Reference · UAE Corporate Tax
UAE Corporate Tax, and the decisions it comes from.
The rate, who has to register, when the return is due and what being late costs by the month. Every figure below is cited to the FTA or Ministry of Finance decision it comes from. General information about the rules, not advice about your company.
Reviewed by Gautam Sanoj, Associate Manager, Tax Advisory
Last reviewed
§ 01 · Before the calculation
Who has to register for UAE corporate tax?
Essentially every licensed business in the UAE, mainland or free zone, profit or no profit, tax owed or none. A company that made a loss still registers and files, because the return is how the loss is carried forward. A dormant company with a live trade licence also registers: the licence is the trigger, not the trading.
Who has to register and file? Almost certainly you.
Mainland LLC
Register and file
Profit or no profit.
Free zone company
Register and file
0% on qualifying income is still a filing.
Company that made a loss
Register and file
The return is how the loss gets carried.
Dormant company with a live licence
Register and file
The licence is the trigger, not the trading.
Revenue under AED 3 million
Register and file
Then elect relief and owe nothing.
Branch of a foreign company
Usually
A permanent establishment is in scope. Worth a specialist.
It’s "register and file" for essentially every licensed business. What changes is what you owe afterwards — for a lot of companies, nothing.
Also asked
Does a dormant company have to register for corporate tax?
Yes, if it holds a live UAE trade licence. The licence is the trigger, not the trading, so a company that did no business during the year still registers and still files a return for that year, even with nothing to report.
Does the UAE branch of a foreign company have to register?
Usually. A foreign company with a permanent establishment in the UAE is within the scope of corporate tax. Whether a particular branch is one depends on what it does here, which is worth a specialist’s look rather than a rule of thumb.
§ 02 · The actual tax
What is the corporate tax rate in the UAE?
Corporate tax is charged at 0% on taxable income up to AED 375,000 and at 9% on taxable income above that threshold. The 9% applies only to the amount above the threshold, not to the whole profit. A Qualifying Free Zone Person pays 0% on Qualifying Income.
Nobody else will just tell you the rate. So:
First AED 375,000 of profit
Every business gets this slice at nil.
Profit above AED 375,000
Only the amount above the threshold, not the whole profit.
Qualifying Free Zone Person, on Qualifying Income
Qualifying is a test, not an address.
Late registration
Charged once, and not scaled to your profit — or to zero profit.
Late filing, each month or part of one
For twelve months, then AED 1,000. It keeps running: 24 months late is AED 18,000.
Tax owed and unpaid
Charged monthly, alongside the filing penalty rather than instead of it.
Multinational groups above the global threshold also face a Domestic Minimum Top-up Tax. If that is you, you have a tax department.
Also asked
Is the 9% charged on all profit or only above AED 375,000?
Only on the part above AED 375,000. Every business pays 0% on the first AED 375,000 of taxable income, and 9% applies to the amount above that threshold, not to the whole profit. There is no cliff where crossing the line makes all of it taxable.
What is the corporate tax rate for a free zone company?
0% on Qualifying Income, if the company is a Qualifying Free Zone Person. Qualifying is a test the company has to meet, not a consequence of its address, so a free zone licence alone does not settle the rate. A free zone company registers and files either way.
Source: Cabinet Decision No. 116 of 2022 · Federal Decree-Law No. 47 of 2022. Read 28 August 2026.
§ 03 · The return itself
When is the UAE corporate tax return due?
Within nine months of the end of the tax period. A financial year ending 31 December 2025 is due 30 September 2026; one ending 30 June 2026 is due 31 March 2027. A return is due whether the business made a profit, made a loss, or did not trade, and every month late adds a penalty.
Registration was the form. The return is the work.
Nine months after your period ends
A 31 December 2025 year end is due 30 September 2026. Your first period is often not the year you expect.
Owing nothing is not the same as filing nothing
A loss, a dormant year, Small Business Relief — all of them are filed, and relief has to be elected inside the return.
The books have to exist first
A return is computed from your accounts. If yours aren’t closed, there is nothing to compute.
Unpaid tax is a separate meter
Tax you owe and haven’t settled accrues 14% a year, alongside the filing penalty rather than instead of it.
