Question 1

What goes into the VAT report?

Accepted Answer

Your issued invoices, less your sent credit notes, less the input VAT you can recover on expenses and bills. Drafts are not counted. An invoice counts once it is issued, a credit note once it is sent, and a bill once you have received it.

Dates decide the period. An invoice counts by its invoice date, a credit note by its date, and a bill by its bill date — not the date you paid it.

Imported services are noted separately. The VAT on them is self-accounted and is worked out in the ledger, not in this report, so it is not part of the recoverable input VAT here. Where in the app: Finance → VAT Report

Question 2

When is my VAT return due?

Accepted Answer

The return is due 28 days after the end of your filing period. If that day is a Saturday, a Sunday, or a public holiday Fatura has listed, it moves to the next working day.

Your period is monthly or quarterly, from your FTA certificate. Set it on the VAT report if you have not already. VAT filing period is Monthly or Quarterly. This matches my certificate saves the usual cycle. Mine is different lets you choose another cycle, including VAT period start month.

While the deadline for the previous period is still ahead, the open period on the dashboard, the To do list, and the VAT report’s compliance calendar stays on that previous period, because that is the one you are filing. The figures on the report follow the quarter you select, and that list opens on the current quarter.

The To do list shows the deadline under Deadlines, and how many days are left. Where in the app: Finance → VAT Report

Question 3

What is the standard rate?

Accepted Answer

Most sales in the UAE carry 5% VAT. You charge it, and your VAT-registered clients reclaim it, so it passes through you to the FTA.

VAT type is set on each line, so one invoice can mix Standard (5%) with other treatments. The default for your business is VAT rate (%) under Settings → Documents → VAT & currency.

You should not charge VAT until you are registered and have a TRN. Leaving the TRN empty does not stop a line from being standard-rated. This is a plain-language primer, not tax advice. Where in the app: Finance → VAT Report

Question 4

Zero-rated, exempt, out of scope — what's the difference?

Accepted Answer

Zero-rated is in the VAT system at 0%: exports, some education and healthcare. You report the sale, and you can still recover the input VAT on your costs.

Exempt is outside the charge: certain financial services, bare land, local passenger transport. You report it, but input VAT on costs used for exempt sales is generally not recoverable, and apportionment may apply. Fatura does not calculate that split. When the period includes exempt supplies, the report says so and tells you to check with an accountant.

Out of scope is not a UAE supply at all. The report shows it as “Out of scope — not on the FTA return”, and total sales already exclude it.

Choose out of scope only when you are sure. If you are not, a zero-rated sale is the safer of the two. This is a plain-language primer, not tax advice. Where in the app: Finance → VAT Report

Question 5

Why does the emirate matter?

Accepted Answer

A standard-rated sale is reported in the box for the emirate where the supply was made — boxes 1a–1g of the return.

Set the default under Settings → Documents → VAT & currency. The field is Emirate. Documents already issued keep whatever they were issued with and are not rewritten. Where in the app: Finance → VAT Report

Question 6

What is the ready-to-file checklist?

Accepted Answer

Ready to file is a last look before you file: draft invoices and draft credit notes dated in the period, your business name, address and TRN, your emirate, documents in another currency with no exchange rate, and a client with a TRN but no address.

None of it blocks you. It exists so you notice a draft that should have been issued, or a missing detail that makes an invoice incomplete in an audit. When these checks are clear, the screen says they look complete for this period. That is not a confirmation that the return is correct or ready to submit. Where in the app: Finance → VAT Report

Question 7

Why do the VAT report and the ledger differ?

Accepted Answer

They are two views. The VAT report follows your documents — issued invoices, sent credit notes, and recoverable input VAT on expenses and bills. The ledger return follows what was posted to the VAT accounts.

They differ by design on reverse charge. The VAT on imported services is worked out when the document is posted, so boxes 3 and 10 are calculated in the ledger and not in the document report. For those boxes, the ledger figure is the correct one.

Check ledger vs VAT report shows both sides line by line. The page is VAT return check. It says when the two sides differ only for known reasons, and it marks an unexpected difference. Look at an unexpected difference before you file. Where in the app: Finance → VAT return check

Question 8

I already filed this period elsewhere

Accepted Answer

If you moved to Fatura mid-year, set the date up to which you filed with your old system: Settings → Data → Data export, under VAT already filed elsewhere through.

Documents dated on or before that date stay off Fatura’s VAT return — invoices, credit notes, expenses, and bills — so you do not report them twice. The note on the screen names invoices.

The ledger is not affected. Those documents are still in your books.

You cannot move the date over a period already marked filed in Fatura. The change is blocked. Where in the app: Finance → VAT Report