UAE VAT: your new duty to verify suppliers before you deduct input tax

Since 1 October 2026, a VAT-registered business in the UAE must verify its supplier and each supply before it deducts input tax, document every step, and keep a written policy that names who is responsible. This follows Federal Tax Authority Decision No. 13 of 2026. The tests depend on how much you buy from the supplier.

What changed. The Authority issued Decision No. 13 of 2026 on 22 July 2026 and it took effect on 1 October 2026. The English text on the Authority's site is an unofficial translation; we read it on 7 November 2026.

What the Decision asks, in one table

The Decision has two layers: checks on the supplier (Article 3), and checks on every supply (Article 4). Article 5 adds the procedure: document it all and keep a written policy.

Which supplies can skip the checks

Article 6 lets you skip the measures for a supply of less than AED 10,000 before VAT. There is a catch: the skip is lost once the supplier's total supplies to you exceed AED 100,000 over the previous 12 months, or are expected to exceed it over the next 12 months. Use the supplier's running total, not the single invoice.

Note the word "expected": if you expect more than AED 375,000 from a new supplier over the next 12 months, for example under a signed contract of that size, get the bank confirmation before the first supply, not after the total is reached.

Documents to put in each supplier's file

Article 5 asks you to document the steps and keep the records. One file per supplier makes that practical. A starting list, ours and not the Authority's:

1. Identity: Emirates ID or passport copy; or certificate of incorporation, and the representative's ID. Add a dated screenshot of the result from the Authority's Verify TRN form, a useful extra check; the Decision does not name it as a step.
2. Place of business: a dated screenshot of the electronic check, or a visit note.
3. Risk check: the date you checked address and key-people changes, and your note if an indicator applied.
4. Above AED 375,000: the bank's written confirmation, and a note of the reviews and media you read.
5. For each purchase: the contract or order, delivery proof, payment record and a line on why price and payment method are reasonable.
6. Review date: when the supplier was last verified, so you re-check within 12 months.

Write the policy

Article 5(4) requires a documented policy that names the people who implement, review and supervise the checks, with their powers and responsibilities, kept where you keep the required records. Keep it short: one page that says who verifies new suppliers (usually procurement), who reviews (finance), who signs off exceptions, and where the files are.

How Tarleaks helps

Tarleaks Parties keeps each supplier with its tax registration number and trade licence number, flags an exact duplicate number, and holds compliance documents (licence, tax certificate, ID copy, insurance, contract) with a number and expiry date, with the file stored in Documents. That gives you the file in point 1 above and a reminder before a licence lapses. It does not run the Decision 13 checks, score risk or obtain bank confirmations: those steps stay with your team.

What to do next

• List suppliers whose purchases over the last 12 months exceed, or are expected to exceed over the next 12 months, AED 100,000 and AED 375,000. These are the first files to complete.
• Write the one-page policy and name the people.
• Read the UAE e-invoicing timeline and who must comply: clean supplier records serve both.
• Book a demo to see supplier records and expiry reminders with sample data.

Questions people ask

When does the supplier verification duty start?

On 1 October 2026. FTA Decision No. 13 of 2026 was issued on 22 July 2026 and takes effect on 1 October 2026. The Decision does not say how it treats supplies received or deducted before that date, so confirm how it applies to your own dates with the Authority or your tax adviser.

Do I have to verify every supplier?

Almost every one. A single supply below AED 10,000 before VAT may skip the checks, but the exception is lost once that supplier's total supplies exceed AED 100,000 over the previous or the next 12 months. A supply of AED 10,000 or more, or any supply once the supplier's total passes AED 100,000, is checked, and over AED 375,000 a bank confirmation is added.

How often must I re-verify a supplier?

The supplier checks are done at first dealing, and again on recurring dealings if the supplier has not been verified in the previous 12 months. Each supply you receive is still checked under the separate supply rules, every time.

What must I write down?

Each verification step and its supporting documents, in a form that lets the Federal Tax Authority verify what you did, and a written policy naming who carries out, reviews and supervises the checks and what their powers are. The policy is kept where you keep the other required records.

Is Decision 13 about e-invoicing?

No. It is a VAT input tax rule that applies to every taxable person, whether or not e-invoicing applies to you yet. The two are linked in practice: both depend on correct supplier names, tax registration numbers and documents in your records.

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General information, not legal or tax advice. Checked against the official source listed on this page on 7 November 2026, using an unofficial English translation: confirm the Arabic text and how the Decision applies to you with the Federal Tax Authority or your tax adviser. Tarleaks does not perform these checks for you.