The UAE Federal Tax Authority (FTA) has started 2026 by abolishing charges for issuing paper Tax Registration Certificates and Warehouse Keeper Registration Certificates. Under Cabinet Decision No. 174 of 2025—effective 1 January—registrants now receive digital certificates free of charge, each embedded with a QR code that allows instant verification by customs, banks and government agencies.
For global-mobility programmes the change is more than an accounting footnote: tax registration certificates are routinely requested by immigration departments when companies apply for quota increases, branch licences or work-permit blocks. The shift to e-docs means mobility teams can download authenticated PDFs in minutes instead of couriering embossed originals, shaving days off critical-path timelines.
![FTA scraps fees for paper tax certificates, moves to free e-documents with QR verification]()
The FTA also introduced new fees for Advance Pricing Agreement (APA) requests, but those affect corporate tax planning rather than mobility workflows. What matters for HR is that the digital certificate rollout dovetails with parallel moves by MoHRE and GDRFA to accept only electronic attestations.
Companies looking for hands-on assistance with these updated processes can streamline their document gathering through VisaHQ, an online visa and consular services platform. VisaHQ’s UAE desk (https://www.visahq.com/united-arab-emirates/) can coordinate the issuance of QR-verified PDFs, liaise with MoHRE and GDRFA portals, and ensure that mobility teams submit compliant certificates on the first attempt—saving additional time and preventing costly resubmissions.
Action point: update internal checklists and instruct PROs that QR-verified PDFs are now the only accepted format. Firms using legacy templates should migrate before upcoming licence renewals to avoid rejection at free-zone counters.
For global-mobility programmes the change is more than an accounting footnote: tax registration certificates are routinely requested by immigration departments when companies apply for quota increases, branch licences or work-permit blocks. The shift to e-docs means mobility teams can download authenticated PDFs in minutes instead of couriering embossed originals, shaving days off critical-path timelines.
The FTA also introduced new fees for Advance Pricing Agreement (APA) requests, but those affect corporate tax planning rather than mobility workflows. What matters for HR is that the digital certificate rollout dovetails with parallel moves by MoHRE and GDRFA to accept only electronic attestations.
Companies looking for hands-on assistance with these updated processes can streamline their document gathering through VisaHQ, an online visa and consular services platform. VisaHQ’s UAE desk (https://www.visahq.com/united-arab-emirates/) can coordinate the issuance of QR-verified PDFs, liaise with MoHRE and GDRFA portals, and ensure that mobility teams submit compliant certificates on the first attempt—saving additional time and preventing costly resubmissions.
Action point: update internal checklists and instruct PROs that QR-verified PDFs are now the only accepted format. Firms using legacy templates should migrate before upcoming licence renewals to avoid rejection at free-zone counters.
