United Arab Emirates compliance calendar

5 recurring VAT and Excise Tax obligations — returns, payments and listings — each with its due rule and official source, plus the dates new United Arab Emirates rules take effect.

Federal Tax Authority (FTA) Add to your calendar

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Return filing Law change takes effect

Statutory due dates — weekend and public-holiday shifts are not modelled. Confirm against the linked official source before relying on a date.

Recurring obligations, with sources

Each deadline cites the official text that states it and the date we last verified it.

VAT Return (VAT 201) — quarterly

VAT · Quarterly · return filing

28th of the month after the quarter ends Verified 2026-08-14
Who files
VAT-registered businesses on the standard tax period of three calendar months. Filing and payment share this date, so there is no separate payment row.
Notes
Executive Regulation article 62(1) makes the standard tax period three calendar months; article 62(2) lets the FTA assign a different period to particular taxpayers. Payment is due on the same date under article 64(3). Widely-cited guidance says businesses at or above AED 150 million annual turnover are assigned MONTHLY periods, but that figure appears only on the UAE Government portal u.ae, not in FTA legislation or guides, so it is not stated as a rule here.
Source
VAT Executive Regulation (Cabinet Decision 52/2017, consolidated to CD 100/2024), article 64 Federal Tax Authority
See the source text
“The Tax Return must be received by the Authority no later than the 28th (twenty eighth) day following the end of the Tax Period concerned.”
Captured from Federal Tax Authority on 2026-08-14

VAT Return (VAT 201) — monthly

VAT · Monthly · return filing

28th of the month after the month ends Verified 2026-08-14
Who files
VAT-registered businesses the FTA has assigned a monthly tax period under Executive Regulation article 62(2), which lets the Authority give a person or class of persons a shorter period than the three-month standard. Filing and payment share this date.
Notes
The 28-day deadline is identical to the quarterly return; only the period length differs. Widely-cited guidance says businesses at or above AED 150 million annual turnover are assigned monthly periods, but that figure appears only on the UAE Government portal u.ae and in no FTA legislation or guide, so this row is scoped by the Authority's assignment power rather than by a turnover figure.
Source
VAT Executive Regulation (Cabinet Decision 52/2017, consolidated to CD 100/2024), articles 62 and 64 Federal Tax Authority
See the source text
“the Authority may assign a Person or class of Persons a shorter or longer Tax Period”
Captured from Federal Tax Authority on 2026-08-14

Excise Tax Return — monthly

Excise Tax · Monthly · return filing

15th of the month after the month ends Verified 2026-08-14
Who files
Excise-registered persons — producers, importers and stockpilers of excise goods. Filing and payment share this date.
Notes
The forward shift is visible in the FTA's own published date: because 15 August 2026 falls on a Saturday, the FTA advertises the excise deadline as 17 August 2026 at https://tax.gov.ae/en/taxes/excise.tax/excise.tax.topics/filing.returns.and.payments.aspx.
Source
Excise Tax Executive Regulation (Cabinet Decision 37/2017, consolidated through CD 198/2025), articles 17-19 Federal Tax Authority
See the source text
“no later than the 15th day following the end of the Tax Period”
Captured from Federal Tax Authority on 2026-08-14

VAT registration — Tax Registration application

VAT · One-off · registration

within 30 days of becoming required to register for VAT Verified 2026-08-14
Who files
Businesses whose taxable supplies and imports exceed the mandatory threshold of AED 375,000 in the previous 12 months or expected in the next 30 days. Voluntary registration is available from AED 187,500. Non-resident businesses making taxable supplies in the UAE have no threshold at all.
Notes
The no-threshold rule for non-residents is in VAT Law article 13(2). Excise registration runs separately: no threshold, and the application is due within 30 days of the end of the month in which the activity took place (Excise Law article 5(2)).
Source
VAT Executive Regulation (Cabinet Decision 52/2017), articles 7-8 Federal Tax Authority
See the source text
“must file a Tax Registration application with the Authority within 30 (thirty) days of being required to register”
Captured from Federal Tax Authority on 2026-08-14

