VAT Compliance Review

A VAT compliance review helps you see VAT risk before it becomes penalties, cash-flow issues, or an FTA query. We review your VAT returns, transaction evidence, and reconciliations—then give you a clear, fixable action plan.

Benefits (what you gain)

• Clear visibility on VAT risks (what matters most, first)
• Cleaner documentation and working files for VAT audit readiness UAE
• Practical fixes you can implement in your finance process
• Primary: Request a VAT Compliance Review Quote
• Secondary: Book a Consultation
  

Microcopy: Share your VAT returns + TRN details for a scope estimate.

If you searched for “vat compliance review uae”, you’re likely trying to answer one simple question: are our VAT returns and records defensible if the FTA asks? A VAT compliance review (often called a VAT health check UAE) gives you that clarity—without waiting for an audit notice to force the issue.

Virtual Accountants LLC provides VAT compliance services UAE businesses use to reduce avoidable VAT exposure. We work with UAE SMEs, startups, trading companies, service businesses, and e-commerce operators across Dubai and the wider UAE. Whether you use Zoho Books, QuickBooks, Xero, an ERP, or Excel-based reporting, our approach is the same: risk-based testing, clean reconciliations, and practical recommendations you can implement.

The outcome is not a generic report. You receive a prioritised risk register, a remediation plan, and an evidence checklist—so your VAT position is clearer, your records are stronger, and your team knows what to fix next.

VAT Compliance Review in the UAE: What It Is and Why It Matters

A VAT compliance review is a structured check of how VAT is handled in your business—across invoicing, expenses, imports, returns, and supporting documents. It goes beyond “does the return submit?” and answers the question that matters: does the VAT treatment match the facts and the evidence?

This is especially important in the UAE because VAT issues usually don’t come from one big mistake. They come from repeated small issues—invoice wording, missing export evidence, reverse charge not captured, input VAT claimed on blocked items, or returns that don’t reconcile back to the books.

Who needs a VAT compliance review (SMEs, growing businesses, high-volume VAT)

A review is most valuable if you are:

• An SME where VAT is handled “in between everything else”
• Growing fast (more transactions, more staff, more complexity)
• High-volume in VAT returns (many invoices, many expense lines)
• Trading/importing, or selling across borders
• Running multiple sales channels (POS, e-commerce, invoicing tools)
• Operating multiple entities or branches (Dubai, Abu Dhabi, Sharjah, etc.)

If your business relies on VAT refunds, tight margins, or clean reporting to management, a review often pays back quickly through risk reduction and better controls.

Common triggers (rapid growth, messy bookkeeping, new VAT categories, FTA queries)

Common reasons clients request a VAT review and risk assessment UAE include:

• Recent growth: new suppliers, new countries, new VAT scenarios
• Messy or delayed bookkeeping (unreconciled accounts, missing invoices)
• New transaction types: exports, discounts, credit notes, bundled pricing
• Switching systems (Excel → Zoho/QuickBooks/Xero → ERP)
• Leadership wants confidence before year-end or audit
• You received an FTA query, clarification request, or an internal “red flag”

What We Review During a VAT Compliance Review (Risk-Based Methodology)

Our methodology is practical and risk-based. We don’t try to “check everything” in a way that wastes time. Instead, we identify the VAT risk points that typically drive exposure in SMEs—and test the areas that matter most.

VAT return review and reconciliation (returns vs books)

For a VAT return review UAE, we typically:

• Reconcile return totals to sales/purchase registers and the general ledger
• Check whether VAT control accounts and adjustments are supported
• Review period cut-off issues (returns reflecting the wrong period)
• Identify unexplained variances (often the real source of risk)

This also includes VAT reconciliation UAE checks—because if the return doesn’t reconcile, it is hard to defend later.

Output VAT checks (tax invoices, place of supply, pricing, VAT treatment)

For output VAT review UAE, we focus on the VAT you charge and report:

• Tax invoice compliance (fields, VAT display, TRN where required)
• Pricing logic (VAT-inclusive vs VAT-exclusive errors)
• Credit notes and adjustments (whether issued and reported correctly)
• Place of supply VAT UAE considerations (especially for cross-border services and mixed supply situations)
• VAT treatment consistency across customers and invoice types

Input VAT eligibility review (evidence, blocked items, apportionment where relevant)

For input VAT review UAE, we test:

• Whether input VAT is supported by valid documentation
• Whether expenses are potentially blocked/restricted (case-by-case)
• Whether apportionment is needed (where businesses have taxable + exempt activity)
• Timing issues: input VAT claimed in wrong period, or duplicated claims

Reverse charge VAT and imports (where applicable)

Where relevant, we test:

• reverse charge VAT UAE entries (services received from abroad, related-party charges, etc.)
• Import documentation and VAT capture (customs evidence, treatment consistency)
• Whether reverse charge is reflected correctly in the return and working file

Zero-rated/exempt/out-of-scope testing + evidence pack

This is one of the most common risk areas in the UAE because the VAT rate may be 0%—but the evidence burden remains.

