the AED 10,000 rule
When a UAE supplier may issue a simplified tax invoice under Article 59(5), the five fields it needs, the AED 10,000 test, and why e-invoicing removes the option.
Foreign-currency invoices: which rate for UAE VAT?
UAE VAT on invoices in USD, EUR or other currencies: the Central Bank rate on the date of supply, the AED figures Article 59 requires, and a worked example.
Investment property tax depreciation: the 4% rule
Ministerial Decision 173 of 2025 gives UAE companies a 4% yearly deduction on fair-valued investment property. Who qualifies, the deadline, the clawback, an example.
UAE 15% top-up tax (DMTT): who pays and when
The UAE Domestic Minimum Top-up Tax for EUR 750m+ groups: scope, the 30 November 2026 registration deadline, the 15% calculation, safe harbours, an example.
E-invoicing for AED 50m+ firms: the 2027 go-live
UAE e-invoicing for AED 50m+ businesses: the 30 October 2026 provider deadline, the 1 January 2027 go-live, the tax group exclusion, penalties and a checklist.
VAT capital assets scheme: the 10-year adjustment
How the UAE VAT capital assets scheme works for assets of AED 5m or more: the W, X, Q and R − Z formula, the 10- and 5-year periods, disposals and an example.
VAT tax groups in the UAE: when grouping pays
Who can form a UAE VAT tax group, what changes (one TRN, no VAT between members, joint liability), the hidden cost of an exempt member, and a worked example.
UAE tax credit notes: when, what and which return
When a UAE supplier must issue a tax credit note, the 14-day rule, the Article 60 fields, which VAT return each side adjusts, and a worked example.
Intercompany loans in the UAE: arm's length interest
How UAE Corporate Tax treats intercompany loans: arm's length interest, interest-free balances, the Article 31 block, guarantees, cash pools and an example.
Reconciling VAT returns with Corporate Tax revenue
Why turnover in your UAE VAT returns and revenue in your Corporate Tax return differ, the legitimate reconciling items, a year-end bridge, and a worked example.
FTA tax audits for groups: CT, VAT and the deadlines
How an FTA audit works for a UAE group: the 10-business-day notice, records, the 5-year limit, and the 40-business-day deadlines to dispute an assessment.
What makes a valid UAE tax invoice — the Article 59 checklist
The exact fields the FTA requires on a full and a simplified tax invoice under Article 59 of the UAE VAT Executive Regulations, and what an invalid invoice costs you.
UAE VAT and Corporate Tax deadlines, in one place
When UAE VAT returns and payments fall due, how Corporate Tax filing works after the 9-month rule, and the KSA VAT cadence — with the penalties for missing them.
A month-end close checklist for UAE SMEs
The eight steps of a defensible month-end close — bank to lock — in the order that avoids rework, and where the time actually goes.
Why Hysaab sits on top of your ledger instead of replacing it
Switching accounting systems is a migration project with an auditor problem. The case for AI that posts into the ledger you already have — Zoho, Xero, QuickBooks, Odoo, Wafeq or ERPNext.
How UAE end-of-service gratuity (EOSB) is calculated
The 21-day and 30-day rule, what counts as basic wage, the two-year cap — and why the provision belongs in your books every month, not as a year-end surprise.
Input VAT you cannot recover in the UAE
The blocked categories — entertainment, personal-use vehicles, employee benefits — where the 5% is a cost, not a claim, and how to keep them out of your VAT return.
Loyalty points and rewards: how to account for them under IFRS 15 — and what UAE VAT expects
Points are deferred revenue, not a marketing footnote: allocating the sale price, estimating breakage, releasing on redemption — and how VAT treats the free redemption.
Gift cards and vouchers in the UAE: VAT at issue, VAT at redemption, and the breakage question
Selling a voucher is not a supply — redemption is. Where Article 40 draws the line, what happens when a voucher sells above face value, and how unredeemed balances are treated.
UAE Corporate Tax Small Business Relief: who qualifies, what it actually does, and the catches
Revenue at or under AED 3 million can mean no taxable income at all — but the relief is an election with conditions, an expiry date, and consequences for losses.
Free zone 0% Corporate Tax: what a Qualifying Free Zone Person actually is
The 0% rate is a conditional regime, not a postcode benefit: qualifying income, the de minimis test, substance, audited accounts — and the five-year penalty for slipping.
Intercompany management fees between UAE group entities: pricing, paper and VAT
The three tests a management charge must pass — arm's length under Corporate Tax, proper VAT treatment between entities, and evidence the service actually happened.
VAT bad-debt relief in the UAE: reclaiming the 5% on invoices that will never be paid
Article 64 lets a supplier take back output VAT on written-off receivables — but only when four conditions are all met, and your customer has an obligation too.
UAE Corporate Tax penalties: what late registration, filing and payment actually cost
AED 10,000 for late registration, a filing meter that runs monthly, and 14% a year on unpaid tax — the Corporate Tax penalty schedule in plain numbers.
ZATCA e-invoicing Phase 2: integration, waves, and what your invoices must carry
Saudi Arabia's Fatoora integration phase in practice — clearance for standard invoices, 24-hour reporting for simplified ones, the wave system by revenue, and the technical fields that trip businesses up.
