Filing the UAE VAT 201 from ERPNext

ERPNext has a UAE VAT 201 report built in. It fills the sales and expense boxes of the return from your submitted invoices, by emirate. You then enter those figures on the FTA's EmaraTax portal and complete the rest there. This is how it is set up, as of ERPNext version 16.

1. Set the company up as a UAE company

Create the company with its country as United Arab Emirates. ERPNext then adds its UAE fields: the company TRN (taken from the company's tax ID), customer and supplier names in Arabic, an emirate on every address, and a VAT section on sales and purchase documents. It also switches on three print formats: Tax Invoice, Simplified Tax Invoice and Detailed Tax Invoice.

2. Tell it which accounts hold VAT

In UAE VAT Settings, pick the company and list its VAT accounts. The report reads VAT only from these accounts, so a VAT account left off this list is left out of the return.

3. Mark items and addresses

• Items: tick Is Zero Rated or Is Exempt where they apply, and set a tax code if you use one. Invoices pick these up.
• Company address: set its emirate. Each sales invoice takes its VAT emirate from the company address, and the report splits standard-rated sales by it.
• Customer addresses: set the country. When it differs from yours, untaxed lines on the invoice are marked zero-rated as exports.

4. Fill the VAT fields on invoices

• Sales invoice: the tax refund given to a tourist, in AED, when there is one.
• Purchase invoice, reverse charge: set Reverse Charge Applicable to Y and the recoverable share as a percentage (100 by default). ERPNext takes the reverse-charge VAT out of the amount payable to the supplier.
• Purchase invoice, standard rated: enter the VAT you are recovering in Recoverable Standard Rated Expenses (AED). ERPNext will not accept it on an invoice that is also reverse charge.

5. Run the report

Open UAE VAT 201 under the accounting reports, pick the company and the tax period. Accounts users, accounts managers and auditors can run it. It reads submitted invoices only, and fills these boxes, each with the amount and the VAT, in AED:

• 1a–1g standard-rated supplies in Abu Dhabi, Dubai, Sharjah, Ajman, Umm Al Quwain, Ras Al Khaimah and Fujairah
• 2 tax refunds provided to tourists
• 3 supplies subject to the reverse charge
• 4 zero-rated supplies, and 5 exempt supplies (amounts only)
• 9 standard-rated expenses, the VAT being what you entered as recoverable
• 10 reverse-charge supplies, the VAT being the recoverable share

6. Finish the return on EmaraTax

The report stops there. Boxes 6 and 7 (goods imported into the UAE, and their adjustments), the totals in boxes 8 and 11, and the due, recoverable and payable tax in boxes 12 to 14 are not in it. ERPNext does not upload to EmaraTax either: you enter the figures on the portal and submit the return there. The return is due within 28 days of the end of the tax period.

And e-invoicing

UAE e-invoicing is a separate job from the VAT 201. Businesses with revenue over AED 50 million must appoint an accredited service provider by 30 October 2026 and go live by 1 January 2027. ERPNext does not include it; we add ERPGulf's open-source UAE e-invoicing app, which makes the invoice data e-invoicing ready, for the provider you appoint.

Want it set up on your books? Tell us how your company runs, or see ERPNext in the UAE.