UAE VAT registration threshold: when you must register

The amounts are set by Articles 7(1) and 8(1) of the Executive Regulation. The tests are in Articles 13 and 17 of the VAT Decree-Law.

Article 19 of the VAT Decree-Law adds up:

• the value of taxable supplies of goods and services, including zero-rated supplies,
• the value of imported goods and services on which you would account for VAT,
• taxable supplies of a business you have taken over, in whole or in part, and
• in cases set by the Executive Regulation, taxable supplies made by related parties.

Exempt supplies are not counted, and neither is the sale of your own capital assets (Article 20).

Taxable expenses count only for voluntary registration. They are expenses subject to VAT at the standard rate and incurred in the UAE (Article 8 of the Executive Regulation).

A business that is required to register must apply to the Federal Tax Authority within 30 days of becoming required to register (Article 7(2) of the Executive Regulation).

Where the previous-12-months test is met, registration takes effect from the first day of the month after the month in which the business became required to register. Where the next-30-days test is met, it takes effect from an earlier date set by Article 7(5). Voluntary registration takes effect from the first day of the month after the application (Article 8(2)).

• Non-residents: a business with no place of residence in the UAE must register if it makes supplies in the UAE and no one else is liable for the VAT on them, whatever the amount (Article 13(2) of the Decree-Law).
• Zero-rated only: a business whose supplies are all zero-rated can apply for an exception from registration (Article 15 of the Decree-Law and Article 16 of the Executive Regulation).
• Deregistration: a registered business generally applies to deregister within 20 business days of becoming eligible, for example when its supplies over the previous 12 months fall below AED 187,500 (Article 14 of the Executive Regulation).

You receive a Tax Registration Number (TRN), charge VAT on taxable supplies and issue tax invoices within 14 days of each supply. Each tax invoice must show the particulars in Article 59 of the Executive Regulation, including your TRN.

Corporate tax is separate. For an individual doing business, it applies once business turnover exceeds AED 1 million in a calendar year (Article 2(1) of Cabinet Decision No. 49 of 2023). VAT registration does not depend on it.