How long must VAT records about real estate be kept in the UAE?
Fifteen years. Article 71 of the Executive Regulation of the VAT Decree-Law requires records related to real estate to be held for 15 years after the end of the tax period they relate to. Other VAT records follow the periods in the Tax Procedures Law and its regulation.
What must be kept
Article 78 of the VAT Decree-Law lists the records: supplies and imports, tax invoices and credit notes issued and received, goods used for non-business purposes, purchases where VAT was not deducted, exports, corrections and adjustments, and a tax record of VAT due and recoverable.
Why construction is affected
Developers and contractors working on buildings hold records that relate to real estate, such as zero-rated first supplies and the input VAT recovered on construction costs. Those records may be needed for 15 years.
How SupaJack Construct helps
Invoices, certificates, credit notes, supplier bills and VAT returns are kept per project in the database with their journal entries, so a record from any period can be produced without retrieving paper files.
Related tools and guides
See the VAT guide for contractors, the VAT calculator, the payment certificate calculator, the retention calculator, finance and VAT in SupaJack Construct, the answer on whether a payment certificate triggers VAT and the meaning of e-invoicing.
Worked example
A developer files its return for the quarter ending 31 March 2026, including VAT recovered on a residential tower. The records behind that return must be kept until at least 31 March 2041.
Questions people ask
Does the 15 years apply to all businesses?
To records related to real estate.
Where are the other periods set?
In the Tax Procedures Law and its Executive Regulation.
What is the tax record?
Article 78 requires a record of VAT due and recoverable, including corrections.