UAE VAT calculator

The statutory rule is short. Article 3 of the Decree-Law says that “a standard rate of 5% Tax shall be imposed on any supply or Import” on the value of that supply or import (Federal Decree-Law 8 of 2017 on Value Added Tax and its amendments, consolidated to Decree-Law 16 of 2025 (FTA unofficial translation, published 28 November 2025)). Everything the calculator does follows from that one percentage.

A common mistake is to remove VAT by taking 5% off the gross figure. That gives AED 50.00 of VAT on a gross of AED 1,000.00, which overstates the tax by AED 2.38, because the 5% was charged on the net, not on the gross.

Rounding follows Article 61 of the Executive Regulation: where the tax on a supply comes to a fraction of a fils, the taxable person may round it to the nearest fils on a mathematical rounding (Cabinet Decision 52 of 2017, the VAT Executive Regulation, as amended to Cabinet Decision 88 of 2021 (FTA unofficial translation)). The calculator rounds to two decimals the same way, and in remove mode it rounds the net first and takes VAT as the remainder, so net plus VAT always equals the gross you typed.

When you enter a quantity above 1, VAT is calculated on the line total rather than by multiplying the unit VAT. Article 59(1)(h) of the same regulation requires a tax invoice to show, for each good or service, the unit price, the quantity, the rate of tax and the amount payable in AED, which is why the line table shows both views.

The FTA sets two thresholds (Federal Tax Authority, Registration for VAT):

• Mandatory, AED 375,000. A business must register if the total value of its taxable supplies and imports exceeds AED 375,000 over the previous 12 months, or if it anticipates that they will exceed that figure in the next 30 days.
• Voluntary, AED 187,500. A business may register if its taxable supplies and imports, or its taxable expenses, exceeded AED 187,500 in the previous 12 months, or are expected to in the next 30 days.

The threshold check under the calculator applies the first test to the two figures you enter. It does not count taxable expenses, so a start-up that is still buying more than it sells may qualify for voluntary registration earlier than the check suggests. Failing to submit a registration application within the timeframe carries an administrative penalty of AED 10,000 in the penalties schedule of Cabinet Decision 40 of 2017 as amended.

Article 62 of the Executive Regulation sets the standard tax period at three calendar months, and Article 64 requires the return to be received by the FTA no later than the 28th day following the end of that period, with the payable tax received by the same date (Executive Regulation). The government portal puts it plainly: returns are filed “usually within 28 days of the end of the tax period”, quarterly for businesses with annual turnover below AED 150 million and monthly for AED 150 million or more (u.ae, Filing a tax return for VAT (updated 30 March 2026)).

Where output tax exceeds input tax for the period, the difference is paid to the FTA. Where input tax is higher, the excess can be recovered. The calculator gives you the per-invoice figures; the return is the sum of those figures across the period, which is where an accounting system that stores VAT per line earns its keep.

Article 67 of the Decree-Law requires a registrant to issue a tax invoice within 14 days of the date of supply (Decree-Law 8 of 2017). Article 59(1) of the Executive Regulation lists what a full tax invoice must contain (Executive Regulation):

1. the words “Tax Invoice” clearly displayed;
2. the supplier’s name, address and tax registration number (TRN);
3. the recipient’s name, address and TRN where the recipient is registered;
4. a sequential invoice number, or a unique number that fixes its place in the sequence;
5. the date of issue;
6. the date of supply, if different from the issue date;
7. a description of the goods or services;
8. for each good or service, the unit price, quantity or volume, rate of tax and amount payable in AED;
9. the amount of any discount;
10. the gross amount payable in AED;
11. the tax amount payable in AED, with the exchange rate applied if the invoice was converted from another currency;
12. where the recipient must account for the tax (reverse charge), a statement to that effect and a reference to the relevant provision of the Decree-Law.

A simplified tax invoice under Article 59(2) needs only the words “Tax Invoice”, the supplier’s name, address and TRN, the issue date, a description, and the total consideration with the tax amount charged. Article 59(5) allows it in two situations: where the recipient is not a registrant, or where the recipient is a registrant and the consideration for the supply does not exceed AED 10,000. Above that figure a registered customer needs the full invoice, including their own TRN.

