Corporate Expense Cards UAE 2026: Qashio, Alaan, Pluto, Pemo, Wio

Do you need a spend management card, or will a bank debit card do?

A bank debit card is often enough for one to three cardholders; once several people spend, or foreign currency spend is regular, a spend management platform with receipt capture and accounting sync usually saves both VAT and staff time. The tax rules in the table apply whichever card you use.

The card never changes what the Federal Tax Authority (FTA) expects from you. It only changes how easy it is to collect the evidence.

Our expense policy and VAT claims guide covers the policy side; this post compares the cards and the records behind them.

Qashio vs Alaan vs Pluto vs Pemo vs Wio vs Mashreq NEO BIZ: 2026 comparison

Six options cover most UAE SMEs, and they split into two groups: spend management platforms (Qashio, Alaan, Pluto, Pemo) and bank accounts that come with cards (Wio Business, Mashreq NEO BIZ). Prices below are as published on each provider’s own site or key facts statement, as checked in September 2026.

No option is right for every company, so the last column says who each tends to suit rather than ranking them. Confirm prices before you sign, because providers change plans often.

What does a UAE corporate card really cost after FX fees and cashback?

The subscription is only part of the cost: foreign spend fees, cashback and ATM charges usually decide which card is cheaper for your spending pattern. The table sets the published figures side by side.

For example, AED 20,000 a month of foreign spend on Alaan Premium carries up to AED 736 in foreign payment fees (3.68%) and earns AED 400 of cashback (2%), a net cost of up to AED 336 before the AED 499 subscription. Run the same sum for each shortlisted card with your own last three months of spend.

Ad platforms and software subscriptions billed in foreign currency are where these fees add up. Our Corporate Tax guide for marketing agencies explains how media spend should be recorded, and services bought from overseas suppliers can fall under the reverse charge described in our reverse charge guide.

Receipt capture, VAT coding and integrations: what each card sends to your books

Every platform captures receipts, but only a valid tax invoice behind the receipt makes input VAT recoverable, and only a proper sync puts the right VAT code in your ledger.

Why a card statement is not a tax invoice

Input tax recovery depends on receiving and keeping the supplier’s tax invoice: the VAT Executive Regulation refers back to that documentation condition in Article 55(1)(a) of the VAT Decree-Law. A statement line proves you paid, but it does not show the supplier’s TRN or the VAT charged.

Suppliers must issue a tax invoice within 14 days of the supply, and a simplified tax invoice is allowed for sales to consumers under AED 10,000, which covers many card purchases. Blocked input VAT, such as client entertainment, stays blocked even when software extracts a VAT figure from the receipt. Our tax invoice fields guide lists what the document must show.

Receipt features by provider

• Qashio: digital receipt and memo capture on all plans, receipts by WhatsApp and email from Plus, VAT coding from Premium, automatic receipt collection and line item splits on Business+.
• Alaan: receipt verification and real-time expense reporting on Starter; AI receipt verification, approval recommendations and a VAT savings agent on Premium.
• Pluto: receipts sent by WhatsApp, SMS or email, with AI OCR that reads invoices down to individual line items.
• Pemo: mobile and email capture with OCR matching on all plans; VAT visibility and AI receipt verification on Premium and Enterprise.

Which cards sync with Xero, QuickBooks, Zoho Books, Odoo and Wafeq?

Check that the sync posts the VAT code and attaches the invoice image to the transaction, not just the amount. If you are still choosing the ledger itself, our Zoho Books vs Wafeq comparison covers VAT filing and e-invoicing.

Approval workflows and which card suits which UAE business

Approval rules turn your expense policy into card controls, and the depth of those controls is the main difference between free and paid tiers.

• Qashio: merchant, category and geo-location limits on all plans; pre and post-approval policies and recurring limits from Premium; multi-level approvals on higher tiers.
• Alaan: card issuing controls and configurable approvals, with AI approval recommendations on Premium.
• Pluto: customisable approval flows and automatic enforcement of spend policies and budgets.
• Pemo: default submission policies on Starter; multi-layer approval workflows and maker checker on card actions from Premium.

Online sellers juggling marketplace payouts and ad cards should also read our e-commerce bookkeeping guide.

How to roll out company cards without losing input VAT

Set the tax rules up before the first card is issued, then let the platform enforce them.

Records to keep behind every card transaction

Keep these for each card transaction; Corporate Tax records must be kept for 7 years.

