Through this service, the FTA refunds VAT incurred on expenses in the UAE to qualifying foreign businesses via the Business Visitor Refund Scheme.

e-Services platform:
24 hours a day, 7 days a week, during the annual 6 months submission period which is from 1 March to 31 August

Free

15 Minutes

4 months from the date the completed application was received

• Original Tax Compliance Certificate (such as business status certificate, certificate of commercial activities or equivalent) in Arabic or English issued by the relevant competent Tax Administration reflecting the applicant’s Tax Registration Number (TRN) attested by the UAE Embassy in the country of tax registration.
• The relevant tax invoices with valid TRN.
• Proof of payment (receipt or stamp of invoice as “paid” with the supplier’s details on the stamp).
• Proof of authorization for the authorized signatory.
• Passport of the authorized signatory.
• A declaration in Arabic or English indicating the level (percentage) of input tax the applicant is eligible to recover on expenses in case the foreign business is undertaking exempt or non-business activities in the country of establishment, which do not give the right to fully recover any input tax
  
  

1. Sign-up for an e-Services account through the FTA’s website and activate it.
2. Access the e-Services account dashboard.
3. Click on ‘SPECIAL REFUNDS’.
4. Click on ‘Business Visitor Refunds’.
5. Fill in the refund form, and submit the refund request.
   
   

1. Can I submit a refund request for multiple years in a single application?

A refund request shall be submitted only for a calendar year

2. May I be exempted from attesting the Original Tax Compliance Certificate (such as business status certificate, certificate of commercial activities or equivalent) from the UAE Embassy in the country of tax registration?

Attesting the Original Tax Compliance Certificate (such as business status certificate, certificate of commercial activities or equivalent) from the UAE Embassy is a basic required document supporting the refund request

3. Is it mandatory to submit all the required documents as original hard copies to the FTA or is it allowed to send scanned copies?

The Tax Compliance Certificate (such as business status certificate, certificate of commercial activities or equivalent) attested from the UAE Embassy is required to be submitted as an original document; other required documents such as tax invoices, proof of payments, may be submitted as scanned or system generated documents and sent to foreignbusiness@tax.gov.ae

4. How can a VAT refund be submitted if the country of establishment is not in the list of eligible countries?

If the country of establishment is not on the approved list, the applicant should contact the Ministry of Finance of the country of establishment which will contact the UAE’s Ministry of Finance in this regard

1. The applicant should not have a place of establishment or fixed establishment in the UAE or any implementing state.
2. The applicant should not be a taxable person in the UAE.
3. The applicant should be conducting business and is registered as an establishment with a competent authority in the country of establishment.
4. The applicant should be established in a country that provides refunds of VAT to entities that belong to the UAE in similar circumstances.
5. The period of each refund claim is 12 calendar months except where the applicant is resident in a GCC state that is not an implementing state.
6. The minimum amount of VAT to be requested for refund is AED 2,000.
7. Invalid tax invoices will be rejected (e.g. having an incorrect TRN)