UAE Restaurant VAT Guide 2026 — FTA Compliance Made Simple

VAT in the UAE — the basics for restaurants

Since 2018 the UAE has applied a standard 5% VAT on most goods and services, including restaurant food and beverages. Any restaurant with taxable supplies above AED 375,000 per year must register for VAT with the Federal Tax Authority (FTA) and charge VAT on sales.

FTA invoice requirements

Every UAE VAT invoice (receipt) must include:

• Your Tax Registration Number (TRN)
• The customer's TRN (for B2B invoices)
• A unique sequential invoice number
• The date of supply
• Itemised prices with 5% VAT shown
• The total amount including VAT

A compliant POS prints all of this on every receipt automatically — see how BrixPOS handles VAT.

Quarterly VAT filing

Most restaurants file VAT returns quarterly through the FTA portal, reporting output VAT (on sales), input VAT (on purchases) and the net VAT payable. Missing a deadline triggers penalties, so accurate, audit-ready records matter.

UAE corporate tax for restaurants

Since June 2023, UAE corporate tax applies to business profits above the threshold. Restaurants should keep clean books with profit adjustments and exempt-income summaries — which is far easier when your POS feeds straight into your accounting.

Common FTA penalties (and how to avoid them)

Non-compliant invoices, late filing or unregistered trading can lead to FTA penalties ranging from a few thousand dirhams up to AED 50,000 for repeat violations. The simplest protection is using an FTA-compliant POS that records every sale correctly.

How BrixPOS automates VAT compliance

BrixPOS applies 5% VAT automatically, prints your TRN on every receipt, generates FTA-ready VAT reports for filing, and keeps audit-ready records — so compliance happens in the background while you run your restaurant.