Tax & compliance

Corporate tax, VAT, and the four regimes behind them.

Registration deadlines, qualifying free zone status, Small Business Relief and its end date, VAT mechanics, ESR, UBO and goAML — each with the penalty for getting it wrong stated plainly.

The UAE introduced corporate tax at 9% with a 0% band below AED 375,000, which for a great many companies means little or nothing to pay. What it also introduced is a registration and filing obligation that applies regardless — to dormant companies, to loss-making companies, and to free zone companies expecting to pay nothing at all. The AED 10,000 penalty for missing it has been levied on businesses with no revenue whatsoever.

The urgent item on this page is Small Business Relief. Revenue under AED 3 million has meant zero taxable income since 2023, and that relief applies only to tax periods ending on or before 31 December 2026. No extension has been announced. For a calendar-year company the first genuinely taxable period begins on 1 January 2027, and every structural change that could reduce that bill has to be made before it starts rather than at filing.

Registration is not optional for a company that owes nothing. It is the most avoidable fine in the system and one of the most frequently incurred, precisely because owners of dormant and loss-making companies reasonably conclude that no tax means no obligation.

Corporate tax

Registration is mandatory for dormant and loss-making companies too, and the AED 10,000 penalty has been levied on companies with no revenue at all. The urgent item here is Small Business Relief, which ends for tax periods after 31 December 2026.

Corporate tax registration, deadlines and penaltiesCorporate tax Small Business Relief — and what happens when it endsEnds 31 Dec 2026 Qualifying Free Zone Person — the 0% rate and its conditionsCorporate tax Tax groups and how they workCorporate tax Transfer pricing and related party transactionsCorporate tax Who is exempt from UAE corporate taxCorporate tax Corporate tax deregistrationCorporate tax Corporate tax penalties, and how to get them waivedPenalties

VAT

Thresholds, returns, imports and the two distinctions that cost the most money — zero-rated against exempt, and designated zone against ordinary free zone.

VAT registration thresholds and timingVAT VAT returns, deadlines and paymentVAT Reverse charge and import VATVAT VAT and designated zonesVAT Zero-rated exports and services to overseas clientsVAT Correcting a VAT error — voluntary disclosureVAT VAT deregistrationVAT Excise tax — who it actually applies toOther regimes

The other regimes

ESR, UBO and goAML apply to companies that never think about them — holding vehicles, brokerages and metals traders in particular. The last two matter only to groups above EUR 750 million.

Economic Substance RegulationsOther regimes Ultimate beneficial ownership filingOther regimes goAML registration and AML obligationsOther regimes Tax residency certificates — the conditionsOther regimes The 15% Domestic Minimum Top-up TaxMultinationals Country-by-country reportingMultinationals

Accounting and audit

Corporate tax made proper accounting compulsory rather than advisable, and made the audit load-bearing for any free zone company relying on the 0% rate.

Bookkeeping and accounting requirementsAccounting Who actually needs an auditAccounting Choosing a financial year endAccounting Record keeping and retention periodsAccounting What happens in an FTA auditAccounting

Back to tax & compliance

Next step

Not sure which of these applies to you?

Describe the situation in two lines. We will tell you which of these you actually need and which you can ignore.

Email: hello@wearrange.com
Telephone: +971 4 000 0000
Hours: Sunday to Thursday, 09:00–18:00 GST

Corporate tax, VAT, and the four regimes behind them.

Most of this is registration, not tax.

Corporate tax

VAT

The other regimes

Accounting and audit

Not sure which of these applies to you?