United Arab Emirates confirm VAT at 5% will apply to e-commerce sales

28 February 2018

The United Arab Emirates (UAE) have confirmed that e-commerce supplies of both goods and services made by non-resident (foreign) suppliers to consumers in the country, are to be subject to VAT at 5%.

These types of supplies are subject to the same VAT registration procedure and threshold as other supplies made in the country, which is currently set at Dh 375,000 (Approx. £73,000).

The UAE is part of the six-country Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC), which planned to implement a harmonised VAT regime by 2018. However, out of the six countries only the UAE and Saudi Arabia managed to implement VAT from this date and the others, consisting of Kuwait, Qatar, Bahrain, and Oman, are still to introduce VAT in their countries.