United Arab Emirates VAT standard rate
United Arab Emirates VAT standard rate is 5 percent, in force since 1 Jan 2018. Last checked against the official source on 12 Sep 2026.
Standard rate of Value Added Tax under Federal Decree-Law No. (8) of 2017 on Value Added Tax, administered by the Federal Tax Authority (FTA). A federal, GCC-framework VAT introduced across the UAE on 1 January 2018.
| Current value | 5 percent |
|---|---|
| In force from | 2018-01-01 |
| Official source | Federal Decree-Law No. (8) of 2017 on Value Added Tax, Article (3) Tax Rate — 'a standard rate of 5% shall be imposed on any supply or Import pursuant to Article (2) of this Decree-Law' (Federal Tax Authority, unofficial English translation) |
| Last verified | 2026-09-12 |
| Verification | primary — No verification limitation recorded — read from the official source cited. |
| Provenance | source fingerprint |
What this value means
Confirmed from the statute itself: Article (3) of Federal Decree-Law No. (8) of 2017 sets the standard VAT rate at 5%. VAT took effect on 1 January 2018 — the UAE's (and, with Saudi Arabia, the GCC's) first broad consumption tax, implemented under the GCC Unified VAT Agreement. The 5% headline rate has never changed. Alongside the standard rate the law provides for ZERO-RATED supplies (Article 45 — e.g. exports outside the GCC implementing states, international transport, investment-grade precious metals, the first supply of residential buildings within 3 years, certain healthcare and education) and EXEMPT supplies (Article 46 — e.g. certain financial services, bare land, local passenger transport, residential leases). Registration is mandatory above AED 375,000 taxable turnover and voluntary above AED 187,500. The FTA (tax.gov.ae) is the administering authority; the decree-law text is published on the FTA site and on the UAE Legislation portal (uaelegislation.gov.ae/en/legislations/1227). No change is pending as of confirmation.
Get it programmatically
curl https://asiaref.dev/v1/ae/vat
# $0.005 per call — x402 on Base (USDC). No key, no signup.
# History: curl https://asiaref.dev/v1/ae/vat/history?from=2020-01-01
# Provenance: curl https://asiaref.dev/provenance/ae/vatOther United Arab Emirates series: CBUAE Base Rate (Overnight Deposit Facility) · VAT registration threshold · Statutory minimum wage · Public holidays · CPI inflation (year-on-year) · Corporate Tax (headline rate) · Withholding tax rates · Statutory delay interest on commercial debts · Personal income tax · Statutory social-insurance contributions
The same figure elsewhere: Uzbekistan · Vietnam · Bahrain · Bangladesh · China · all 28