We test:

• zero-rated supplies UAE VAT evidence (exports and other qualifying transactions)
• Exempt treatment (where input VAT recovery is impacted)
• Out-of-scope assumptions (and whether those assumptions are documented)

We also perform a VAT documentation review UAE to check whether evidence is organised and retrievable.

Deliverables You Receive (Practical, Actionable Outputs)

A VAT compliance review should leave your business in a better position than where it started. We focus on outputs your team can actually use.

VAT risk register (findings ranked by impact and likelihood)

You receive a structured register that sets out:

• Issue description (what’s wrong and where it appears)
• Risk level (impact + likelihood)
• Root cause (process, system, training, documentation, classification)
• Recommended fix (what to do next)
• Evidence requirements (what you must retain)

Recommendations + remediation plan (quick wins + structural fixes)

We separate recommendations into:

• Quick wins: fixes that reduce immediate VAT risk (coding changes, invoice fixes, missing evidence)
• Structural fixes: process improvements (approvals, templates, reconciliation routines, training)

Documentation checklist (audit trail and evidence)

You get a practical checklist covering:

• what documents to retain by transaction type
• how to organise your evidence trail
• what to prepare for audit readiness (without over-engineering)

Optional support 

If you want ongoing compliance after the review, we can support you with VAT return filing and working-file preparation.

VAT Audit Readiness (FTA-Focused Documentation and Controls)

A VAT review is most valuable when it improves your ability to respond to questions quickly and confidently.

Record-keeping and document retention expectations (high-level, not legal advice)

For VAT, the FTA expects businesses to maintain VAT records and supporting documents for the statutory retention period. In practice, this means your invoices, credit notes, contracts (where relevant), import/export documents, and workings should be:

• complete
• consistent
• retrievable (not “somewhere in email”)
• linked to the numbers reported in the VAT return

How we build an audit-ready evidence trail (what you should be able to show)

A practical VAT audit-ready file should allow you to demonstrate:

• how figures in the VAT return were calculated
• why specific transactions were treated as standard-rated / zero-rated / exempt / out-of-scope
• how input VAT claims are supported (invoice evidence + business purpose)
• how reverse charge and import VAT were identified and recorded
• how reconciliations tie back to the accounting system

We keep it simple: clear working files, clean reconciliations, and an evidence pack that your team can maintain.

How the Review Works (Timeline, Inputs, and Process)

Our process is designed to be efficient for SMEs: structured requests, focused testing, and clear outputs.

What we need from you (data request checklist)

We tailor the request to your systems and volumes. Typically, we work with:

• Zoho Books, QuickBooks, Xero, ERP exports, or Excel registers
• sales channels (manual invoicing, POS, e-commerce platforms)
• import/export documentation (where applicable)

Sampling approach and coverage (explain how you test without overpromising)

We use risk-based sampling, which generally includes:

• higher-value transactions
• unusual VAT treatments (zero-rated/exempt/out-of-scope)
• supplier categories that often create input VAT issues
• reverse charge and import-related entries
• credit notes, adjustments, and manual journals

Sampling is designed to identify patterns and root causes. If deeper testing is needed, we scope it clearly before expanding.

Review, findings workshop, and action plan

Typical delivery steps:

1. Kick-off and scope confirmation
2. Data collection and reconciliation build
3. Testing and issue identification
4. Findings workshop (walk-through with your team)
5. Final report + action plan + evidence checklist

Typical inputs checklist

• VAT returns filed (for the review periods)
• VAT working files (if available)
• Sales register + purchase register
• Sample sales invoices, credit notes, and related supporting docs
• Sample purchase invoices + expense support
• General ledger export / VAT control accounts
• Bank statements or reconciliation summaries (where relevant)
• Customs/import documents and export evidence (where applicable)
• Contracts/POs for selected transactions (where relevant)

Pricing (VAT Compliance Review in UAE)

What pricing depends on (transactions, complexity, entities, systems)

Pricing depends on:

• Number of VAT periods reviewed
• Transaction volume (sales invoices + purchases/expenses)
• Complexity (imports/exports, reverse charge, mixed supplies)
• Number of entities/branches
• Systems used and data quality (clean exports vs manual records)
• Depth of testing required (snapshot vs deeper review)

Final pricing is confirmed after a short scoping call and document review. We do not offer “one size fits all” pricing because risk and effort vary by business model.