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Tax & compliance

Corporate tax registration, deadlines and penalties

AED 10,000 for late registration, and it has been levied on companies with no revenue at all. Registration is mandatory for dormant and loss-making companies too, which is what people get wrong.

AED 10,000 late registration9 months to fileDormant too must register

The rule

What the law actually requires.

Every taxable person in the UAE must register for corporate tax with the Federal Tax Authority through EmaraTax and obtain a Tax Registration Number. That obligation does not depend on profitability, on turnover, or on whether any tax will actually be due. A dormant company registers. A loss-making company registers. A free zone company expecting to pay nothing at the 0% qualifying rate registers. The return is then due within nine months of the end of the tax period, with payment due on the same date, and there are no instalments.

The penalty for missing the registration window is AED 10,000, and the reason it appears here rather than in a footnote is that it has been issued to a large number of companies that owed no tax whatsoever. It is the most avoidable fine in the entire system and one of the most frequently incurred. The FTA has operated a waiver initiative under which the penalty is remitted where the taxable person files its first return or annual declaration within seven months of the end of its first tax period rather than the usual nine — a genuine concession, and one with its own deadline, which means it is not a permanent safety net.

Thresholds and deadlines

Who registers
Every taxable person — including dormant and loss-making companies
Where
EmaraTax, the FTA's portal
Late registration penalty
AED 10,000
Return deadline
9 months from the end of the tax period
Payment
Due with the return; no instalments
Waiver route
File within 7 months of the first tax period to seek remission

The compliance calendar

Incorporationday 0Register with the FTAwithin the windowFinancial year endFile within 7 monthsmonth 7Return and payment duemonth 9
The seven-month point is an initiative with its own deadline, not a permanent alternative.

What to do

The filing, step by step.

  1. Determine your first tax periodIt follows the financial year in the licence and articles. Getting this wrong shifts every subsequent deadline.
  2. Register through EmaraTaxLicence, MOA, shareholder identification and the authorised signatory's details. A Tax Registration Number is issued.
  3. Register even if you expect to pay nothingDormant, loss-making and qualifying free zone companies are all within the registration obligation.
  4. Prepare accounts under IFRSTaxable income starts from accounting profit and adjusts. Without accounts there is no return.
  5. File and pay within nine monthsOr within seven if you are pursuing remission of a late-registration penalty.
The mistake people make. Assuming a company with no activity has nothing to do. Dormancy is not an exemption from registration, and the AED 10,000 penalty has landed on a great many shelf companies whose owners believed the absence of revenue meant the absence of an obligation.

Related

Small Business Relief and its end dateThe 0% free zone rateDeregistering on closureThe registration walkthrough

Questions

Yes. Registration is mandatory for every taxable person regardless of profitability, and the AED 10,000 late-registration penalty applies regardless of whether any tax was due.

Nine months from the end of the tax period, with payment due on the same date. There are no instalments.

The FTA has run a waiver initiative conditional on filing the first return within seven months of the first tax period. It has its own deadline, so check the current position.

Yes. Qualifying Free Zone Persons are taxed at 0% on qualifying income but are still taxable persons who must register and file.

One question

Where does your company stand right now?