How Do I Deregister from VAT in the UAE?
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Through EmaraTax, and sooner than most people realise. If your taxable supplies over twelve consecutive months have fallen below AED 187,500 and you do not expect to cross it in the next thirty days, applying is compulsory rather than optional, and you have twenty business days to do it.
Between AED 187,500 and AED 375,000 the choice is yours.
This is general guidance, not tax advice. For your situation, check the UAE Federal Tax Authority (FTA) or a qualified tax advisor.
Quick answers
Two different situations
| Your situation | What you must do |
|---|---|
| Stopped making taxable supplies, or below AED 187,500 over twelve months with no expectation of crossing it | Must apply, within twenty business days |
| Below AED 375,000 but still above AED 187,500 | May apply if you want to, no deadline |
The first case is the one that catches people. A business whose revenue quietly fell away does not simply lapse out of the system — it is obliged to act, and the obligation carries a deadline it usually does not know about.
Twenty business days, not calendar days
The clock starts when the condition is met, not when you notice it.
Business days means the deadline is a little longer than it looks, but not much. A quarter in which revenue dropped below the line is a quarter that ends with a deadline attached, and nobody sends a reminder.
Missing it attracts a penalty that accumulates monthly up to a ceiling — so a business that never gets round to it does not pay a single fixed fine, it pays a growing one.
You may owe VAT on what you still own
This is the part that surprises people at the exit.
Business assets you still hold at deregistration — stock, equipment, anything you recovered input VAT on — are treated as a deemed supply. Output VAT falls due on them as though you had sold them to yourself.
The logic is consistent: you reclaimed VAT on those items as a registered business, and you are ceasing to be one. If you never recovered input VAT on an item, it does not arise.
For a service business with a laptop and a phone this is small. For anything holding stock or equipment it is worth calculating before applying rather than discovering on the final return.
What has to be settled first
The FTA will not deregister you while anything is outstanding.
Every return that fell due during your registration has to be filed, including the final one. Any tax owed has to be paid. Any administrative penalties have to be settled.
So deregistration is the last step of tidying up, not the first. A business planning to close should treat it as part of the closure sequence rather than something to do afterwards.
The twelve-month rule if you registered voluntarily
A voluntary registrant generally cannot deregister within twelve months of registering.
Register voluntarily in March and you are committed until the following March at least, whatever happens to turnover in between.
Your obligations do not end with the TRN
Records still have to be kept for the remainder of the statutory period after deregistration. Cancelling the registration does not shorten that, and the FTA can still ask.
The practical failure here is predictable: the accounts move to an archive nobody maintains, the software subscription lapses, and two years later there is a request nobody can answer.
Until the FTA confirms it
You remain registered until the deregistration is approved, not from the day you applied.
That means returns falling due in the meantime still have to be filed, and VAT still applies to anything you supply. Treating the application as the end of your obligations is a common way to acquire a late filing penalty on the way out.
Where Fatura Go fits
Your invoices stay in your account after you deregister, which covers the retrievability side of the record-keeping obligation for the documents Fatura Go produced.
The VAT report for the final period is built the same way as any other, so the closing return is prepared from the same figures as the ones before it.
Frequently asked questions
When must I deregister from VAT in the UAE?
When you stop making taxable supplies, or when your taxable supplies over twelve consecutive months fall below AED 187,500 and you do not expect to cross that in the next thirty days. The application is due within twenty business days.
Is deregistration optional?
Not below AED 187,500 — there it is compulsory. Between AED 187,500 and AED 375,000 it is your choice.
What is the penalty for deregistering late?
An administrative penalty that accrues monthly up to a ceiling, so the longer it goes unaddressed the more it costs.
Do I owe VAT when I deregister?
Possibly. Business assets you still hold and recovered input VAT on are treated as a deemed supply, and output VAT falls due on them in the final return.
Can I deregister if I registered voluntarily?
Generally not within twelve months of registering, even if turnover falls.
What do I have to do before the FTA will approve it?
File every outstanding return including the final one, pay any tax due, and settle any penalties.
Am I still registered while the application is being processed?
Yes. You remain registered until the FTA confirms the deregistration, so returns falling due in the meantime still have to be filed.
Do I still need to keep records after deregistering?
Yes, for the remainder of the statutory retention period. Cancelling the registration does not end that obligation.