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Insights · 19 October 2026

Income from foreign online platforms: UAE VAT and Corporate Tax

Paid by booking sites, marketplaces or app stores abroad? How UAE VAT applies to each type of income, platform fees and Corporate Tax.

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Quick answers

Is VAT charged on UAE holiday stays sold through foreign booking platforms?
Yes. Stays in hotels, hotel apartments and serviced apartments in the UAE are taxed at 5%, wherever the guest lives and wherever the platform is based.
Do I pay VAT on a foreign platform's commission?
If you are VAT-registered and the platform does not charge UAE VAT, you account for 5% under the reverse charge and can normally recover it in the same return if you make taxable supplies.
Can foreign tax withheld by a platform be credited in the UAE?
Generally yes, against UAE Corporate Tax on the same income, where it is a genuine tax on income that cannot be recovered abroad — but only up to the UAE tax due on that income, with no carry-forward.

Holiday-stay operators, tour companies, app developers, online sellers and content businesses often earn through platforms based outside the UAE. The money arrives as a net payout, after the platform has taken its commission, and the question we hear most is: what does the UAE tax? The answer depends on what you sell, to whom, and on the platform's own terms.

First question: who is your customer?

If the platform sells in its own name, the law treats the platform as the seller — and your customer is the platform. If it sells in your name and simply collects on your behalf, you are the seller and your customer is the end customer. The platform's terms of service are the starting point; how the arrangement works in practice also matters. Settle this before deciding how to invoice and how to treat VAT.

How we help: E-commerce & online platform accounting — marketplace payouts, VAT and Corporate Tax kept straight.

VAT on the main types of platform income

Hotel-type stays in the UAEStays in hotels, hotel apartments and serviced apartments in the UAE are taxed at 5%, wherever the guest lives and wherever the platform is based.
Tours and experiences in the UAETaxed at 5%. They are treated as supplied where they are performed, and the visitor's presence is connected with the service, so the export zero rate does not apply.
Services to customers abroadCan be zero-rated when three conditions are met. The customer has no place of residence in the UAE. The customer is outside the UAE when the service is performed — a visit of under 30 days that is not connected with the supply still counts as outside. And the service is not connected with property or goods in the UAE.
Goods shipped abroadZero-rated as exports if they leave the UAE within 90 days and you keep customs and shipping evidence.
The platform's commission and feesIf you are VAT-registered and the platform does not charge UAE VAT, you account for 5% under the reverse charge and can normally recover it in the same return if you make taxable supplies. If you are not yet registered, these imported services generally count towards the registration threshold.

Zero-rated sales still count towards the AED 375,000 VAT registration threshold — see what to do if you registered late.

Corporate Tax

  • A UAE company is taxed on its worldwide income: 0% on taxable income up to AED 375,000 and 9% above it.
  • Gross or net? Your accounts should show revenue on the basis your accounting standards require — usually gross sales with the platform's commission as an expense where you, not the platform, are the seller. Record from the platform's statements, not just the bank payout.
  • Foreign tax withheld by a platform can generally be credited against UAE Corporate Tax on the same income — where it is a genuine tax on income that cannot be recovered abroad — but only up to the UAE tax due on that income, with no carry-forward. No credit arises where the income bears no UAE tax.
  • Free zone companies: online retail is generally not a qualifying activity, and sales to individuals are an excluded activity (unless the platform, not the individual, is your customer), so retail platform income often cannot benefit from the 0% rate beyond a small allowance for other income — the de minimis limit of the lower of 5% of revenue or AED 5 million. App developers are different: income from software they own and developed can partly qualify under the qualifying intellectual property rules, depending on their own development spending. Each case needs review — see the 0% free zone conditions.
  • Small Business Relief can be elected where revenue is AED 3 million or less in the current tax period and every previous one, for tax periods ending on or before 31 December 2029 — but not by a Qualifying Free Zone Person.

Records that make this work

  1. Download the platform's monthly statements: gross sales, commission, fees, refunds, withholding and payout.
  2. Reconcile gross sales to fees to payout to the bank, in AED at the correct exchange rate.
  3. Keep the platform's invoices for its fees, for the reverse charge.
  4. Keep export evidence for goods, and evidence of where your service customers are.

With our experience of cross-border taxation, we set this up so VAT and Corporate Tax follow the actual flows. See accounting for e-commerce and platform businesses, VAT registration and Corporate Tax, or talk to us.

Disclaimer: This article is provided for general information and knowledge purposes only, based on the legislation and official guidance as at 12 October 2026. It does not constitute legal, tax or other professional advice, and should not be relied on as such. Rules and deadlines may change; please seek advice on your specific circumstances before acting. Get in touch for advice on your own company.