How long must UAE companies keep business records?

Last updated: 5 November 2026

What counts as a business record?

A record is more than the final invoice or return. Under Cabinet Decision No. 74 of 2023 on tax procedures, accounting records and commercial books include the balance sheet and profit and loss accounts, records of wages and salaries, records of fixed assets, and inventory records with stock-counts at the end of the tax period.

The same decision also covers every document that supports those entries. It names correspondence, invoices, licences and contracts related to the business. It adds documents showing any election, assessment or calculation a taxpayer made about its tax affairs, including the basis or method used. The Federal Tax Authority (FTA) may also ask for other information it needs to verify, through a series of auditable documents, what tax a person owes and whether it should be registered.

In practice, a record is anything that proves a number you reported or a right you rely on. That includes the source document, not just the summary built from it.

How long must VAT and general tax records be kept?

Article 3 of Cabinet Decision No. 74 of 2023 sets the general periods, unless the tax law states otherwise. A taxable person must keep accounting records, commercial books and information for five years following the tax period to which they relate. All persons other than taxable persons must keep them for five years from the end of the calendar year in which the document was created.

Note the different starting points. For a taxable person the clock starts from the tax period the record relates to. For everyone else it starts from the end of the calendar year of creation.

The VAT Decree-Law No. 8 of 2017 lists what a taxable person must keep, including records of all supplies and imports, tax invoices and credit notes issued and received, records of exports, records of goods and services purchased where input tax was not deducted, and records of adjustments or corrections. Article 78 applies without prejudice to record-keeping rules in any other law.

How long must corporate tax records be kept?

The FTA states that both taxable persons and exempt persons must retain relevant records for at least seven years following the end of the tax period to which they relate. The FTA also states that taxable persons must keep the records and documents that support the information in their tax returns.

The records the FTA lists include documents about transactions in the tax period, a record of assets with details of purchases and disposals, a record of liabilities, and a record of any shares held at the end of the tax period. Exempt persons must keep records that let the FTA verify their status, and the documents needed depend on the basis of the exemption.

The FTA states that failure to keep the required records leads to administrative penalties under the relevant tax legislation, so treat the seven-year period as a floor, not a target.

What is the period for real estate and capital asset records?

Article 3 of Cabinet Decision No. 74 of 2023 sets seven years from the end of the calendar year in which the document was created for real estate records. Separately, Article 60 of the VAT Decree-Law says a taxable person must keep records related to capital assets for at least ten years.

The sources do not agree on one point. An FTA VAT awareness guide says VAT records must be kept for a minimum of five years after the end of the tax period and that, where the taxable person owns real estate, the real estate records must be kept for 15 years. That guide does not match the seven years in the later Cabinet Decision. We could not confirm which figure the FTA applies to a given case.

If you own or lease real estate, ask the FTA or a tax adviser which period applies to you before you destroy any property record. Until you have an answer, the longer period is the safe one to follow.

When must you keep records longer?

Article 3(2) of Cabinet Decision No. 74 of 2023 adds extra time on top of the base period in these cases: four more years, or until the dispute is finally settled if that is later, when there is a dispute with the FTA over your tax obligations. Four more years when you are subject to an ongoing tax audit. Four more years when the FTA notified you of its intention to audit before the base period expired. One more year from the date of a voluntary disclosure submitted in the fifth year after the relevant tax period.

A legal representative must keep the books and records of the person it represents for one year from the date the representation ends.

The practical rule is simple. Before any disposal, check whether an audit, a dispute or a disclosure is open or has been notified. If it has, the record stays.

What about commercial law, contracts and anti-money-laundering records?

Contracts are covered by the tax rules whenever they support an accounting entry. Cabinet Decision No. 74 of 2023 names licences and contracts related to the business as supporting documents, so they follow the tax period they support.

We could not verify from an official page we fetched the retention periods set by the Commercial Transactions Law (Federal Decree-Law No. 50 of 2022) or the Commercial Companies Law. We therefore state no figure for them. Secondary sources give different answers, so confirm the period with the Ministry of Economy or a legal adviser.

The same applies to anti-money-laundering records. Businesses that are regulated for anti-money-laundering, such as financial institutions and designated non-financial businesses and professions, have their own record-keeping duties under the anti-money-laundering framework. The framework was replaced recently, and we could not confirm the current period or its starting point on an official page we fetched. Check the current text with your supervisory authority before relying on any number.

