UAE VAT 201 shows zero or wrong amounts, and ZATCA for Saudi Arabia
ERPNext has UAE VAT built in: invoice fields for the emirate, zero-rated and exempt items, reverse charge, and the UAE VAT 201 report that follows the FTA return boxes. These fields are added when the company's Country is United Arab Emirates. This page explains how the report gets its numbers, so you can find why an amount is missing.
Set up UAE VAT
- In the Company, set Country to United Arab Emirates, and add a company address with its Emirate.
- Go to UAE VAT Settings, add a record for your company, and list your VAT accounts (output and input VAT) in UAE VAT Accounts.
- On items that are zero-rated or exempt, turn on Is Zero Rated or Is Exempt.
- Use a Sales Taxes and Charges Template and a Purchase Taxes and Charges Template with your VAT accounts.
How the VAT 201 report gets each box
| Box | Comes from |
|---|---|
| 1a–1g Standard rated supplies per emirate | Submitted Sales Invoice item rows, grouped by the invoice's VAT Emirate, without zero-rated and exempt rows |
| 2 Tourist refunds | Tax Refund provided to Tourists (AED) on Sales Invoices |
| 3 Reverse charge supplies | Purchase Invoices with Reverse Charge Applicable Y |
| 4 Zero rated | Sales Invoice item rows marked Is Zero Rated (exports are marked automatically) |
| 5 Exempt | Sales Invoice item rows marked Is Exempt |
| 9 Standard rated expenses | Recoverable Standard Rated Expenses (AED) that you enter on each Purchase Invoice |
| 10 Reverse charge recoverable | Recoverable Reverse Charge (Percentage) on reverse charge Purchase Invoices |
Sales VAT is zero or missing in box 1
- VAT Emirate is empty. It is fetched from the Emirate of the company address on the invoice. Set the emirate on the address, then on the invoices.
- The VAT account is not in UAE VAT Settings. The item's Tax Amount is worked out only from tax rows whose account is listed there. Add the account. Invoices saved before the change keep a zero tax amount; cancel and amend them, or correct the filing figure by hand.
- The invoice is treated as an export. When the customer address is in another country, rows are zero-rated and go to box 4.
The amount and the VAT in box 1 do not match 5%
The Amount is the item net amount in AED, and the VAT Amount is the sum of each item's Tax Amount. They differ from exactly 5% when:
- an invoice is in another currency: the amount is converted to AED, but the item Tax Amount stays in the invoice currency, or
- some rows have a different tax rate (for example rows with no VAT that are not marked zero-rated or exempt).
Open the Sales Register for the period and compare invoice by invoice.
Purchase VAT (box 9) is zero
Box 9 is not calculated from your input VAT account. Enter the recoverable VAT of each Purchase Invoice in Recoverable Standard Rated Expenses (AED) (in the invoice's VAT details). For a reverse charge invoice, leave it empty and set Recoverable Reverse Charge (Percentage) instead; both on one invoice give "Recoverable Standard Rated expenses should not be set when Reverse Charge Applicable is Y".
UAE e-invoicing and the FTA audit file
ERPNext covers the VAT return. UAE e-invoicing (the FTA e-invoicing programme) is provided by apps from Frappe partners in the UAE, not by ERPNext. Look for a UAE compliance app on the Frappe Cloud Marketplace, or contact a Frappe partner in the UAE.
ZATCA e-invoicing for Saudi Arabia
ERPNext does not include ZATCA (Fatoora) e-invoicing. Setting the country to Saudi Arabia does not add it. Install a ZATCA app from the Frappe Cloud Marketplace; its developer supports its setup, certificates and errors.