Quotation Format (UAE): Template with VAT in Excel and Word

A quotation is the price offer a business sends before it supplies anything: what will be delivered, at what price, on what terms, and until when the offer stands. No UAE law prescribes a quotation format, and the words “quotation” and “quote” do not appear in the VAT law or the Commercial Transactions Law. But the VAT rules decide how prices must be shown and what must never appear on an offer, and the Commercial Transactions Law lists what a commercial sale has to settle. This page turns those rules into a quotation format, with a template in Excel that calculates the totals and the 5% VAT, and in Word and PDF. The rules were checked against the official texts on 27 September 2026.

What to put on a quotation

Article 94 of the Commercial Transactions Law, Federal Decree-Law No. 50 of 2022, says the parties to a commercial sale shall specify the description of the item accurately enough to remove any doubt, the price and its payment terms, the place and time of delivery, how notices are sent, how disputes are resolved, and any other agreed terms. A quotation that covers those points is ready to become the contract when the customer accepts it.

How to show VAT on a quotation

Article 38 of the VAT law says that for a taxable supply “the advertised price shall include the Tax”, and Article 27 of the Executive Regulation requires published prices to be inclusive of VAT. The exceptions: a business may show prices exclusive of VAT for exports and where the customer is VAT registered, provided the price is clearly identified as exclusive of VAT. Failing to display prices inclusive of VAT carries an AED 5,000 penalty. The rules speak of advertised and published prices rather than individual quotations, so the safe format is:

• Customer is a consumer or not VAT registered: show the VAT-inclusive total clearly, with the VAT amount beside it.
• Customer is VAT registered, or the supply is an export: prices can be shown before VAT, marked “exclusive of VAT”, with the VAT and the total below.
• Zero-rated or exempt lines: mark them. The FTA warns that describing taxable goods or services as “VAT-free” is misleading.

If your business is not registered for VAT, show prices without VAT and no TRN. In the Excel template, set the VAT rate to 0% and delete the TRN line.

Why a quotation must never be titled “Tax Invoice”

Under the VAT law, the date on which a tax invoice is issued can be the date of supply, and Article 65 says any person issuing a tax invoice in respect of an amount must pay that amount to the FTA as tax. A document headed “Tax Invoice” can therefore create a tax liability before anything has been supplied, even for a business that is not registered. Head the document “Quotation”, and if you show VAT, present it as the VAT that will be charged on the tax invoice.

The tax invoice and its 12 particulars are set out in the UAE tax invoice format and template.

Itemising a package price

How you split the price can change the VAT. The FTA explains that a package is not a single composite supply if the price of each component is separately identified, for example on the tax invoice, the quote or the contract. If some components are zero-rated or exempt and others standard-rated, listing them as separate priced lines makes each carry its own VAT treatment, so decide deliberately whether to itemise.

How long a quotation is valid

The Commercial Transactions Law has no general rule on how long an offer binds. It sends such questions first to the parties’ agreement, then to commercial custom, then to civil law. The practical answer is to write the validity date on every quotation, typically 7, 15 or 30 days depending on how quickly your costs move, and to keep the version the customer accepted, together with the purchase order that refers to it.

Currency

No rule sets the currency of a quotation, so you can quote in US dollars or another currency if the customer agrees. The tax invoice is different: amounts in another currency must be converted into dirhams at the Central Bank rate on the date of supply, so state which currency the invoice will be issued in.

Numbering and records

Number quotations in their own sequence, separate from invoices, for example Q-2026-0001, so an invoice number never appears on an offer. When the customer accepts, refer to the quotation number on the tax invoice. The tax procedures rules require businesses to keep their correspondence, invoices and contracts, and an accepted quotation is usually part of that record.

Common mistakes

• No validity date, so a customer can accept an old price months later.
• A single lump sum with no item lines, which invites a dispute over what was included.
• VAT added by a business that is not registered for VAT.
• A consumer quote with prices only before VAT, or a price that does not say whether VAT is included.
• Titling the document “Invoice” or “Tax Invoice” before anything has been supplied.
• Exclusions left unsaid, such as delivery, installation, permits or third-party fees.

When the price changes after the invoice has been issued, the VAT is corrected with a tax credit note. A business below the VAT registration threshold can invoice with the simple invoice template.