Guide · Tax

VAT and eInvoicing for UAE contractors

The tax side of a renovation business, with every figure linked to the authority that sets it. Check the source before you act — rules move, and this page carries a review date, not a guarantee.

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For contractorsLast reviewed 2026-09-08

Registration

Registration is decided by your turnover, not by your trade

A renovation contractor registers for VAT on the same test as any other UAE business: the value of taxable supplies over a rolling twelve months, plus what you expect in the next thirty days. There is a mandatory threshold and a lower voluntary one, both set by the Federal Tax Authority.

The Federal Tax Authority sets the mandatory registration threshold at AED 375,000 of taxable supplies and imports over the previous 12 months, and the voluntary threshold at AED 187,500. Both are statutory figures — confirm the current ones on tax.gov.ae before you act.

Tax invoices

A tax invoice is a defined document, not a styled quote

Once you are registered, the invoice you issue has required contents set in the VAT legislation. Most are already on a decent contractor’s invoice; the ones that get missed are the tax registration numbers and stating the amounts in dirhams. The full list is on the Federal Tax Authority’s site.

Sample

Document title: The words “Tax Invoice”, clearly shown.
Your details: Name, address, and your tax registration number.
The client’s details: Name and address, and their tax registration number where it applies.
Dates: The date of issue, and the date of supply where it differs.
What was supplied: A description, the quantity, and the unit price for each line.
Tax shown separately: The rate of tax and the tax amount payable, in dirhams.
Totals: Any discount, and the gross amount payable, in dirhams.

Fields a UAE tax invoice carries. Sample — check the full list on tax.gov.ae.

The rate

Show tax as its own line, on the quote as well as the invoice

A client who sees one total and later receives an invoice with tax added feels overcharged, even when nothing changed. Decide whether your quoted section totals include tax or exclude it, say which on the quote, and keep the same convention on the invoice.

The standard rate of VAT in the UAE is five per cent, set by federal legislation and published by the Federal Tax Authority. Some supplies are zero-rated and some are exempt. Confirm what applies to your work on tax.gov.ae.

eInvoicing

Invoices are moving from documents to structured data

The Ministry of Finance is introducing eInvoicing in the UAE in phases, with invoices exchanged as structured data through accredited service providers rather than as emailed PDFs. The dates and the scope have moved more than once, so this page names no deadline. Check the Ministry of Finance programme page and plan for structured data.

Records

The record you need is the one you did not keep

Tax records have to be retained for a period set in the legislation, and a renovation business generates them in the worst possible places: a supplier receipt in a van, a variation agreed on WhatsApp, a deposit paid in cash. Decide where each kind lives before you need to find one.

Invoices you issued, and the quotes and variations behind them.
Purchase invoices from suppliers and subcontractors.
Evidence of what was supplied and when — delivery notes, site records.
The retention period set in the tax legislation — check the current one on tax.gov.ae.

How Briked handles this

The tax line comes from the quote, not from a second spreadsheet

Your rates carry their tax treatment, so the quote your client sees and the record behind it agree. Briked files nothing for you and is not a tax tool — it keeps the documents and the trail behind them, which is what your accountant asks for at the year end.

Sample

Currency: AED on every line; money and quantities read the same way in Arabic.
Tax treatment: Carried on the rate, not typed per quote.
Shown to the client: As its own line, with section totals labelled inclusive or exclusive.
Kept for your accountant: The quote, its revisions, the accepted version, and every variation.

What a quote carries for tax. Sample.

Sources

Federal Tax Authority tax.gov.ae
Ministry of Finance — eInvoicing programme mof.gov.ae
u.ae — taxation u.ae

We link only to the authority that owns each rule. Rules change; check the source before you act on anything here.

General notes

An indicative range is a range, not a price. Only the quote you send your client is a price.
A person accepts every number before it leaves your company. Nothing drafted by AI becomes the record on its own.
Your client never pays for Briked. Answering your scope link, reading your quote and accepting it are free for them, always.
Your rates, your scopes and your clients stay yours. We never show one contractor’s work to another. Read the data promise
The trial runs 14 days from the day we approve your application. A card is required to start it. Trial terms

Common questions

Do I have to register for VAT as a small renovation contractor?

It depends on your taxable supplies over the previous twelve months and what you expect in the next thirty days, against the thresholds the Federal Tax Authority publishes. Check tax.gov.ae, and ask a UAE tax adviser before you decide.

Should my quote show tax?

Show it as its own line and label the section totals as including or excluding it. A quote is not a tax invoice, but a client who cannot tell which convention you used will query the invoice when it arrives.

When does eInvoicing become mandatory?

The Ministry of Finance is rolling it out in phases and the timetable has changed more than once, so no date is quoted here. Check the Ministry of Finance programme page, and choose accounting software that can produce structured invoices.

Is Briked a tax or accounting tool?

No. It produces quotes, contracts and the record behind them; it does not file returns, calculate your liability or replace an accountant. The tax line on a quote comes from the treatment you set on your own rates.

How long do I keep the paperwork?

The retention period is set in the UAE tax legislation and applies to invoices and the records behind them. Confirm the current period on tax.gov.ae — and keep the quotes and variations too, because they are the evidence behind the invoice.

Scope it, quote it, get it accepted — on your next job, with your rates.