EmaraTax replaced the old FTA portal in late 2022 and bedded in through 2024. By 2026 it is the only way to file. The 14-box return looks identical to what was filed before, but the screen flow and the validation logic are different. If you have only ever filed UK VAT through HMRC's MTD bridges, plan an extra hour for your first UAE return.
The five screens you will hit
- Return period and adjustments. EmaraTax pulls the period from your registration; you confirm it and declare any voluntary disclosures from prior periods that apply.
- Sales and outputs. Boxes 1a to 1g sit here. Standard-rated supplies by emirate, zero-rated supplies, exempt supplies, supplies to other GCC Implementing States, and reverse charge supplies received.
- Imports. Box 6 (goods imports under reverse charge) and Box 7 (adjustments to Box 6). EmaraTax auto-populates Box 6 from the Customs interface for any import filed under your TRN.
- Expenses and recoverable input VAT. Boxes 9 and 10. The portal asks for total expenses with input VAT separately from total expenses without, and calculates the recoverable input VAT on partial-exemption rules where applicable.
- Review and submit. Net VAT due (Box 14), payment reference, and submission confirmation. EmaraTax issues a payment reference (GIBAN) for direct bank payment.
The three boxes that cause real grief
Box 1 emirate-level allocation
Standard-rated supplies have to be split by emirate. If your customer is in Dubai, the sale sits in Box 1a (Abu Dhabi), 1b (Dubai), and so on by emirate. The split is by the place of supply rules, not by your office location. A Dubai-based consultancy serving an Abu Dhabi government customer reports the sale in Box 1a (Abu Dhabi). Getting this wrong is the single most common audit finding.
Box 3 reverse charge on services received
Buy software from Microsoft or AWS billed from Ireland? That is a reverse charge service. Box 3 captures the deemed supply at 5%. Box 10 captures the matching input VAT recovery if you are fully recoverable. The net effect is nil, but missing the entries triggers an audit query. EmaraTax does not auto-populate this from anywhere. You compile it manually from your accounting system.
Box 6 designated zone movements
If your entity is in a Designated Zone (DMCC, JAFZA, RAKEZ, certain AFZ areas), movements of goods in and out of the zone interact with VAT in counterintuitive ways. Some intra-DZ movements are out of scope, some imports into the zone are reverse charge, and some sales from the zone to the UAE Mainland trigger import VAT for the customer. Free zone entities trading services (no goods) skip all this. Free zone entities trading physical goods need to read the FTA's Designated Zone guide before filing.
EmaraTax saves drafts. Build the return in a draft, leave it overnight, come back the next morning, reconcile to your accounting trial balance, then submit. The portal allows resubmission with a voluntary disclosure if you spot an error after submission, but the AED 1,000 fixed penalty per voluntary disclosure stacks quickly across periods.
Deadlines and penalty stack
Filing deadline is the 28th day of the month following the period end. Quarterly returns due 28 January, 28 April, 28 July, 28 October. Monthly returns due 28th of each month. Payment is due by the same date.
Late filing: AED 1,000 for the first late return; AED 2,000 for each subsequent late return within 24 months. Late payment: 2% of unpaid tax on day 1, plus 4% per month thereafter, capped at 300% of the tax due. Voluntary disclosure penalties scale from AED 500 to AED 5,000 depending on circumstances. A single missed quarterly return with a AED 50,000 tax balance can cost over AED 8,000 in penalties within a year if not regularised.
What to do before your first return
- Reconcile your accounting system's VAT control account to the trial balance for the period.
- Print out a sales ledger summary by emirate, by VAT rate.
- Print out a purchases ledger summary split between standard-rated input VAT, reverse charge services, and zero-rated or out-of-scope items.
- Confirm that any customs entries during the period reconcile to the EmaraTax pre-populated Box 6 figure.
- Have your TRN, EmaraTax login, and EID Pass authenticator ready.
None of this is hard, but it is unfamiliar if your UK VAT background is MTD-only. Budget an hour the first time. Twenty minutes the second.