UAE Tax Law Update, August 2026

Two are Top-up Tax guides. One is a VAT public clarification that only applies to a period that has already closed.

Every document below can be downloaded from our legislation library.

VATP045, concerned goods

Issued 26 August 2026.

Downloadvatp045-concerned-goods.pdf

Concerned goods are goods you buy from outside the UAE where the place of supply is in the UAE. Spare parts and machinery are the common examples. You are treated as making a taxable supply to yourself and you account for VAT on it, unless the goods would have been exempt had they been supplied here.

The clarification covers three things. Accounting for the output tax. Issuing the tax invoice, which a registrant must do within 14 days of the date of supply. And the documents you must hold to recover the input tax.

Read the date limit before anything else. The VAT Law was amended so that from 1 January 2026 you no longer have to issue a tax invoice to yourself when you import concerned goods. VATP045 therefore applies only to concerned goods imported on or before 31 December 2025.

What it means for your business. This is a backward looking document. It tells you how the FTA reads the old rule, which is exactly what matters if you are being reviewed on 2024 or 2025 imports, or if you are correcting a prior period. If you imported machinery or parts in those years and never raised the self invoice, this sets out the FTA's position on your input tax recovery.

For anything imported from 1 January 2026, the self invoicing requirement is gone. Keep the overseas supplier's invoice instead.

TTGREG1, Top-up Tax scope and registration

Issued 26 August 2026.

Downloadttgreg1-top-up-tax-scope-registration.pdf

The FTA's guide to who falls within the UAE Top-up Tax and how registration works.

The guide confirms the position on the UAE regime. The UAE introduced a qualified domestic minimum top-up tax for fiscal years beginning on or after 1 January 2025, under Federal Decree-Law No. 60 of 2023 and Cabinet Decision No. 142 of 2024. On 18 August 2025 the UAE was listed in the OECD central record with transitional qualified status. The UAE has no income inclusion rule and no undertaxed profits rule at present. Ministerial Decision No. 96 of 2026 adopted the OECD commentary and administrative guidance for these purposes.

What it means for your business. If your group's consolidated revenue reached EUR 750 million in at least two of the four preceding financial years, you are in scope and this is the guide to work from. Your registration deadline is 30 November 2026 where your fiscal year ended before 30 April 2026, under FTA Decision No. 12 of 2026.

If you are below that threshold, none of this touches you.

TTGEIE1, excluded entities and investment entities

Issued 26 August 2026.

Downloadttgeie1-excluded-entities.pdf

The companion guide. It sets out which entities sit outside Top-up Tax altogether and how investment entities are handled.

It covers international organisations, non-profit organisations, pension funds and pension services entities, investment funds that are an ultimate parent entity, and real estate investment vehicles that are an ultimate parent entity. It then deals with the secondary excluded entities, which turn on ownership and activity or income tests, and with permanent establishments of excluded entities.

What it means for your business. Being inside a large group does not automatically put every entity into the charge. If your structure holds a fund, a pension vehicle, a REIT or a non-profit, check it against this guide before you register it. The exclusions are drawn tightly and the tests are specific.

What to act on this month

1. Top-up Tax registration by 30 November 2026 if you are in scope. Both guides above are the working reference.
2. Review your 2024 and 2025 imports of concerned goods against VATP045, if you have any open periods.
3. FTA Decision No. 13 of 2026 on verifying suppliers takes effect on 1 October 2026. That is next month. Your purchase ledger process should already be changing.

Also worth watching

Nothing new was issued on e-invoicing in August, but the first deadline has not moved. Businesses with revenue of AED 50 million or more must appoint an accredited service provider by 30 October 2026 and go live on 1 January 2027, under Ministerial Decision No. 244 of 2025 as amended by Ministerial Decision No. 66 of 2026.

If you want us to check which of these reach your business, send us your TRN and we will come back to you.