Tax and accounting for Dubai hotels and serviced apartments.

Common tax challenges

Hotels collect substantial amounts that are never their revenue, and pay substantial amounts to overseas platforms. Both need to be handled explicitly rather than netted away.

• Tourism and municipality fees. Amounts collected from guests on behalf of authorities are not your revenue. Recording them inside room revenue inflates turnover and distorts your VAT position.
• OTA commissions. Booking platforms invoicing from outside the UAE are supplying you an imported service, which brings the reverse charge. Where the platform collects from the guest and remits net, the gross booking value is still your revenue and the commission is your cost. Recording only the net remittance understates both.
• Revenue by department. Rooms, food and beverage, spa, events and parking behave differently commercially and sometimes differently for VAT. A single revenue line hides which department actually earns.
• Deposits and advance bookings. Cash received before the stay is a liability until the guest arrives, not revenue on receipt.
• Seasonality and payroll. Staff cost is the largest line and does not flex with occupancy, so cash pressure builds in low season while accrued leave and end-of-service provisions keep growing.

What we provide

• Gross booking value recorded with OTA commission as a separate cost
• Reverse charge handling on overseas platform and software fees
• Fees collected on behalf of authorities recorded as liabilities, not revenue
• Departmental profit and loss across rooms, F and B and other outlets
• Advance deposit and occupancy-based revenue recognition
• Payroll, WPS and end-of-service provisioning
• VAT returns and Corporate Tax filing

Typical documents

• PMS reports covering occupancy and revenue by department
• OTA statements and commission invoices
• Card processor settlement statements
• Supplier invoices for F and B and consumables
• Payroll records and employment contracts
• Lease or management agreement and bank statements

Our process

We separate what you earn from what you collect on behalf of others, then rebuild gross booking revenue from the OTA statements. Departmental reporting follows. See restaurant and F and B accounting and payroll and WPS.

Getting started

Tell us your licence type and what is outstanding, and we will confirm which returns apply and what the deadlines are before any work begins. Send us your details, or check your position with the tax status tool.