UAE VAT and Wage Protection — both handled

UAE VAT at 5% has been mandatory since January 2018, but the complexity is not in the rate — it is in correctly classifying each supply. Standard-rated at 5%. Zero-rated for exports, international transport, most healthcare services, and most educational services. Exempt for bare land, local passenger transport, and certain financial services. Applying the wrong designation to a zero-rated supply means either overcharging your customer or creating under-declared output VAT that triggers a Federal Tax Authority audit.

Every VAT return (Form VAT201) filed quarterly must reconcile your output VAT on sales against the input VAT you are claiming on purchases. Imported services attract reverse charge. Supplies within and between UAE Designated Zones have their own treatment. If any of this is reconciled manually in a spreadsheet before each filing, you are one absent accountant away from a late-filing penalty of up to AED 50,000.

Separately, the Wage Protection System requires every UAE-registered employer to pay salaries through a WPS-approved bank or exchange house within ten days of the contractual due date, and to submit a Salary Information File (SIF) to the Ministry of Human Resources confirming each payment. Companies that miss the WPS deadline are blocked from processing new work permits — a direct impact on hiring. On WiseLinkNow, VAT applies at the correct rate per supply type automatically. Zero-rated and exempt designations are set per product and service category. Input VAT is tracked per purchase. VAT201 data populates from transactions. Payroll runs generate the WPS SIF file automatically.