How to Prepare for an FTA Tax Audit in the UAE
(A down-to-earth guide for growing businesses, curious startups, and caffeine-powered finance teams) 1. The audit-alarm moment — what really happens? You’re minding your own spreadsheets when a Federal Tax Authority (FTA) email pops up. Five business days. That’s the usual grace period between the notice and the day inspectors show up or log on to your accounting system. Five days to gather every VAT return, sales invoice, and that shoebox of petty-cash slips you meant to scan. ( czta.ae , proactfs.com ) Those five days feel short, but the real countdown started years ago. The FTA can review up to five years’ worth of records — nine if they issued a notice before the first window closed. ( simplysolved.ae ) That’s why “last-minute prep” is a myth. Good prep is the habit you adopt long before the auditors knock. 2. Why does the FTA single out your company? Sometimes it’s random. More often, it’s a red flag in your VAT return: chronic late filings, eye-popping refund claims, or mismatc...