Paying UAE Tax Dues: GIBAN Bank Transfers and Card Payments

How GIBAN works, the card-payment gateway hand-off, and why bank transfer is the fee-free option.

Once a return is filed and a balance is due, the FTA offers two payment routes through EmaraTax's "My Payments" area: a direct bank transfer using a GIBAN, or a card payment through a bank gateway.

GIBAN: the fee-free path

Each taxable person is issued a GIBAN — a Generated IBAN unique to their registration — which functions like a dedicated bank account number for paying that registration's tax dues by ordinary bank transfer. Because it's a direct transfer rather than a card transaction, there's no processing commission on this path.

Card payments and the gateway hand-off

Choosing to pay by card redirects away from the FTA's own site to a bank payment gateway — the real portal shows an explicit "you are about to leave Federal Tax Authority..." confirmation before this happens. Card payments through a gateway typically carry a processing commission that a direct bank transfer doesn't.

Advance payments

The "Advance Payments" flow lets a taxable person view Allocations Pending Payment and pay against outstanding liabilities before or independent of a specific return's due date, using either payment route.

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