• Supplier tax invoice or simplified tax invoice showing the supplier TRN and VAT amount
• Card transaction export matched to each invoice
• Business purpose note, and attendee names for any entertainment
• Approval record for spend above your policy limit
• Overseas supplier invoices for software and ad services bought from abroad
• Monthly provider statement or wallet balance reconciled to the ledger
• Record of personal spend and how it was repaid
• The expense policy version in force for the period

VAT and Corporate Tax dates your card reconciliation must meet

Card spend has to be reconciled before each VAT return, due by the 28th of the month after the tax period, and before the Corporate Tax return 9 months after year end. The VAT dates below assume calendar quarters; your EmaraTax account shows your actual periods.

Penalties when card spend has no tax invoice or record

Weak card records cost you twice: the input VAT is disallowed, and penalties follow for incorrect returns and missing records. Rates as of September 2026.

How it stacks: suppose you find AED 2,400 of input VAT claimed on card spend with no tax invoices. Correcting it before the FTA notifies an audit costs the AED 2,400 plus 1% a month (AED 24 for each month since the original due date). Correcting it after an audit notice costs the AED 2,400 plus a fixed AED 360 (15%) plus the same AED 24 a month.

7 expense card mistakes that cost UAE companies VAT

Each of these turns a convenient card into a VAT or Corporate Tax exposure.

• Treating the card statement as the tax invoice. Without the supplier’s tax invoice the input VAT is not recoverable, and claiming it makes the return incorrect.
• Claiming VAT the OCR found on entertainment receipts. Blocked input VAT stays blocked, so the claim is wrong however neat the extraction looks.
• Choosing on cashback alone. A foreign spend fee of up to 3.68% can outweigh cashback, and the loss sits in your bank charges all year.
• Syncing all card spend to one expenses account. With no VAT codes, the VAT 201 return is built by guesswork and errors reach the FTA.
• Leaving personal spend unrecovered. Personal purchases are not deductible for Corporate Tax and should be repaid or booked to the owner’s account before year end.
• Assuming a free tier includes VAT coding and approvals. Several providers keep those features for paid plans, so the controls you expected are missing.
• Chasing receipts at quarter end. Suppliers and staff have moved on, invoices never arrive, and the VAT is lost.

A month-end routine that keeps card spend claimable

Twenty minutes a week and a firm month-end close keep every card transaction claimable. Reconciling the card wallet follows the same logic as our bank reconciliation guide.

• Weekly: chase every transaction without a receipt within 7 days
• Monthly: match all card transactions to tax invoices or simplified tax invoices
• Monthly: code VAT per line (standard, zero-rated, exempt, reverse charge, blocked)
• Monthly: reconcile the card or wallet balance to the provider statement and the ledger
• Monthly: review spend against policy and recover personal purchases
• Quarterly: clear the missing invoice list before the VAT return is drafted
• Quarterly: compare foreign spend fees and cashback against the plan you pay for
• Annually: review card limits, cardholders and the expense policy before year end

Already claimed VAT without invoices, or received an FTA query?

Fix it before the FTA does: collect the missing tax invoices, reverse any input VAT you still cannot support, and correct the return.

Errors in a filed return are corrected by voluntary disclosure. The penalty is lower before any audit notice (1% a month) than after one (15% plus 1% a month), so speed matters. Our VAT return filing service prepares the disclosure with the corrected figures.

If months of card spend were never booked properly, rebuild the records first; our catch-up bookkeeping guide explains the order of work.

If the FTA has already issued a penalty you think is wrong, you can ask for reconsideration within 40 business days and then go to the Tax Disputes Resolution Committee. The FTA reconsideration request guide walks through the application.

Worked example: the cost of card spend without tax invoices

Take an illustrative Dubai marketing agency, VAT registered and with taxable income above the AED 375,000 Corporate Tax band, that puts AED 42,000 (including VAT) of standard-rated UAE purchases on company cards each quarter.

The fix costs far less than the leak: a weekly receipt chase and a monthly reconciliation. Our deductible expenses guide explains which card costs pass the Corporate Tax test.

Reconcile cards in-house, with a freelancer or with an accounting firm?

Whoever does it needs to know VAT codes, not just how to match amounts. Here is how the options compare.

Our managed accounting service reconciles card platforms, bank accounts and invoices every month and prepares the VAT return from the result, with a fixed quote within 24 hours. For a view of typical fees, see our bookkeeping cost guide or our monthly bookkeeping service.

What owners ask us about company cards