Insights
Short, practical notes on what has changed in UAE tax and what it means for a business like yours. No filler.
Accommodation input VAT is blocked from 1 October 2026
Input tax on employee accommodation becomes non-recoverable unless the accommodation is mandated by MOHRE. The decision also introduces turnover-based apportionment from the first tax year following 1 October 2027, a block on cash payments under Article 54(3), and anti-splitting rules for composite supplies under Article 4(6).
Read →Tax Agency or Tax Agent — which do you actually need?
A Tax Agency is the registered firm; a Tax Agent is the named individual holding a TAN. The distinction decides who can speak to the FTA on your behalf, and it is the question to ask any adviser quoting for VAT work.
Read →Non-resident VAT registration has no threshold
An overseas business making taxable supplies in the UAE, where no one else accounts for the VAT, must register from the first dirham. There is no AED 375,000 cushion, and the penalties for late registration apply from the date the obligation arose.
Read →Small Business Relief — and when claiming it costs you more
Relief is available below a revenue threshold, but electing for it means forgoing loss carry-forward. For a business expecting losses in its early years, the election can be the more expensive choice.
Read →Education services: the qualifying institution test
Zero-rating does not follow from teaching. It follows from being a qualifying educational institution recognised by the relevant authority. Several providers assume the first and discover the second during an FTA review.
Read →What a defensible VAT working file looks like
The return is the easy part. What matters three years later is whether you can reconstruct how each figure was arrived at. A short note on what to keep and in what form.
Read →Regulatory alerts, when something actually changes
We send a short note when a Cabinet Decision, FTA guide or deadline affects UAE businesses. Nothing else.