The penalties schedule lists AED 2,500 for each detected case of failing to issue a tax invoice or the alternative document within the legally specified period when making a supply (Cabinet Decision 40 of 2017 as amended, Table 3).

Article 45 of the Decree-Law lists the zero-rated supplies. In headline terms they include exports outside the implementing states, international transport of passengers and goods, specified means of transport and related goods and services, investment precious metals, the first supply of residential buildings within three years of completion, crude oil and natural gas, specified education services, and preventive and basic healthcare (Decree-Law 8 of 2017). A zero-rated line still goes on a tax invoice at 0%, which is what the rate field’s 0 option is for.

Article 46 lists the exempt supplies: financial services specified in the Executive Regulation, residential buildings other than the zero-rated first supply, bare land, and local passenger transport. No VAT is charged on exempt supplies and, unlike zero-rated supplies, they are not taxable supplies. The conditions for each category sit in the Executive Regulation, and our UAE VAT compliance guide for SMEs walks through the distinction and what it means for recovering input tax.

The amounts below are the ones in the FTA’s consolidated text of Cabinet Decision 40 of 2017 on administrative penalties and its amendments, consolidated to Cabinet Decision 129 of 2025 (FTA unofficial translation, published November 2025). That text carries the amendments made by Cabinet Decision 49 of 2021 (in effect from 28 June 2021), Cabinet Decision 108 of 2021 (1 January 2022) and Cabinet Decision 129 of 2025, issued on 9 October 2025 and in effect from 14 April 2026, which rewrote the late payment and incorrect return penalties. They are listed here so the deadlines above have context, not as advice; confirm the current position with the FTA before relying on any figure.

Under Article 48(1) of the Decree-Law, a taxable person who imports concerned goods or concerned services for the purposes of its business is treated as making a taxable supply to itself, and is responsible for accounting for the due tax on that supply. Since 1 January 2026 the same clause, as amended by Federal Decree-Law 16 of 2025, no longer requires it to issue a tax invoice to itself (Decree-Law 8 of 2017 as amended). In practice the foreign supplier’s invoice carries no UAE VAT, the UAE business declares 5% on the value as output tax on its return and, where it is entitled to, recovers the same amount as input tax. To size the entry, put the invoice value in the calculator as a net amount and read the VAT line. Where a UAE registrant makes a supply that the recipient must account for, Article 59(1)(l) requires the invoice to say so.

The arithmetic does not change across borders, so the rate field accepts any rate from 0 to 100. As of the dates on each source, the standard rate is 15% in Saudi Arabia, in force since 1 July 2020 (PwC, Saudi Arabia), 10% in Bahrain (PwC, Bahrain) and 5% in Oman (Oman Tax Authority). The thresholds, invoice contents, deadlines and penalties on this page are UAE rules only.

A calculator answers one invoice at a time. The Finance box in Axion applies the VAT rate for the country on every line of every invoice, so a document with standard-rated and zero-rated lines carries the right tax per line and the right totals. The VAT return is then assembled from the live transactions for the period rather than re-keyed from spreadsheets. It works in Arabic and English, users are unlimited, and it is priced per box, so a company that only needs invoicing and VAT can start with Finance alone.

• All figures are in AED and are rounded to the nearest fils using mathematical rounding, which Article 61 of the Executive Regulation permits. Your accounting system may round differently at the invoice total.
• The rate field defaults to 5% and does not decide whether a supply is standard-rated, zero-rated, exempt or out of scope. That classification is yours.
• The quantity mode multiplies one unit price by a quantity and taxes the line. It does not handle discounts, mixed-rate lines or supplies of more than one component.
• The registration check uses taxable supplies and imports only. It ignores taxable expenses (relevant to the voluntary threshold), designated zones, tax groups and non-resident rules.
• Penalty amounts are quoted from the FTA’s consolidated text of Cabinet Decision 40 of 2017 as amended to Cabinet Decision 129 of 2025, published in November 2025. Later decisions may amend them again; check before relying on any figure.
• Executive Regulation article numbers follow the FTA’s consolidated translation linked under Sources, which runs to Cabinet Decision 88 of 2021. Later amendments may reword or renumber them.
• Nothing here covers excise tax, corporate tax or e-invoicing. For corporate tax see the UAE corporate tax calculator; for the e-invoicing timeline see the UAE e-invoicing guide.