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Home / VAT Refund Assistance

The FTA owes you money.
We get it out.

If your input tax exceeds your output tax, Box 15 of your VAT return is negative and that balance is refundable. We prepare and run the claim through EmaraTax and answer the FTA’s queries. Our fee is 20% of what is actually approved — nothing if the claim fails.

20%Of the approved refund, and only if approved
20 daysBusiness days the FTA has to process a claim
Box 15The line on your return that has to be negative
AED 0What you pay if the FTA approves nothing
01
Who is usually owed a refund

Three kinds of businessroutinely overpay.

A refund arises whenever the VAT you paid on costs is greater than the VAT you charged on sales. That is not an error — for some business models it is the normal state of affairs, quarter after quarter.

✓ Exporters — Your sales are zero-rated, so you charge no VAT, but you pay standard-rated VAT on almost everything you buy. Excess input tax is structural, not occasional.
✓ New businesses in a build-out phase — Fit-out, equipment, legal and setup costs all carry VAT, while revenue has not started. The first two or three returns are commonly refundable.
✓ Construction and real estate — Heavy input VAT on materials and subcontractors, with revenue recognised long after the costs were incurred.

Many businesses in these categories simply carry the credit forward return after return, sometimes for years, because claiming it looks like inviting scrutiny. Carrying it forward is a choice to lend the FTA your working capital indefinitely.

02
How the claim runs

From Box 15to your bank account.

1 We check the position is real — We review your filed returns and your input tax to confirm the credit is genuine and recoverable, and that none of it is blocked input tax. This step is free, and if the claim is not worth making we say so.
2 We assemble the evidence — Tax invoices, import documentation, customs entries and proof of payment, indexed to the figures on the return. The FTA refuses claims on documentation, not on principle.
3 We submit through EmaraTax — The refund request is filed against the relevant tax period with the supporting file attached.
4 We handle the FTA’s queries — The FTA has 20 business days to process the request or come back for more information. A request for further information is normal; how quickly and completely it is answered is what decides the outcome.
5 The refund is paid to you directly — Approved refunds go to the bank account registered on your EmaraTax profile. The money never passes through us. We invoice our 20% afterwards, against what was actually approved.
03
Why claims get refused

Almost alwaysthe paperwork.

The FTA rarely disputes that a credit exists. It disputes whether you can prove it. The recurring reasons a refund is reduced or rejected:

× Supplier invoices that do not meet the requirements of a valid tax invoice — no TRN, no VAT shown separately, or issued in the wrong name.
× Input tax claimed on blocked categories, most commonly entertainment and certain motor vehicles.
× Import VAT claimed without the matching customs declaration.
× Zero-rated export sales with no evidence that the goods actually left the UAE.
× Figures on the claim that do not reconcile to the return as filed, or to the underlying books.

This is the part clients underestimate, and it is the part our fee buys. A claim submitted without the file behind it does not just fail — it draws attention to returns you would rather were left alone.

04
Fee guide

You pay a shareof what you receive.

ServiceFee
VAT Refund Assistance20% of the approved refund
Initial review of whether a claim is worth makingFree
VAT Registration (TRN)AED 129
VAT Return Filing — excel-based, quarterlyAED 480
VAT Return Filing — software-based, quarterlyAED 750
VAT De-registrationAED 750

The 20% is charged on the amount the FTA actually approves, not the amount claimed. If the FTA approves nothing, there is no fee. Claims above AED 500,000 warrant a formal review first — we will tell you if yours is one of them.

05
FAQ

Refundquestions.

A refund request is reviewed — that is the process, and the FTA is entitled to ask for evidence. Being reviewed is not the same as being audited. What turns a routine review into a problem is a claim that cannot be supported, which is exactly why we check the position and build the file before anything is submitted.
The FTA has 20 business days to process the request or to come back asking for more information. A well-documented claim with no queries can complete inside that window. Where the FTA asks for further information, the clock effectively restarts, so how fast and how completely you answer is what determines the total time.
Not necessarily — a carried-forward credit does not simply expire. But the older the underlying periods, the harder the evidence is to reassemble, and there are time limits on how far back the FTA will look. Send us the returns and we will tell you what is realistically recoverable before you spend anything.
That is common, and it is fixable, but it has to be fixed first — a claim that does not reconcile to your books will not survive review. We will tell you honestly whether the records need work, and what that costs, separately from the refund fee. Our monthly bookkeeping retainer exists partly to stop this recurring.
No. The FTA pays the refund directly into the bank account on your EmaraTax profile — the money never touches us. We invoice our 20% after the refund is approved, calculated on the approved amount.
In defined circumstances pre-registration input tax can be recovered on your first return, subject to conditions about when the goods or services were used and how they relate to taxable supplies. It is one of the more commonly missed recoveries for newly registered businesses, and one of the first things we look at.

Find out what the FTA
actually owes you

Send your filed VAT returns and we will tell you what is recoverable. The review costs nothing.

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Is your Box 15 negative?

Send us your last few filed returns and we will tell you what is realistically recoverable, and whether the claim is worth making at all.

Tell us your situation and a consultant replies with what actually applies to you, what it costs and what we need from you to start.

We reply on WhatsApp, usually within the hour on working days. Your details go to our consultants only — never to a third party.