Also asked
Is unpaid corporate tax charged separately from the late filing penalty?
Yes. Payable tax that has not been settled accrues 14% a year, charged monthly, alongside the late filing penalty rather than instead of it. Filing on time does not stop the 14% on tax paid late, and paying on time does not stop the penalty on a return filed late.
Source: Cabinet Decision No. 75 of 2023 · Federal Decree-Law No. 47 of 2022. Read 28 August 2026.
What a late return costs, by the month
غرامة التأخر في تقديم الإقرار
| Months late | Accrued |
|---|---|
| One day, or one month | AED 500 |
| 6 months | AED 3,000 |
| 12 months | AED 6,000 |
| 13 monthsAED 1,000 a month from here | AED 7,000 |
| 17 months | AED 11,000 |
| 24 months | AED 18,000 |
AED 500 a month for the first 12, then AED 1,000. By month 17 it has passed the AED 10,000 everyone talks about, and it does not stop there.
Check my company free§ 04 · Amended 7 August 2026
Until when is Small Business Relief available in the UAE?
For tax periods ending on or before 31 December 2029, under Ministerial Decision No. 131 of 2026. A business with revenue of AED 3,000,000 or less in the current and every previous period may elect it in its return each year, and must still file. Qualifying Free Zone Persons and multinational groups above AED 3.15 billion are excluded.
Small Business Relief didn’t end with 2026.
AED 3,000,000 of revenue, not profit
And it has to hold in every previous period too. One good year above the line closes the door.
You still file a return
Relief removes the tax, not the filing. A business that skips the return because it owed nothing is late, not exempt.
You have to elect it
A choice made inside the return, every year. Nobody applies it to you automatically.
Two groups cannot have it at all
Qualifying Free Zone Persons, and multinational groups above AED 3.15 billion. Both exclusions are absolute.
Also asked
Who is eligible for Small Business Relief?
A resident business whose revenue was AED 3,000,000 or less in the current tax period and in every previous one. The test is revenue, not profit, so a business with high sales and thin margins does not qualify however little it earns.
Who cannot claim Small Business Relief?
Qualifying Free Zone Persons, and members of multinational groups with consolidated revenue above AED 3.15 billion. Both exclusions are absolute: meeting the revenue test does not help a business in either group.
How do I claim Small Business Relief?
By electing it inside the corporate tax return, every year it applies. Nobody applies it automatically, and a business that owes nothing because of the relief still registers and files. Skipping the return because no tax was due makes it late, not exempt.
What happens if revenue goes over AED 3,000,000?
The relief stops being available. Revenue has to stay at or under AED 3,000,000 in every tax period, so one year above the line closes the door for that year and every year after it, even if revenue later falls back.
Source: Ministerial Decision No. 131 of 2026 · FTA — Small Business Relief · The National, 7 August 2026. Read 28 September 2026.
§ 05 · If you’re already late
What is the penalty for late corporate tax registration in the UAE?
A flat AED 10,000, charged once, even where no tax is owed. The FTA waives it entirely if the first return is filed within seven months of the end of the first tax period, instead of the usual nine. A penalty already paid is refunded and credited to the business’s tax account.
The AED 10,000 is waivable. The waiver has a deadline.
Also asked
Does the late registration waiver apply if I never registered?
Yes. The FTA's waiver covers a business that registered late and was fined, and one that never registered at all, provided the first return is filed within seven months of the end of the first tax period.
What happens if I miss the seven-month window?
The AED 10,000 penalty stands. The waiver depends on the first return being filed within seven months of the end of the first tax period, not the usual nine, and filing inside the normal window is how businesses lose a waiver they had.
Source: FTA — late registration penalty waiver. Read 28 August 2026.
- It covers you whether you registered late and were fined, or never registered at all.
- Already paid it? The FTA credits it back to your EmaraTax account.
- Seven months, not nine. Using the normal window is how people lose a waiver they had.
- Miss the seven months and the penalty stands. We’ll tell you that rather than sell you hope.
§ 06 · Asked constantly
The questions you were about to ask chatgpt or claude.
I’m registered already. What’s actually due now?
