---
title: "VAT on a UAE Online Store: What You Need to Know"
description: "UAE VAT is 5%. When registration is required, how to display prices on an online store, and the legal pages every UAE website should publish."
---

800website builds e-commerce sites in Dubai. This is how VAT affects your *website* — it is not tax advice, and you should confirm your obligations with an accountant.

## Do I need to charge VAT on my UAE online store?

UAE VAT is **5%**. Registration becomes mandatory once your taxable turnover passes the registration threshold set by the Federal Tax Authority, and voluntary registration is available at a lower threshold. Whether you must register depends on your turnover, not on whether you sell online.

If you are registered, you charge VAT on taxable supplies and issue compliant tax invoices. If you are not, you do not charge it — and you must not display prices as though you do.

Check your position with an accountant before launch. Retrofitting VAT handling into a live store with existing orders is more work than configuring it correctly at the start.

## How should prices be displayed?

For consumer sales, show the **price the customer pays**, VAT included, as the headline figure. A price that increases at checkout is the most reliable way to lose the sale, and in a consumer context inclusive pricing is the expectation.

For B2B, VAT-exclusive pricing with tax added at checkout is common and understood, because business buyers reclaim it.

Whichever you choose, label it explicitly — "VAT included" or "excluding VAT" — on the product page, in the cart and at checkout. WooCommerce handles both models; it needs configuring once, correctly.

Your invoices also need to meet FTA requirements, including your TRN. That is a configuration detail worth getting right before your first order rather than after your first audit.

## What legal pages does a UAE website need?

Four, and most UAE sites we audit are missing at least two:

- **Privacy policy** — required in practice if you collect any personal data, including through a contact form or analytics.
- **Terms of service** — the terms on which you supply.
- **Returns and refunds policy** — essential for a store, and a conversion aid as much as a legal one.
- **Cookie notice** if you use analytics or advertising cookies.

Link all of them in the footer so they appear on every page. Publish your trade licence number and full company name too — it costs nothing and it is a trust signal in a market where buyers are cautious about unfamiliar sellers.

## Does any of this affect SEO?

Indirectly, and more than people expect. Legal pages, a real address and a working phone number are part of how search engines and AI answer engines assess whether a site represents a real business. Sites with none of them look thin regardless of content quality.

Publishing them is an afternoon of work and it removes a whole category of doubt.

See [e-commerce development](https://800website.ae/ecommerce-website-development-dubai/) or [talk to us about your store](https://800website.ae/contact/).

## Talk to us

800website is a Dubai web design and development agency with published fixed prices. Send the details and you get a fixed scope and a fixed price back — no hourly billing. [Contact us](https://800website.ae/contact/), [message us on WhatsApp](https://wa.link/800website), or call [+971 58 578 5380](tel:+971585785380).

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