UAE corporate tax deadlines and penalties: registration, filing and the waiver
UAE corporate tax has two deadlines, registration and the annual return, and both apply whether or not any tax is due. This guide sets out each date, the penalties for missing it and the waiver for late registration.
Two deadlines govern UAE corporate tax, and both apply whether or not you owe anything. Registration on EmaraTax is due on the schedule set by the Federal Tax Authority; missing it costs AED 10,000, which is waived automatically if your first return is filed within seven months of the end of your first tax period. The return, and any tax payable, is due within nine months of the end of the tax period, so a year ending 31 December 2025 is due by 30 September 2026. Late filing costs AED 500 a month for the first 12 months and AED 1,000 a month after that, and unpaid tax attracts 14% a year, charged monthly.
- Register on EmaraTax by the FTA deadline. Late registration costs AED 10,000, whatever your revenue.
- File the return within nine months of the end of the tax period; payment is due by the same date.
- Late filing: AED 500 a month for the first 12 months, then AED 1,000 a month. Unpaid tax: 14% a year, charged monthly.
- The AED 10,000 late registration penalty is waived automatically if the first return is filed within seven months of the end of the first tax period.
- Small Business Relief and QFZP status are claimed in the return, so without a return there is no relief.
Registration and filing: two separate deadlines
UAE corporate tax runs on two independent deadlines, and confusing them is a frequent cause of penalties. The first is registration: every taxable person must register on the FTA’s EmaraTax portal by a fixed date, including free zone companies claiming 0%, holding companies, dormant companies and profitable traders. The second is the annual return: filed, with any tax paid, within nine months of your financial-year end. Both apply even if no tax is due.
Registering on time does not finish the job. A company that registers and then forgets its first return has only moved the penalty nine months later. Put both dates in the calendar the day the licence is issued.
Corporate tax registration deadlines
Companies incorporated before 1 March 2024 had staggered deadlines through 2024 tied to the month their licence was first issued, under FTA Decision No. 3 of 2024. Entities incorporated on or after 1 March 2024 register within three months of incorporation, recognition, or establishment. There is no exemption for free zone companies or for businesses expecting to sit at 0%: registration is universal, the relief comes later, inside the return.
Natural persons carrying on a business or business activity register too, once their turnover from that activity exceeds AED 1,000,000 in a Gregorian year, by 31 March of the following year. Whatever the category, missing the registration date costs AED 10,000. It does not depend on size or profit, but it can be waived under the initiative described below.
The nine-month filing deadline
The corporate tax return and any tax payable are due within nine months of the end of the tax period (Articles 53 and 48 of the Corporate Tax Law). A financial year ending 31 December 2025 files by 30 September 2026; one ending 31 March 2026 files by 31 December 2026. There is one return per tax period, filed on EmaraTax, and no advance instalments: the whole amount is due on the filing date.
The first return is the one companies most often miss. Many registered, treated their first tax period as far away, and then ran out of time. If your first tax period has ended, your filing date is already fixed.
Corporate tax penalties
The main penalties are set by Cabinet Decision No. 75 of 2023, as amended:
| Trigger | Penalty |
|---|---|
| Late registration | AED 10,000 (can be waived, see below) |
| Late filing of the return | AED 500 per month for the first 12 months, then AED 1,000 per month |
| Late payment of tax | Monthly charge on the unpaid tax (14% per annum, for each month or part-month outstanding) |
| Failure to keep records | AED 10,000 first offence; AED 20,000 on repeat |
| Error corrected by voluntary disclosure | Percentage of the tax difference, rising the longer the error stands |
Two of these run together. A late return with unpaid tax accrues the monthly filing penalty and the 14% a year charge on the tax, so the cost grows every month. Correcting a mistake through a voluntary disclosure usually costs less than having it found in an audit.
The late registration penalty waiver
A Cabinet Decision in force since April 2025 waives the AED 10,000 late registration penalty for taxable persons who file their first tax return (or annual declaration, for certain exempt persons) within seven months of the end of their first tax period, instead of nine. The FTA applies the waiver automatically, and it covers the first tax period only.
Reliefs live inside the return
The return is also where the 0% reliefs are claimed. Small Business Relief (revenue up to AED 3M, for tax periods ending on or before 31 December 2029) is an election made in the return; without it, the standard rules apply, with 9% on taxable income above AED 375,000. The same is true of the free zone QFZP claim: 0% on qualifying income is claimed and supported through the return; the licence alone does not give it.
An unfiled return therefore costs twice: it accrues penalties and loses reliefs the company could have claimed. To see which route could keep you at 0%, our guides on Small Business Relief and who pays 0% corporate tax set out the conditions.
A corporate tax calendar
A three-line calendar set on the day you incorporate prevents every penalty above: registration confirmed (with the corporate tax TRN), financial year end noted, and the return due at month nine, less time for the audit and the numbers. Add a target at month seven if the late registration waiver applies.
Our corporate tax service keeps that calendar for clients and prepares the return, which is submitted from your EmaraTax account once you approve it, while bookkeeping keeps the audited numbers the return depends on ready year-round. The corporate tax calculator gives a first estimate well before the deadline.
Frequently asked
When is the UAE corporate tax return due?
What is the penalty for late corporate tax registration?
What does filing a corporate tax return late cost?
Do free zone or zero-profit companies still have to register and file?
Can UAE corporate tax penalties be reduced or waived?
Is there a separate penalty for paying corporate tax late?
- Federal Tax Authority: Corporate Tax
- Cabinet Decision No. 75 of 2023 on administrative penalties for corporate tax
- FTA: late registration penalty waiver initiative (14 May 2026)
- Ministry of Finance: AED 10,000 penalty for late corporate tax registration
- Federal Decree-Law No. 47 of 2022 and its amendments (Ministry of Finance, consolidated)
This is general information on UAE rules. It is not legal, tax or immigration advice for your situation. Rules and government fees change; we confirm the position for your facts in writing before you act.