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UAE Accounting
UAE Corporate Tax: registration and filing deadlines
Every taxable person in the UAE must register with the Federal Tax Authority, even at a 0% rate. Missing a deadline triggers an automatic penalty — the calendar is managed upfront, not at the reminder stage.
Common failure points
The situations we handle.
- Registration filed late relative to the deadline tied to the licence-issuance month
- Confusion between the 0% tax-rate threshold and the registration duty, which applies from the first dirham of revenue
- Filing deadline wrongly calculated on a 12-month basis instead of 9
- Small Business Relief not claimed although the company is eligible
Deliverables
What you get.
Registration calendar
Determining the applicable deadline based on incorporation date and licence month, then filing on EmaraTax.
Filing calendar
Calculating the return and payment deadline at nine months from financial year-end.
Small Business Relief assessment
Checking eligibility for the regime and electing it in the return, period by period.
Penalty management
Anticipating late-registration and late-filing penalties and, where relevant, using the FTA's waiver initiative.
Our approach
A tax calendar you manage, not one that manages you.
Corporate Tax registration is a standalone duty, unrelated to the amount of tax actually due: a company below the AED 375,000 taxable-income threshold, or benefiting from the 0% Qualifying Free Zone Person regime, must still register on EmaraTax and obtain a Tax Registration Number. Failing to register within the applicable deadline triggers an AED 10,000 penalty, regardless of the tax actually owed.
The registration deadline depends on the company's profile: for juridical persons incorporated before 1 March 2024, it is set by the trade licence issuance month; for those incorporated from that date onward, it runs for three months from incorporation. Once registered, the company must file its return and settle any tax due within nine months of its financial year-end — for a year ending 31 December, that means a deadline on the following 30 September.
Registration
Deadline calculated from incorporation date or licence month, filed on EmaraTax.
Return and payment
Deadline at nine months from financial year-end, never twelve.
Small Business Relief
Claiming the regime where revenue stays below AED 3 million.
Small Business Relief — extended to 2029
A compliance relief, not an automatic exemption.
The Ministry of Finance has extended Small Business Relief, under Ministerial Decision No. 131 of 2026, to tax periods ending on or before 31 December 2029 — three years beyond the original 31 December 2026 deadline set by Ministerial Decision No. 73 of 2023. The AED 3 million annual revenue threshold remains unchanged.
An eligible business is treated as having derived no taxable income for the relevant period: it generally owes no Corporate Tax and does not need to calculate its taxable income in detail. The regime remains subject to conditions: the business must be a Resident Person, must not be a Qualifying Free Zone Person, must not belong to a multinational group with consolidated global revenue exceeding AED 3.15 billion, and must expressly elect the regime in its return for each relevant period — meeting the revenue threshold alone is not enough.
Frequently asked
Registration & deadlines — your questions.
Does a 0% Corporate Tax company still need to register?
Yes. Registration is mandatory for every taxable person, including companies below the AED 375,000 threshold and Qualifying Free Zone Persons taxed at 0%.
What is the penalty for late registration?
AED 10,000, applied automatically. An FTA initiative can cancel or refund it if the first return is filed within seven months of the end of the first tax period.
What is the deadline for filing the return and paying the tax?
Nine months after the end of the tax period. For a year ending 31 December, the deadline falls on the following 30 September.
Does Small Business Relief apply automatically?
No. It must be expressly elected in the return for each relevant period, and is not available to Qualifying Free Zone Persons or members of a multinational group above the consolidated revenue threshold.
Related practices and analysis
Related practices, and the analysis behind them.
A registration or filing calendar to secure?
A 30-minute call to check your exact deadlines and your eligibility for Small Business Relief.
AED 600 individuals · AED 1,000 professionals
Payable before the call, by card or bank transfer. See fee details.