Tax · Setup & configuration · 8 min read

Registrations and country setup

Record your TRN, the tax authority, the legal sources and the country package, and have each activated by a second person.

Before you begin

• You have tax.configure to create and edit; a different person with tax.configure activates.
• You have the TRN certificate. For the UAE the number has exactly 15 digits.

How every tax master works

Registrations, authorities, determination rules, classifications, certificates, rounding policies, return forms, tax groups, withholding rules, corporate-tax policies, country packages and legal sources share one life cycle.

1. Someone creates the master. It is a draft and can be edited.
2. Somebody else presses Activate. The person who prepared it cannot: 'Somebody other than the person who prepared this determination rule must decide it.' (the wording names the kind of master).
3. An active master cannot be edited: 'An active tax registration is not edited. Archive it and create a new one.'
4. Archive retires it. Back to draft returns it for changes.

Each master has a Code (capital letter first, then capitals, digits, _, . or -, 2 to 30 characters, unique per kind), a Name, an optional Arabic name, Valid from / Valid to and Notes. Dates are YYYY-MM-DD; a "To" before the "From" gives 'The end comes after the start.'

Steps: legal source

1. Choose Tax > Configuration > Legal sources and press New.
2. Fill Code, Name, Authority (for example FTA), Document (for example Federal Decree-Law No. 8 of 2017), Version, where it is (URL) and what it applies to.
3. If you keep a copy, type its SHA-256 (64 hexadecimal characters) so the copy can be verified later.
4. Save. A second administrator presses Activate.

Steps: country package

1. Choose Tax > Configuration > Country packages and press New.
2. Fill Code, Name, Country (AE), Version, a reviewer note, and name at least one Legal source that is already active for the same country.
3. Save. A second administrator presses Activate.

Without an active source, activation says 'A country package rests on at least one active legal source of its country. Record and activate the source first.' Activating a package tells other parts of the system the package is in force.

Steps: tax authority

1. Choose Tax > Configuration > Tax authorities and press New.
2. Fill Code (FTA), Name, Tax (VAT), Settlement currency (AED, three letters), Returns every (monthly, quarterly or yearly) and Due days after period end (0 to 365, default 28).
3. Save and have it activated.

Steps: registration

1. Choose Tax > Configuration > Registrations and press New.
2. Choose the Country (AE, SA, BH, OM, QA, KW) and Tax (VAT, Excise, Withholding, Corporate tax, Zakat).
3. Type the Registration number (TRN), for example 100123456700003. Spaces are removed.
4. Fill Valid from (and Valid to if it has ended), the Authority code, an optional Tax group code and the Evidence (certificate reference).
5. Save. A second administrator presses Activate.

TRN rules

Two active registrations of the same country, tax and branch cannot cover the same dates: '<CODE> already covers these dates for this tax and branch.' An unknown authority gives 'No tax authority XYZ.'

What happens next

An active registration appears on Tax > Overview as Registrations in force. Returns and the simulator use it: if no registration covers a date, the simulator says 'No AE VAT registration covers <date>.' or 'The AE VAT registration ended on <date>; nothing covers <date>. ...' The Overview warns when a registration ends within 30 days.

Good to know

• If you change the country of a draft registration, retype the TRN so it is checked again.
• A tax group code is used when the registration files as a group (see Tax settings and features).
• Do not enter real TRNs in test companies; use sample numbers.