What employment records must an employer keep?

Federal Decree-Law No. 33 of 2021 on employment relations lists keeping workers’ files and records among the employer’s duties, as per the conditions, rules and procedures issued by the Ministry of Human Resources and Emiratisation (MOHRE). The text we read does not state a number of years.

It also provides that Arabic is the approved language in all records, files, data and forms stipulated in the Decree-Law, its implementing regulation and the resolutions issued under it.

Employment records that support salary and wage entries also fall inside the tax record rules above, because records of wages and salaries are named as accounting records. We could not verify a specific post-employment retention period for worker files. Ask MOHRE or an employment adviser, and keep the file until you have a written answer.

Can you keep electronic copies instead of paper?

For tax records, yes, under conditions. Article 4 of Cabinet Decision No. 74 of 2023 lets you meet the duty either by keeping the original supporting documents or by keeping the information in them, provided the information in the record is identical to the data in the original and stays available for the full retention period.

The information may be stored as a photocopy or an electronic copy. An easily readable copy must be reproducible if the FTA asks for it, within the time the FTA sets. The information must also be kept in a way that lets the FTA verify your tax obligations. The FTA may set rules for keeping this information and may impose reasonable requirements so that it is available as if the originals had been preserved.

On language, the same decision says the FTA may accept records in English and may ask you to translate some or all of them into Arabic. This covers tax submissions. Employment records follow the Arabic language rule above.

What is the difference between retention and deletion?

Retention is the minimum time you must keep a record. Deletion is a decision you make after that time ends and after you confirm nothing extends it. The minimum period does not force you to delete anything. It only tells you the earliest date you may.

Set a review date for every record class, not an automatic delete date. At the review, check four things: the period has ended, no audit or dispute is open, no longer period applies to a related record such as a capital asset or property, and nobody needs the file for a contract or a claim.

Keep a short written log of what was deleted, when and under which rule. If you ever have to explain a gap to the FTA, a log of reasoned deletions is easier to defend than a missing file with no explanation.

What does a practical retention schedule look like?

The table below contains only periods we verified on official pages. Rows we could not verify are left out on purpose. Add them yourself after you confirm them with the authority or an adviser.

Not in the table because we could not verify a figure on an official page: commercial and companies law records, anti-money-laundering records and employment worker files. Confirm these before you set a schedule.

How do you organise records so you are ready for an audit?

Audit readiness is mostly about finding the right document quickly. The FTA can ask for a readable copy within a set time, so build the folder structure around the questions an auditor asks: which period, which entity, which document, which number.

First, group records by entity and by tax period, then by record class such as sales invoices, purchase invoices, payroll, fixed assets, property and contracts. Second, use one naming pattern for every file so that a search by number or date works without opening anything. Third, keep the supporting document next to the entry it supports, for example the contract next to the invoices it produced.

Fourth, record a retention review date for each class, using the longest period that may apply. Fifth, test your process once a quarter by picking a random invoice and retrieving the invoice, the contract behind it and the payment proof in a few minutes. If that takes a day, the structure needs work.

How does InstantDrive help with record retention?

InstantDrive stores trade licences, Emirates IDs, tenancy contracts, tax invoices, bank letters and receipts, and names every file in one pattern: DocCategory_EntityName_Identifier_ValidityDate.pdf. A made-up example is Invoice_AlNoorTrading_INV10442_2031-12-31.pdf. The company and number do not exist.

Because the date is part of the name, files sort and search by when they end, which supports a review-date approach to retention. You can find a document by number or expiry date without opening it. PDFs are compressed and phone scans are converted to WebP before storage, each upload is limited to 100 MB, and downloads use a link that expires after 15 minutes.

Plans start at $9 per user per month and every plan begins with a 30-day free trial with no credit card.

What does InstantDrive not do for record retention?

InstantDrive does not decide how long your records must be kept. It does not apply a legal retention period to your files, does not delete files on a legal schedule for you, and does not give legal or tax advice. It is a storage and organisation tool.

It also does not verify documents with government systems. The periods in this guide come from the sources linked below and may change, so check the current rule with the FTA, the Ministry of Economy, MOHRE or a qualified adviser before you destroy a record.

Primary source: FTA, Cabinet Decision No. 74 of 2023 on the Executive Regulation of the Tax Procedures Law