For finance teams
Evidence files
From 1 October 2026, a valid tax invoice on its own is not enough to recover input VAT in the UAE. Federal Tax Authority Decision No. 13 of 2026 requires the buyer to have verified the supplier, its identity and physical presence, before deduction, to repeat that verification at least every twelve months, and to keep evidence that an auditor can reproduce.
What the file contains
- Outcome. The tier achieved, when it was verified, until when it is valid, who signed it (a rule engine, or a named reviewer with a timestamp), and your own attestation of the spend tier.
- Parties. Your legal name and TRN; the supplier’s legal name, TRN, licence number, authority, type, validity, emirate, address and licensed activities.
- Thresholds applied. The declared 12-month spend and the ruleset constants that decided which tier was required, so the reasoning is reproducible even after the constants change.
- Every check. Code, method (rule, AI-assisted, or manual), result, what was compared, the score, the timestamp, and any reviewer override with its reason. Machine results are never overwritten.
- The documents. Each cited document is appended to the PDF and hashed (SHA-256), so the file you hold is provably the file that was checked.
- A JSON sidecar. Everything above as structured data, including Arabic names, for your own systems and for the auditor who prefers rows to pages.
The checks
Basic tier is required for most suppliers. Enhanced tier is required once your spend with a supplier exceeds AED 375,000 in a rolling twelve months, and always ends in a reviewer sign-off.
14 / 14
checks recorded on the file
Tier in progress
Enhanced
Signed. Listed for twelve months.
Basic — 9 checks
TRN format. TRN is 15 digits.
TRN_FORMAT· rule· regular expression, 15 digits
One TRN, one supplier. No other organisation on Musaddaq holds this TRN — one TRN, one supplier.
TRN_UNIQUE· rule· unique index on organisations.trn
Name matches TRN record. Legal name on the VAT registration certificate matches the licence legal name after normalisation (token-sort ratio ≥ 0.9).
TRN_NAME_MATCH· rule· token-sort similarity ≥ 0.9 after legal-form normalisation, EN and AR
Licence read. Licence name, number and expiry extracted with confidence ≥ 0.85.
LICENCE_EXTRACT· document reading· PDF text layer + rules first; document reading model for scans
Licence in date. Licence expiry is in the future (warn if within 30 days).
LICENCE_VALID· rule· expiry vs today; warn inside 30 days
Activities cover categories. At least one licensed activity maps to a category the supplier claims.
ACTIVITY_MATCH· rule· ISIC Rev 4 class, then activity wording, against chosen categories
Physical address. A registered address, tenancy contract / Ejari, or Makani number is on file.
ADDRESS_EVIDENCE· rule· Makani, licence address, or a tenancy contract on file
Onshore licence. Licence type is not offshore (JAFZA Offshore, RAK ICC, ADGM SPV).
NOT_OFFSHORE· rule· licence type and authority code
ICV certificate. The In-Country Value certificate on file is current, names this company, and its score is read. Informational: absent or lapsed only removes the badge.
ICV_CERTIFICATE· rule
Enhanced — 5 more, then a signature
Bank account in company name. Bank confirmation letter account name matches the legal name; letter dated within 90 days; IBAN is AE and 23 characters.
BANK_NAME_MATCH· document reading· account name vs legal name; letter ≤ 90 days; IBAN AE + 23 chars
Authorised signatory identified. Authorised signatory's Emirates ID or passport is unexpired and the name appears on the licence or MOA.
SIGNATORY_ID· document reading· ID unexpired; name found among licence persons or MOA
Sanctions screening. Legal name, trade name and signatory screened against the UN consolidated list and the UAE local terrorist list.
SANCTIONS_SCREEN· rule· UN consolidated list (cached daily) + UAE local list
Adverse media. No credible negative findings (fraud, insolvency, court judgments) in web sources.
ADVERSE_MEDIA· document reading· web search, model-assessed, reviewer confirms
Reviewer sign-off. A staff reviewer has read every check and signed.
REVIEWER_SIGNOFF· reviewer· user id and timestamp of the signing reviewer
Hover a row for the mechanism behind it. Every check is recorded on the evidence file with its result, what was compared, and when.
How to use it
- Add your suppliers, from the directory, one by one, or a CSV export from your accounts system.
- Enter the 12-month spend per supplier. The required tier is computed; you can raise it, never lower it.
- Suppliers not yet on Musaddaq are emailed an invitation. Verification takes them about ten minutes and is reused by every buyer.
- Attest and generate the evidence file. Store it with your VAT records; regenerate when a supplier is re-verified.
- We remind you thirty days before any verification lapses, and re-run the checks automatically when documents are current.
A note on responsibility
Musaddaq provides evidence and a documented, reproducible process. The buyer, as the taxable person, remains responsible for the determination and for its own filings. Neither the FTA nor the licensing authorities offer a public lookup, so registration status is established from the documents themselves, the VAT certificate and the licence, and the file says exactly which document each check relied on.