Your corporate tax return. Registration got you a TRN and nothing else — it did not file anything and it did not compute any tax. The return is due nine months after your financial year ends, and it is due whether you made a profit, a loss, or nothing at all.
What happens if I file the return late?
AED 500 for each month, or part of a month, for the first twelve months — then AED 1,000 a month from the thirteenth. One day late is a full month. It is not the AED 10,000 you have heard about: that one is a single charge for registering late, and this one keeps running until the return is in. Unpaid tax accrues separately, at 14% a year.
My books aren’t finished. Can you still file?
Not honestly, no — a return is computed from accounts, and a return filed off numbers nobody closed is a correction waiting to happen. Tell the check your accounts are draft or not started and it says so before you pay, instead of taking the fee and chasing you for six weeks.
Do the accounts have to be audited?
For most businesses at this size, no — the return is prepared from your accounts whether or not an auditor signed them. Audit is a separate obligation that depends on your licence and your revenue. The check asks, because the answer changes what we need from you, not what you pay.
We made a loss. Is there still a return?
Yes, and it is the return that makes the loss worth something. Tax losses are carried forward against future profits, and the mechanism for carrying them is the filing. A loss year you never filed is a loss you cannot use later.
Do I actually need to register?
If you hold a UAE trade licence, almost certainly yes — profit or no profit, tax owed or none. The free check tells you where you stand in about a minute.
If the price is right there, why do a check?
Because the price isn’t the only thing you need. The check works out which deadline applies to you, what documents we’ll need, and whether your case is in a state we can file against at all. It also catches the ones we shouldn’t take your money for yet — an expired licence, an offshore entity, a return with no closed accounts behind it — before you’ve paid anything.
Is the price really fixed?
Really fixed. Registrations are a flat fee and we don’t bill by the hour. If your case needs work beyond what you bought, you approve the difference or take a full refund — your call. Filings start at the listed price because the effort depends on the accounts behind them, and the check tells you where yours lands.
What if my licence has expired or is mid-renewal?
Tell the check. It routes you to a specialist instead of taking money for something we can’t file yet. Finding that out costs nothing.
Who does the actual filing?
A named specialist on our team, working directly on EmaraTax. Every return is then reviewed by a second specialist before it goes anywhere. You get a name, you can message them, and nothing reaches the FTA until you’ve approved it.
How long does it take?
It depends on the case, and we would rather tell you the truth about yours than quote an average. Work starts when your documents land, not when you pay, and you get a written update every Friday until it is filed — so you never have to ask where it is.
I already got the AED 10,000 penalty. Now what?
Registering is still the next thing you do. The FTA waives the penalty if your first return is filed within seven months of the end of your first financial year, and one already paid is refunded to your tax account. Miss that window and it stands — we’ll tell you plainly which side of it you’re on.
Do I have to talk to anyone?
Only if you want to. Every screen has an assistant, and one tap gets you a specialist. Otherwise it’s entirely self-serve, at 11pm, in your pyjamas.
Small Business Relief means I owe nothing. Do I still have to do this?
Yes — and this misunderstanding causes most of the AED 10,000 penalties we see. Relief removes the tax, not the registration or the return. You have to be registered, you have to file, and you have to ELECT the relief inside that return every year. Nobody applies it for you. Revenue under AED 3 million with no filing isn’t exempt, it’s late.
I’m in a free zone on 0%. Does this apply to me?
Registration and filing, yes. 0% on qualifying income is a rate, not a pass on the paperwork. And whether you’re a Qualifying Free Zone Person is a real test, not a function of your address — one of the few things here we won’t decide from a dropdown. Tell the check you’re in a free zone and it routes you to someone who’ll look properly.
What do you need from me?
For a return: your trade licence, your CT registration certificate, your accounts for the period and a trial balance. For a registration: trade licence, MOA or AOA if there are partners, and an Emirates ID and passport for each owner named on the licence — free zone entities also need the incorporation certificate. That’s the whole list either way.
Still unsure? Start the check anyway. It is free, it takes about a minute, and it ends with an answer either way.
A few minutes now, or AED 500 a month from here.
It ends with your own case on screen — your deadline, your fee, your document list — instead of a phone call.
Check my company free→Free · No documents · No card.