What Is FTA in UAE? The Federal Tax Authority | HelloBooks The FTA is the Federal Tax Authority, which administers VAT, excise tax and corporate tax in the UAE. What it does and how businesses deal with it.
FTA stands for the Federal Tax Authority, the UAE body that administers and collects federal taxes: VAT, excise tax and corporate tax. It registers businesses, receives returns and payments, processes refunds, audits and issues guidance. If your business is registered for any federal tax, the FTA is the authority you file with, pay and answer to, through its EmaraTax portal.
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The FTA runs the day-to-day tax system, while the Ministry of Finance shapes tax policy and drafts legislation. The FTA describes VAT-registered businesses as collecting tax from customers and acting as a tax collector on its behalf. It publishes the laws, Cabinet decisions, guides and public clarifications that businesses and tax agents rely on.
The FTA's services are only available through UAE Pass, and it handles enquiries through its call centre at 800 82923.
Every obligation in the VAT and corporate tax laws ends with the FTA: registration within 30 days of crossing a threshold, returns within 28 days of a VAT period, payments, refunds, voluntary disclosures and audits. The FTA also applies the administrative penalties in Cabinet Decision No. 40 of 2017, as amended. A Sharjah trading company that files late, or cannot produce its records when asked, deals with the FTA directly.
Its public clarifications matter as much as the law for day-to-day treatment. In 2026 alone it published clarifications on reverse charge for metal scrap, concerned goods and amendments to the VAT Decree-Law.
HelloBooks keeps the records the FTA expects to see: tax invoices with TRNs, credit notes, bills with their invoice images, bank reconciliations and an audit log of changes. It prepares the VAT 201 figures and corporate tax computations from the ledger for you or your accountant to check. Filing and payment remain with you on EmaraTax; HelloBooks does not communicate with the FTA on your behalf. If an FTA auditor asks for the invoices behind a figure, you can export them from the same screen that produced the number.
Terms you will meet in every FTA interaction.
Glossary · Tax
Glossary · VAT
Glossary · VAT
Short definitions of UAE tax and accounting terms.
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