Designated zone VAT in the UAE: when goods are outside the scope and when they aren't
A designated zone is not a VAT-free zone. Where the outside-scope treatment actually applies — goods, not services; movement, not consumption — and the import moment everyone forgets.
Paying yourself from your UAE company: salaries, dividends and Article 36
Owner salaries are deductible, dividends are not, and connected-person payments must survive a market-value test — the Corporate Tax mechanics of taking money out of your own company.
Retention money in construction: the accounting and the VAT date of supply
Retentions are earned but not yet billable — which splits the accounting (contract asset, not receivable) and delays the VAT tax point. Getting either wrong distorts revenue or prepays tax.
VAT for e-commerce in the UAE: place of supply, exports and electronic services
Selling online doesn't change the 5% — it changes where the questions are: who the customer is, where the goods go, and what counts as an electronically supplied service.
WPS payroll compliance in the UAE: how the Wages Protection System actually works
Salaries in the UAE are paid through a monitored channel with deadlines and consequences — the SIF file, the 15-day rule, and what non-compliance blocks.
Holding companies under UAE Corporate Tax: the participation exemption, explained
Dividends and capital gains through a UAE holding company can be fully exempt — if the participation clears the ownership, holding-period and subject-to-tax tests. The conditions, the traps, and the tax-group alternative.
Branch or subsidiary in the UAE: the tax and legal mechanics of each route
A branch is the same legal person taxed on attributable profits; a subsidiary is a new one with exempt dividends on the way up. How the 9% applies to each, and the foreign-PE mirror for UAE companies expanding abroad.
The reverse charge in UAE VAT: when you are your own supplier
Imported services, imported goods, and the domestic reverse charge for gold and hydrocarbons — how the mechanism works, why it is usually cash-neutral, and the return boxes people miss.
Who actually needs an audit in the UAE — and what Corporate Tax changed
Audited financial statements are mandatory above AED 50m revenue and for every Qualifying Free Zone Person — on top of the company-law and free-zone rules that already applied. The full map.
Cash basis or accrual basis for UAE Corporate Tax: who gets the choice and who shouldn't take it
Businesses with revenue up to AED 3 million may prepare financial statements on the cash basis — but eligible is not the same as advisable. The rule, the mechanics of switching, and the judgement.
Transfer pricing documentation in the UAE: who files what, and when
The disclosure form with the return, the master and local file thresholds, and the arm's-length evidence every related-party transaction needs — sized to what the FTA actually asks for.
Tax losses under UAE Corporate Tax: carry-forward, the 75% cap, and the continuity tests
Losses carry forward indefinitely but offset only 75% of a year's taxable income — and survive an ownership change only if the ownership or the business stays continuous. The mechanics, with numbers.
VAT on UAE real estate: zero-rated, exempt and standard — and why the difference decides your input VAT
First supply of new residential within three years is 0%, later residential supplies are exempt, commercial is 5%, bare land is exempt — four treatments, and your input-VAT recovery hangs on which one you make.
Partial exemption in UAE VAT: apportioning input tax when you make exempt supplies
Make any exempt supplies — residential rent, local passenger transport, certain financial services — and your input VAT splits three ways: recoverable, blocked, and the residual pot that needs a ratio.
Free zone vs mainland in the UAE: the tax comparison founders actually need
The 0% headline is conditional, the 9% baseline is simpler than it looks, and VAT mostly doesn't care — how the two setups compare on tax, and the questions that decide it.
VAT voluntary disclosure in the UAE: when Form 211 is mandatory, and what it costs by year
Find an error over AED 10,000 and disclosure is not optional. The fixed penalties, the 5%-to-40% ladder that climbs with every year you wait, and why disclosing before the audit notice changes everything.
The 30% EBITDA interest cap in UAE Corporate Tax: how much of your finance cost actually deducts
Net interest deducts only up to the greater of 30% of tax-EBITDA or the AED 12m safe harbour — the mechanics, the ten-year carry-forward, and the loans the rule ignores.
Moving assets inside a UAE group without triggering tax: qualifying group relief and restructuring relief
Transfers between 75%-owned group companies can happen at tax book value — no gain, no loss — and whole businesses can merge tax-neutrally for shares. The conditions, and the two-year clawback on both.
VAT on Google Ads, AWS, Microsoft 365 and every SaaS subscription in the UAE
Every foreign digital service you buy carries a reverse charge obligation — the same 5% as a local purchase, accounted by you. The services, the return boxes, the FX rule, and the mistake that triggers voluntary disclosures.
FTA VAT audit: what actually happens, and how to prepare your records
The FTA audit notice has arrived. What documents they request, the reconciliation they build, the timeline, the penalties for findings — and the one thing that changes the outcome more than anything else.
UAE Corporate Tax for freelancers and sole establishments: who must register, what counts as business income, and the AED 1 million line
A natural person carrying on business in the UAE is taxable above AED 1 million of turnover — but which income counts, how a sole establishment fits, and whether Small Business Relief applies are the questions nobody answers straight.