How Long Must You Keep Invoices in the UAE?
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Five years for most VAT records. But the two details that decide whether you are actually compliant are the ones usually left out: the clock starts at the end of the tax period rather than on the invoice, and corporate tax carries a longer period than VAT does.
This is general guidance, not tax advice. For your situation, check the UAE Federal Tax Authority (FTA) or a qualified tax advisor.
Quick answers
The periods
| Record type | Keep for |
|---|---|
| Most VAT records — invoices, credit notes, returns, ledgers | 5 years |
| Records relating to capital assets | 10 years |
| Records relating to real estate | 15 years |
| Corporate tax records | 7 years |
The clock starts later than you think
The five years run from the end of the tax period the record belongs to, not from the date on the document.
An invoice issued in January, in a business whose tax year ends in December, belongs to that whole year. The five years begin when the year ends — so that invoice is kept until the end of the fifth year after it, which is close to six years from the date it was issued.
Anyone counting five years from the invoice date is destroying records early.
If you are subject to both taxes, seven wins
VAT records run five years. Corporate tax records run seven.
The same invoice is usually evidence for both. Applying the shorter period to it means the record is gone while the longer obligation is still live.
In practice, a business registered for both should treat seven years as the working rule for anything touching revenue or expenses, and keep the longer periods for capital assets and real estate on top of that.
The period can be extended
Five years is the ordinary case, not a guarantee.
If the FTA notifies you of an audit within that window, it gains additional time to complete it, and your obligation to hold the records runs alongside. A voluntary disclosure made late in the period extends it too. In cases of evasion or failure to register, the reach is far longer.
The practical reading: five years is the floor for records that were never questioned, and any record connected to something you disclosed, corrected or disputed should be kept well beyond it.
Electronic is fine — with conditions
You are not required to keep paper. Records may be held electronically, provided they stay accurate, secure, readable and retrievable.
Retrievable is the word that matters. Records that technically exist but cannot be produced when asked are treated as records you do not have. A folder of scans nobody can search, or a system whose export nobody has tested, fails that test in practice even though the files are there.
Records must also be accessible in the UAE, and the FTA can require a translation into Arabic.
Closing the business does not end it
Cancelling a trade licence does not release the obligation. Records still have to exist for the remainder of the statutory period, and someone has to be able to produce them.
This is worth planning before you close rather than after, because the practical failure here is not refusal — it is that the accounts were in a system nobody renewed and nobody kept the login to.
What it costs to fail
Failing to keep the required records attracts an administrative penalty starting at AED 10,000, rising for a repeat offence within 24 months.
The larger cost is usually indirect. Input VAT you cannot support with the underlying invoice is disallowed, so the missing document does not just risk a fine — it turns a recovered amount into a cost, years after you thought the matter was closed.
Where Fatura Go fits
Invoices issued through Fatura Go stay in your account. They are not deleted after a period, and you can reopen or re-send any of them, which covers the retrievability part of the requirement for the documents it produced.
What it does not do is hold the rest of your file — supplier invoices you received on paper, contracts, customs documents, bank statements. Those still need a home, and the retention clock applies to them the same way.
Frequently asked questions
How long must UAE businesses keep tax invoices?
Five years for most VAT records, counted from the end of the tax period the record belongs to rather than from the invoice date. Capital asset records run ten years and real estate records fifteen.
Is the period five years or seven?
Five for VAT records and seven for corporate tax records. A business subject to both should work to seven for anything touching revenue or expenses, since the same document usually supports both.
Does the five years start from the invoice date?
No. It starts at the end of the tax period the invoice belongs to, which for an invoice early in the year means holding it for close to six years.
Can I keep records only electronically?
Yes, provided they remain accurate, secure, readable and retrievable, are accessible in the UAE, and can be produced when the FTA asks.
Do I still need the records if I close the business?
Yes. Cancelling a trade licence does not end the obligation for the remainder of the statutory period.
What is the penalty for not keeping records?
An administrative penalty starting at AED 10,000, rising for a repeat within 24 months — plus the disallowance of any input VAT you can no longer support.
Can the retention period be longer than five years?
Yes. An audit notified within the window, or a voluntary disclosure made late in it, extends the time the authority has to act, and the records must be held accordingly.