Key takeaways
- Keep corporate tax records for at least 7 years after the end of the tax period, VAT real-estate records for 15 years, and longer while an audit, dispute or refund claim is open.
- The 5-year default is a minimum, not a disposal date. For most companies, the 7-year corporate tax rule decides.
- Record-keeping applies to anyone doing business in the UAE, not only to VAT- or corporate tax-registered businesses.
- Scans are acceptable if they are complete, legible and available for the whole period. Failing to keep records costs AED 10,000, or AED 20,000 for a repeat within 24 months.
The short answer on how long to keep business records in the UAE: corporate tax records for at least 7 years, VAT real-estate records for 15 years, and everything for longer while an audit, a dispute or a refund claim is open. The full answer depends on the type of entity, the type of record and what is happening with the Federal Tax Authority (FTA). For a group, it also depends on where each entity's records actually sit, which after a few system changes and acquisitions is rarely one place. Below is the complete position, with the source of each period.
Who has to keep records
The obligation is wider than many assume:
- Anyone conducting business in the UAE, or with an obligation under a tax law, must keep accounting records and commercial books (Federal Decree-Law No. 28 of 2022, Art. 4, as amended). This is not limited to VAT- or corporate tax-registered businesses.
- Every company must keep accounting registers that show its financial position accurately at any time (Federal Decree-Law No. 32 of 2021, Art. 26(1)).
- Every corporate tax taxable person must keep the records that support its return, and exempt persons must keep records that prove their exempt status (Federal Decree-Law No. 47 of 2022, Art. 56). Businesses that elect Small Business Relief still register, file and keep records.
An entity that is not VAT-registered, such as a holding company within a group, is therefore not excused from keeping books.
What counts as a record
Cabinet Decision No. 74 of 2023, Art. 2 lists what the tax rules mean by records:
- books recording payments and receipts, purchases and sales, and revenue and expenditure, including the balance sheet and the profit and loss account;
- wage and salary records, fixed-asset records, and inventory records with year-end stock counts, in quantities and values;
- supporting documents: correspondence, invoices, licences, contracts, and anything showing a tax election, calculation or method used.
For VAT, a business also needs records of every supply, detailed enough to identify the goods or services, the suppliers and the agents, and records proving the emirate of the fixed establishment for each taxable supply (Cabinet Decision No. 52 of 2017, Art. 72).
Record retention periods in the UAE
| Records | Keep for at least | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Corporate tax records (taxable persons) | 7 years after the end of the tax period | Federal Decree-Law No. 47 of 2022, Art. 56(1) |
| Records proving corporate tax exempt status | 7 years after the end of the tax period | Federal Decree-Law No. 47 of 2022, Art. 56(2) |
| Default for taxable persons, such as VAT and excise | 5 years after the tax period | Cabinet Decision No. 74 of 2023, Art. 3(1)(a) |
| Persons who are not taxable persons | 5 years from the end of the calendar year the document was created | Cabinet Decision No. 74 of 2023, Art. 3(1)(b) |
| Real-estate records (default rule) | 7 years from the end of the calendar year the document was created | Cabinet Decision No. 74 of 2023, Art. 3(1)(c) |
| VAT real-estate records | 15 years after the end of the tax period | Cabinet Decision No. 52 of 2017, Art. 71(2), as amended |
| Company accounting registers | 5 years from the end of the financial year, kept at the head office | Federal Decree-Law No. 32 of 2021, Art. 26(2) |
| E-invoices and e-credit notes | The tax retention period, with the data stored in the UAE | Ministerial Decision No. 243 of 2025, Art. 11 |
The corporate tax rule applies "notwithstanding" the Tax Procedures Law, so for corporate tax it overrides the 5-year default. In practice, the same sales invoices, purchase invoices, bank statements and payroll records support both the VAT returns and the corporate tax return. A 7-year baseline for all of them is the sensible planning assumption.
When the period gets longer
The minimum periods extend in four situations (Cabinet Decision No. 74 of 2023, Art. 3(2)):
- A dispute with the FTA: 4 more years, or until the dispute is finally settled if that is later.
- A tax audit in progress, or notified before the period runs out: 4 more years.
- A voluntary disclosure filed in the fifth year: 1 more year from the disclosure.
- A refund claim still awaiting an FTA decision: 2 more years. This extension is new: Cabinet Decision No. 17 of 2026 added it from 1 April 2026.
How far back the FTA can look
Retention periods and audit periods are related, but they are not the same thing.
Normally, the FTA cannot audit or assess a tax period more than 5 years after it ends (Federal Decree-Law No. 28 of 2022, Art. 46(1)). An audit notified within those 5 years can continue, but must finish within 4 years of the notification. For tax evasion, the limit is 15 years from the end of the period. For failure to register, it is 15 years from when registration was due.
These limits are not new. They were in the Tax Procedures Law when it came into force on 1 March 2023. What changed on 1 January 2026, under Federal Decree-Law No. 17 of 2025, was the addition of exceptions linked to refund applications.
Note the gap. Corporate tax records must be kept for 7 years, longer than the normal 5-year audit window, and the window itself stretches in the cases above. Year 5 is never a safe disposal date.
Scans, cloud storage and language
Paper is not required. Records may be kept as originals or as photocopies or electronic copies, provided the copy is identical to the original, available for the whole retention period, reproducible as a readable copy on request, and stored so the FTA can verify compliance (Cabinet Decision No. 74 of 2023, Art. 4).
FTA Decision No. 4 of 2026, in force since 30 July 2026, sets the standard in more detail. A copy must be complete, with all pages in the original order; partial scans are not accepted. It must be legible on screen, photocopies must not fade during the retention period, and the FTA must be given access on request, including passwords or encryption keys. Where a third party such as an outsourced bookkeeping provider keeps the records, the business remains legally responsible for them. We explain what that means in outsourced bookkeeping and FTA Decision No. 4 of 2026.
Records submitted to the FTA must be in Arabic. The FTA may accept English, but it can ask for an Arabic translation, at the business's cost (Federal Decree-Law No. 28 of 2022, Art. 5). Not providing records in Arabic when asked costs AED 5,000.
What it costs to get it wrong
Failing to keep the required records costs AED 10,000 per violation, or AED 20,000 for a repeat within 24 months. The amounts are the same in the VAT and tax procedures penalty table (Cabinet Decision No. 40 of 2017, as amended by Cabinet Decision No. 129 of 2025) and in the corporate tax table (Cabinet Decision No. 75 of 2023). The larger cost is usually indirect: without the records, the figures in the returns cannot be supported.
A workable retention policy
- Default to 7 years after the end of the financial year for everything that supports a VAT or corporate tax return.
- Flag VAT real-estate files for 15 years.
- Keep a log of open matters by entity: audits, disputes, voluntary disclosures and refund claims. Nothing linked to them is destroyed until the extension has run out.
- Scan whole documents, every page and in order, and confirm they are readable before any paper is destroyed.
- Keep retired systems readable. When software is replaced, or an acquired business is moved onto group systems, export the data in a form that can still be opened for the full period.
- Know who holds the credentials to every system that stores the records.
How ebs can help
ebs Chartered Accountants keeps clients' books audit-ready as part of our bookkeeping service, and if you leave us, all records and documents are handed over within 7 working days. To see where your records stand today, try the bookkeeping health check, or contact us for a free first consultation.
This article is general information as at 15 September 2026, not advice on your specific circumstances. Rules change; check the current position before acting.