Zero-rated exports VAT UAE exporters can defend at audit

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

• You ask: “Which export invoices are still missing proof of export?”
• The AI agent: The agent lists zero-rated invoices for goods that have no customs declaration, bill of lading or airway bill attached, sorted by how many days remain before the 90-day mark.
• You review: You upload the missing documents or, if the goods did not leave, ask your accountant whether the invoice needs to be corrected to the standard rate.

The Ministry of Finance lists exports of goods and services to outside the GCC among zero-rated supplies. For goods, Article 30 of the VAT Executive Regulation says the zero rate applies where the goods are physically exported, or placed under a customs suspension regime, within 90 days of the date of supply, and the exporter keeps the required evidence. If that does not happen within 90 days, or a longer period the FTA allows on application, standard-rate tax applies.

Customer records hold the country, so an invoice to a buyer in Nairobi or Mumbai defaults to the zero-rated treatment. The line shows 0% on the invoice, and the value flows into the zero-rated box on the VAT draft. A 90-day clock starts on the supply date.

When the freight forwarder emails the bill of lading or the customs exit certificate, forward it to your HelloBooks inbox. The AI matches it to the invoice by consignee, reference and value, and attaches it.

• Zero-rated default for customers outside the GCC
• Export evidence attached to the invoice it supports
• Days remaining shown on every unsupported export
• Alert at 60 days so there is time to chase

A spare-parts trader in Sharjah invoices a Tanzanian customer AED 140,000 for a container shipment. The invoice is zero-rated. Sixty days later, HelloBooks shows that the bill of lading is attached but the customs exit document is not. The owner gets it from the clearing agent the same week. Had the goods sat in a warehouse beyond 90 days, AED 7,000 of VAT could have become due on a price that did not include it.