The UAE Federal Tax Authority (FTA) issued VAT Public Clarification VATP044 on 27 May 2025, detailing invoicing and reverse charge requirements for Concerned Services imported into the UAE.
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Taxable Persons must account for VAT on Concerned Services under the reverse charge mechanism, reporting the output tax in Box 3 of their VAT Return for the applicable Tax Period.
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Under Article 48(1) of the UAE VAT Law, Taxable Persons are treated as making a taxable supply to themselves when importing Concerned Services with a place of supply in the UAE.
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The FTA now accepts, as an exception, that a Taxable Person does not need to issue a Tax Invoice to itself if it retains the supplier’s invoice and applies VAT correctly.
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This overseas invoice must include key details such as supplier/recipient names and addresses, service description, consideration, payment terms, and dates of issuance and completion of services.
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The previous requirement, outlined in VATP040, was that a full Tax Invoice be self-issued and retained; the new guidance offers more flexibility for documentation standards.
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Input Tax recovery is permitted without a self-issued invoice if the overseas supplier’s invoice (or equivalent document) is retained and meets the FTA’s specified documentary requirements.
