An overview of VAT Payments in the United Arab Emirates

All taxable business owners are required to file VAT on a monthly or quarterly basis. The total tax payable to the government depends on whether your input tax credits are enough to offset your output tax. If your output tax exceeds your recoverable input tax, then you will be required to pay the difference to the Federal Tax Authority (FTA). 

You can pay VAT using any of the following methods:

• e-Dirham card or credit card

• eDebit 

• Local bank transfer

• International bank transfer

Let’s take a closer look at how you can make payments through the FTA portal using each of the payment methods.

e-Dirham Card or Credit Card

When you make VAT payments using your e-Dirham card, you will incur a transaction fee of AED 3. If you are paying with your credit card (Visa and MasterCard only), you will pay a transaction fee of 2-3% of the total payable amount. To make e-Dirham or credit card payments, please follow the steps below.

• Go to My Payments on the navigation tab.

• Enter the amount to be paid. You will be taken to a Payment Information screen which will display the amount you entered. Click Pay Now to proceed. 

• In the e-Dirham gateway page, choose whether to pay with an e-Dirham card or a credit card. You will be automatically redirected to the FTA page once the payment has processed successfully. 

eDebit 

With the eDebit option, you can make payments directly to the FTA’s bank account using your retail or corporate internet banking credentials. The transaction fee for making an eDebit payment is AED 10, which is charged by e-Dirham. This option is currently only available with the following banks:

• Citibank (Retail)

• Commercial Bank of Dubai (Corporate and Retail) 

• Dubai Islamic Bank (Retail)

• Emirates NBD (Corporate and Retail) 

• First Abu Dhabi Bank (Corporate and Retail) 

• Noor Bank (Retail) 

• Standard Chartered (Corporate and Retail)

eDebit payments require approval from you. Once the approval is collected, the payment will go from the Pending state to Complete. Occasionally, a payment may require approval from more than one individual – when this happens, it will stay in the Pending state until the final approval is collected. If the transaction is not approved within 3 days, then it will expire automatically and the payment will not go through. 

Please note that with a corporate bank account, the payment status displayed on the eServices dashboard will show as Pending for 30 minutes before it is updated. 

To make eDebit payments, follow the steps below:

• Log in to the FTA eServices portal and click on the My Payments tab.

• Enter the tax amount payable and click Make Payment.

• In the Payment Information page, click Pay Via Bank.

• In the e-Dirham gateway page that follows, select eDebit payment method, select the Bank Account box, and click Confirm. Click Confirm again on the eServices inquiry confirmation page.

• When the payment details screen pops up, select your bank.

• Enter your email address to receive payment confirmation. Click Submit.

• In the payment details page, click Confirm.

Local Bank Transfer

In order to make a bank transfer from a local bank, you need a GIBAN, which is a unique IBAN number given to every taxable person by the FTA. This option is available for settling any outstanding tax liabilities, penalties and excise tax-related payments, but is not available for miscellaneous payments. 

To make payments using GIBAN through your online banking portal, follow these steps:

• Log in to eServices and find your GIBAN on your dashboard. Your GIBAN will be different for VAT and excise tax.

• If you are using online banking to transfer funds, you will need to add FTA as a beneficiary using the GIBAN number and FTA details. 

• Head to the fund transfer/domestic transfer section in your online banking portal. Enter the tax amount that you need to pay, and complete the payment process. 

• Once your GIBAN is validated, the transaction will be processed.

• It may take up to 24 hours for the payment to be reflected in your account. 

International Bank Transfer

If your bank is outside the UAE and is a member of SWIFT, then you can visit your bank to make an international bank transfer.  

• Log in to the eServices portal to find your GIBAN numbers for VAT and excise tax respectively. 

• You will need to provide the following details to the teller to make the bank transfer.

  • Beneficiary IBAN: Mention your GIBAN number 

  • Beneficiary Name: The Federal Tax Authority

  • Account with Institution: The Federal Tax Authority

  • The amount to be transferred (must be in AED). 

• It will take 3-4 days for your GIBAN to be validated and the transaction to be processed. The FTA recommends that you make the payments at least a week before the due date to avoid getting penalised. 

Paying on time

• You can make full or partial VAT payments. However, if you are making partial payments, you need to ensure that you pay the entire amount before the due date to avoid any penalties. 

• Any payments that are made partially will settle the oldest tax liabilities first before the more recent ones. 

• Your can check whether you have outstanding tax liabilities or penalties using the VAT Transaction History box found under My Payments.