Free tool / VAT credits
Check when your UAE VAT credits reach their time limit
Find the ordinary five-year limit and review the transitional refund-request deadline set at 31 December 2026. If you are reviewing after 31 December 2026, that transitional window has ended.
General information, not tax advice. We are not a registered tax agent.
Enter your detailsYour inputs, your browser
Original VAT credit periods
Calculator details stay in your browser. Only anonymous usage events are sent; no calculator inputs are included.
How this tool works
Enter the end date of each original VAT period that generated an excess credit, with an optional label. Do not substitute a later period into which the balance was carried forward. Select “Calculate credit limits”.
For each period, the tool returns the ordinary five-year limit and, where applicable, the transitional refund-request deadline. It distinguishes the ordinary use window from the later refund-only extension. Results include the rule, source and explanatory notes.
Example: an original period ending on 30 June 2021 produces an ordinary limit of 30 June 2026 and a transitional refund-request deadline set at 31 December 2026. If reviewing after 31 December 2026, treat the transitional date as a past deadline. The extension does not preserve ordinary offset rights after the five-year limit. VATP046, pp. 7–8; MoF transitional announcement.
The tool does not read your tax account, confirm an available balance, calculate a refund amount or submit a request. Special late-arising credits and cases in the final 90 days require separate assessment.
Before you rely on a result
Questions, answered.
Which date starts the five-year clock?
Use the end of the original period that generated the excess, not a later carry-forward period. Partial use does not restart the clock. VATP046, pp. 7–8, explaining art. 74(3).
Which credits have a 31 December 2026 transitional date?
The transitional window was set for balances whose five-year period expired before 1 January 2026 or during 2026 (in this calculator, ordinary five-year limits before 31 December 2026; a limit falling on 31 December 2026 already shares that date). Its refund-request deadline was set at 31 December 2026. If you are reviewing after 31 December 2026, that window has ended. The calculator uses the original period-end to identify the window. MoF announcement on Decree-Law 17/2025, transitional provisions.
Can I still offset the credit after its ordinary limit?
The transitional extension is for refund requests. Once the ordinary five-year limit has passed, do not treat the extension as an extra offset period. VATP046, pp. 7–8; MoF transitional announcement.
Is 31 December 2026 the deadline for every VAT credit?
No. For example, the engine returns 31 January 2031 for an original period ending on 31 January 2026. The tool does not assess special exceptions or whether a particular balance remains recoverable. VATP046, pp. 7–8.
What comes next
Keep in the loop.
Join the Brainy Tax waitlist for AI-assisted bookkeeping and tax-workflow software for UAE SMEs. No signup is required to check these dates.