What is VAT 201? The return every UAE VAT registrant files

The form follows the structure the FTA uses on its filing page: VAT on sales and other outputs, then VAT on expenses and other inputs, then the net VAT due. Article 64(5) of the Executive Regulation sets the minimum contents of any return, including your TRN, the tax period, the value of standard-rated and zero-rated supplies and their tax, exempt supplies, expenses with recoverable input tax, and the totals of tax due and recoverable.

Standard-rated sales are reported emirate by emirate, so a business with shops in Dubai and Ras Al Khaimah splits its sales between the two.

The return is where everything in your VAT records comes together. Under Article 64(1) of the Executive Regulation it must be received no later than the 28th day after the period ends, and the FTA asks for payment by the same date. The amended penalty table sets AED 1,000 for a first late return and AED 500 for an incorrect one, so both timing and accuracy carry a cost.

HelloBooks prepares the VAT 201 figures from the ledger. Each invoice and bill line carries a VAT treatment and, for sales, the emirate, so the draft fills itself as the quarter goes on. The AI agent lists exceptions before you finish: bills without tax invoices, sales without an emirate, reverse-charge bills missing a side. Every figure drills down to its documents.

Your accountant reviews the draft and files it on EmaraTax. HelloBooks does not submit returns to the FTA.

A VAT 201 draws on each of these.

• Output tax: VAT on your sales
• Input tax: VAT you can recover on purchases
• Tax period: usually three calendar months
• Voluntary disclosure: the route for correcting a filed return