Government Financial Compliance

The Government Financial module handles the UAE-specific financial compliance burden — Wage Protection System (WPS), EmaraTax VAT and corporate tax, municipality fees, and labour-related levies.

Overview

UAE financial compliance is rule-heavy and unforgiving. Late WPS files cost AED 1,000 per day. Late VAT returns cost AED 1,000 first offense, AED 2,000 thereafter. The module automates the data preparation so finance teams hit deadlines.

Screenshot: Compliance dashboard — WPS, VAT, corporate tax, municipality fees, all with next-due dates

Key concepts

WPS — Wage Protection System. Monthly salary file (SIF format) submitted to MoHRE. ORKSTRA pulls from payroll, generates the SIF, and validates before submission.

EmaraTax VAT. Quarterly (or monthly) VAT returns. The module rolls up tax-relevant transactions and prepares the return.

Corporate tax. Annual return. The module pre-fills from the chart of accounts.

Municipality fees. Per-emirate trade license fees, property fees, construction permit fees. Tracked with renewal alerts.

Excise tax / customs. For tenants importing equipment or materials.

Step-by-step: generate the WPS SIF

1. Compliance → WPS → New file.
2. Pick the salary cycle.
3. The system pulls payroll data, calculates WPS-compliant fields, generates the SIF.
4. Validate — missing IBANs or invalid amounts are flagged.
5. Download the SIF and submit via your bank.
6. Mark as submitted; the audit trail closes the cycle.

Step-by-step: prepare a VAT return

1. Compliance → VAT → New return.
2. Pick the tax period.
3. The system rolls up output VAT, input VAT, reverse charges, designated zones, free zones.
4. Review the return form on screen.
5. Click Export EmaraTax format — download the file to upload to the EmaraTax portal.
6. Confirm submission and store the receipt.

Step-by-step: track municipality renewals

1. Compliance → Municipality → Add fee.
2. Pick the emirate, fee type, amount, next due date.
3. Set reminder cadence (30 / 14 / 7 days before due).
4. On renewal, log the payment and the new expiry.

Common tasks

• Compliance calendar: Compliance → Calendar shows every upcoming filing.
• Approval routing: WPS / VAT / corporate tax returns route through Approvals for sign-off.
• Annual compliance report: Compliance → Reports → Annual generates a packaged PDF for auditors.

Troubleshooting

• "WPS SIF rejected by bank." — Usually an IBAN format issue. Validate IBANs in HR data.
• "VAT return amount looks off." — Check for transactions tagged with the wrong VAT code. The system flags suspicious ones in the prep step.
• "Municipality fee reminder didn't fire." — Reminder cadence may be set to 0 days. Edit the fee.

Permissions reference

Permission	Who needs it
COMPLIANCE_VIEW	Finance
COMPLIANCE_WPS_GENERATE	Payroll officers
COMPLIANCE_VAT_PREPARE	Tax accountants
COMPLIANCE_SUBMIT	Senior finance

See also: Govt Integration, Reports, Multi-Currency + Hijri.