Home / Courses / VAT Principles & Compliance

VAT Principles & Compliance

How VAT works, how returns are built, and how to keep records that stand up to a tax authority review.

GCC and UAE VAT reference texts with a compliance checklist and study notes

GCC and UAE VAT reference texts with a compliance checklist and study notes

Status
Specialist course
Subject
Taxation
Level
Beginner
Duration
24 guided learning hours — typically four days intensive or five weeks part time
Delivery
Live online, or on site for groups
Options
Individual, group or corporate
Certificate
Certificate of Completion
Availability
Worldwide — Middle East, Asia, Africa, Europe, South America, or in the UK
Study options
Online from your own country, or in person in the UK
Course fee
Quoted on request
Request pricing and dates
Course overview

Value added tax arrived comparatively recently in the Gulf, and many finance teams learned it under deadline pressure. This programme rebuilds that knowledge properly from first principles: what makes a supply taxable, how input tax recovery actually works, what a compliant tax invoice must contain, and how a return is assembled from the ledger. The teaching is principle-led so that the material remains useful as rates and thresholds change, with country-specific rules examined separately for each GCC market.

Who this course is for

  • Accountants responsible for preparing VAT returns
  • Bookkeepers coding transactions for tax
  • Business owners registered or approaching registration
  • Finance staff facing a tax authority audit

Learning objectives

By the end of the programme learners will be able to:

  • Explain how VAT operates as a transaction tax through a supply chain
  • Determine whether a supply is standard-rated, zero-rated, exempt or out of scope
  • Assess registration obligations against the relevant threshold
  • Prepare a VAT return from ledger data and reconcile it to the accounts
  • Maintain records and tax invoices that satisfy an authority review
Course content

What the programme covers

  1. The mechanics of VAT: output tax, input tax and the net position

  2. Taxable, zero-rated, exempt and out-of-scope supplies

  3. Registration thresholds and group registration

  4. Tax invoice content requirements and record retention

  5. The reverse charge and cross-border supplies

  6. Preparing, reconciling and filing the return; correcting errors

Assessment and certification

How you are assessed

A practical return-preparation assessment from a supplied ledger, plus a short compliance review exercise.

IHM Certificate of Completion in VAT Principles & Compliance

Issued on successful completion and verifiable against our certificate register. The exact wording of your certificate is confirmed in writing before enrolment.

Delivery and options

  • Individual: one-to-one with a trainer, scheduled around your working week. Individual training
  • Group: private cohort for your team, syllabus adjusted to your sector. Group training
  • Corporate: multi-cohort programmes with progress reporting to the sponsor. Corporate training

Delivered live online across all GCC time zones, or on site where a group booking makes it practical.

Fees and enrolment

How pricing works

We publish no fixed price list, because a one-to-one intensive and a twenty-person corporate cohort are different pieces of work. Tell us what you need through the form and you receive a written quotation, the next available dates, and the exact certificate wording — normally within one working day.

  1. Send the enquiry

    Two minutes. Course, country, and whether you are booking for yourself or a team.

  2. An adviser contacts you

    By WhatsApp, phone or email, whichever you prefer, within one working day.

  3. You receive a written quotation

    Fee, dates, delivery method and certificate wording, in writing before you commit.

Or contact us directly: WhatsApp · +44 330 133 2038 · info@ihmaccountant.com

Request course dates and a fee quotation

Fees are quoted individually because they depend on the course, the level and whether you book as an individual, a group or an organisation. Complete this form and an adviser replies within one working day.

You will receive a written fee quotation and the next available dates. Prefer to talk first? Message us on WhatsApp or call +44 330 133 2038.

Next step

Ready to start?

Tell us what you want to study and where you are based. An adviser will send course dates, delivery options and a written fee quotation.

4Subjects — and nothing else
6GCC markets served
1Working day to a written quotation