VAT deregistration — Tax deregistration application

VAT · One-off · registration

within 20 business days of the occurrence of a deregistration case under the Decree-Law Verified 2026-08-14
Who files
Registrants who meet any of the deregistration cases in the Decree-Law — for example ceasing to make taxable supplies, or falling below the voluntary registration threshold.
Notes
Counted in BUSINESS days, not calendar days — the only deadline in this file measured that way. A final return covering the last tax period is also due under Executive Regulation article 64(2).
Source
VAT Executive Regulation (Cabinet Decision 52/2017), article 14 Federal Tax Authority
See the source text
“The Registrant must apply to the Authority for Tax deregistration in the cases mentioned in the Decree-Law, within 20 (twenty) Business Days of the occurrence of any of them.”
Captured from Federal Tax Authority on 2026-08-14

VAT and excise tax only — corporate tax and payroll/WPS obligations are outside this calendar's indirect-tax scope. The UAE shifts deadlines FORWARD: under Federal Decree-Law 28/2022 (Tax Procedures) article 49(2), a deadline falling on a non-Business Day moves to the next Business Day, and these dates are adjusted accordingly. The holiday list below carries only fixed-date federal holidays per Cabinet Resolution No. 27 of 2024 — Gregorian New Year on 1 January and National Day on 2 and 3 December (Commemoration Day was folded into National Day, so 1 December is not a federal holiday). The Islamic holidays (Eid al-Fitr, Arafah Day, Eid al-Adha, Islamic New Year, the Prophet's Birthday) follow the lunar calendar and are announced close to the date, so they are not modelled: an unlisted holiday leaves a date EARLIER than the true deadline, which is the safe direction under a forward shift, but an Eid falling on the 15th or 28th means a rendered date may occasionally be conservative. Not modelled here: the business-visitor VAT refund window, which runs 1 March to 31 August each year — it is a refund entitlement rather than a filing obligation, so it sits outside this calendar's scope.

What this calendar does not list

  • Not applicable Separate payment deadline — There is no separate payment deadline: VAT Executive Regulation article 64(3) makes payment due on the same date as the return, and the Excise Executive Regulation does the same at article 19(2). The return rows carry both, so a standalone payment obligation would duplicate them.
  • Not applicable Annual or reconciliation return — UAE VAT creates one return per tax period and no annual reconciliation return. The annual input-tax apportionment wash-up is made inside the first ordinary return of the following tax year under Executive Regulation article 55(9)-(10), not as a separate annual filing.
  • Not applicable Recapitulative listing — The UAE has no recapitulative statement, sales list or SAF-T equivalent — the researcher found no such obligation anywhere in the VAT Law, the VAT Executive Regulation or the Excise Executive Regulation. GCC Implementing-State treatment under Executive Regulation article 70(15) is conditional and reciprocal, and is not operative.
  • Not applicable E-invoicing / e-reporting cycle — Ministerial Decision 243/2025 article 6(5) sets a per-invoice deadline of 14 days for issuance and transmission, and article 6(6) leaves any reporting timeline to be prescribed by the Minister, which has not happened. Tax data is reported per invoice alongside exchange, so there is no periodic filing cycle to place on a calendar.

New United Arab Emirates rules taking effect

Confirmed changes from the weekly scan — each links to its full record with the official source.

About this calendar

Which United Arab Emirates tax deadlines does this calendar cover?

5 recurring indirect-tax obligations — VAT, Excise Tax returns, payments and related filings — each with the due-date rule, who must file, and the official source that states the deadline. Direct-tax, payroll and company-registry deadlines are out of scope.

How current are these due dates?

Every obligation carries the date it was last verified against its official source (newest: 2026-08-14). Law-change dates come from the weekly Last Week in Taxes scan and link to their full change records.

Do the dates account for weekends and public holidays?

No — the calendar shows the statutory due date. Where the authority shifts deadlines falling on non-working days, the obligation notes say so. Confirm against the linked official source before relying on a date.

Related: Global compliance calendar · United Arab Emirates tax changes · Last Week in Taxes

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