FTA record retention period: what to keep and for how long

You ask in plain English, the AI does the bookkeeping work, and you or your accountant approve the result.

• You ask: “Show me all bills from 2022 that have no document attached.”
• The AI agent: The AI searches purchase bills dated in 2022, filters those without an attachment, and groups them by supplier and amount so you can see where the gaps are.
• You review: You decide which documents to track down from suppliers or old email and attach them, and set your company's retention policy with your adviser.

For VAT and general tax records, the ordinary retention period under the tax procedures rules is five years after the end of the relevant tax period. Records relating to real estate are kept for 15 years, as reported when the VAT Executive Regulations were issued. Amendments to the Executive Regulation on Tax Procedures from 1 April 2026 extend the five-year period by two years where a refund claim is pending without an FTA decision.

For corporate tax, records and documents are kept for seven years after the end of the tax period they relate to. Capital asset records for VAT have a separate minimum of ten years under Article 60 of the VAT law. Because these rules change, confirm the current position with the FTA or your tax agent.

Documents are captured by phone, email forwarding or upload, and stored with the bill, invoice, expense or journal they support. The OCR reads Arabic and English, so a scanned Arabic supplier invoice is searchable by supplier and amount. You do not delete history when you close a year; closed periods are locked, and the documents remain.

• Attach contracts, customs declarations and lease agreements, not only invoices
• Lock closed periods so retained records cannot be edited
• Keep a written retention policy and note the longest period that applies
• Export documents and reports if you change systems

A Jebel Ali logistics company buys a warehouse unit for AED 4.2 million in 2026 and rents out a section. The purchase contract, title documents and related invoices fall under the real estate rule, so they are kept for 15 years. Its fleet of vans, bought for AED 380,000, are capital assets with their own ten-year VAT record rule. Everyday bills follow the five-year VAT rule and the seven-year corporate tax rule, so the company keeps them for seven.

The AI tags each asset purchase with a retention note so nobody archives it too early. Firms that want a retention report per client can ask at /book-a-demo.