When Is Your UAE Corporate Tax Return Actually Due?

The short answer

Your corporate tax return is due nine months after the last day of your financial year. There is no single national deadline. Take your year end date, add nine months, and that is both when you file and when you pay.

30 September 2026 is a real deadline, but it belongs to one group only: businesses whose tax period ended on 31 December 2025. Article 53(1) of Federal Decree-Law 47 of 2022 sets the filing date at no later than nine months from the end of the relevant tax period, and Article 48 puts the payment on the same clock. A business that closed its books on 30 June 2026 has until 31 March 2027. Publishing one date for everyone is how a company ends up six months out.

This article is general information, not tax or legal advice. What applies to you depends on the specific facts of your business, including your financial year, your licence, your revenue and where you are established. Every rule below was checked against the published law and the Federal Tax Authority on 31 July 2026. Confirm your own position with the Federal Tax Authority or a qualified tax adviser before you act.

What does the law actually say?

Two obligations, one date. Most owners know about the first and are surprised by the second.

Both articles were read in the consolidated text of the Decree-Law published by the Ministry of Finance in January 2026, which carries the amendments made by Federal Decree-Law 60 of 2023, Federal Decree-Law 40 of 2024 and Federal Decree-Law 28 of 2025. Neither Article 48 nor Article 53 has been amended.

What a tax period is, in plain terms

The tax period is the stretch of time your return covers. Article 57(1) of the Decree-Law defines it as the financial year, or part of it, for which a return is required. Article 57(2) then defines the financial year as the Gregorian calendar year, or the twelve month period for which you prepare financial statements.

So your deadline follows your accounts. It does not follow your licence issue date, and it does not follow a national tax calendar. If you want to change the period, Article 58 lets you apply to the Federal Tax Authority to change its start and end date.

Is there a general extension?

No. Article 53(1) does allow the Authority to direct another date, but the only Federal Tax Authority extension decision currently in force, FTA Decision No. 1 of 2025 issued on 17 February 2025 and effective 1 March 2025, deals with something else. It extends the deadline to submit a tax assessment review request or a request for reconsideration, in cases such as serious illness of the authorised signatory, death, disaster damage to records or force majeure. It does not extend the return deadline.

So when is your own deadline?

Run the arithmetic once and write the date down. Here is the same rule applied to the year ends we see most often.

Only a 31 December 2025 year end produces 30 September 2026. The Federal Tax Authority has confirmed the same arithmetic in its own words: its announcement of 24 September 2025 told taxpayers with a 31 December 2024 financial year end that their payment deadline corresponded to the end of September 2025. Same shape, one year earlier.

Filing is not optional when there is no profit

In the same announcement of 24 September 2025, the Authority stated that all corporate taxable persons, regardless of the level of income, have a legal obligation to file their tax returns. A loss making year still needs a return. A dormant year still needs a return.

Closing the company does not clear it either. Article 52(2) of the Decree-Law provides that a taxable person is not deregistered until it has paid all corporate tax and penalties and filed all returns, including the return for the period up to the date it ceased. If your business is part of a tax group, Article 53(7) puts the filing on the parent company, which files one return for the group.

Who must register, and by when?

Registration is a separate obligation from filing, with its own clock and its own penalty. Article 51(1) of the Decree-Law requires every taxable person to register within the timeline prescribed by the Authority, and that timeline is set by FTA Decision No. 3 of 2024, issued 22 February 2024 and effective 1 March 2024.

Companies that already existed on 1 March 2024

Article 3(1) of that decision keys the deadline to the month your licence was issued, irrespective of the year. Where a person holds more than one licence, Article 3(2) uses the earliest issuance date.

Every one of those dates has passed. If your company was licensed before 1 March 2024 and has still not registered, it is already in breach, and the fix is to register now and read the waiver section below.

Companies created on or after 1 March 2024

This is the live rule for anyone setting up today, and Article 3(3) of the decision makes no exception for free zones.

Three months from incorporation is short. It runs while you are still opening a bank account and hiring, which is why registration is the single most missed step in the first year.

The penalty for missing it

Failure to submit a tax registration application within the timeline carries an administrative penalty of AED 10,000. The source is item 14 of the table annexed to Cabinet Decision No. 75 of 2023, as amended by Cabinet Decision No. 10 of 2024, applicable from 1 March 2024.

Can the AED 10,000 penalty be waived?

Currently yes, and the condition changes your filing date. The Federal Tax Authority is implementing a Cabinet Decision that waives, or refunds, the late registration penalty for taxable persons who file early enough.

Read the first row twice, because it is the most expensive detail on this page. For a company whose first tax period ended on 31 December 2025, the seven month rule puts the waiver date at 31 July 2026, two months before the ordinary 30 September 2026 deadline. Filing on the ordinary date is on time for the return and too late for the waiver.

The Authority publishes an eligibility checker at tax.gov.ae. Two honest caveats: the Authority announcements refer to the Cabinet Decision without publishing its number, so no number is quoted here, and because no end date is published the initiative is open rather than permanent. Treat it as something to use now.

What does filing or paying late cost?

Filing and paying are two separate obligations with two separate penalties. Filing on time without paying still costs you. All of the following come from the table annexed to Cabinet Decision No. 75 of 2023 and its amendments.

One point of confusion worth clearing. Cabinet Decision No. 129 of 2025, in force from 14 April 2026, did reduce a number of penalties, and it has been widely written about. It amends Cabinet Decision No. 40 of 2017, which governs tax procedures, VAT and excise. It does not amend the corporate tax schedule. Corporate tax penalties remain those of Cabinet Decision No. 75 of 2023 as amended by Cabinet Decision No. 10 of 2024.

What rate will you actually pay?

Two bands, and one threshold that people try to split.

Article 2(1) of Cabinet Decision No. 116 of 2022 applies the 0 percent band to the portion of taxable income not exceeding AED 375,000 in the relevant tax period, irrespective of whether the taxable person conducts multiple businesses or business activities in that period. One person, one band, however many trade licences sit under it.

The obvious workaround is closed. Article 2(2) of the same decision treats splitting a business across entities so that more than one AED 375,000 band is claimed as an arrangement to obtain a tax advantage under the general anti-abuse rule in Article 50 of the Decree-Law.

There is a third rate that does not touch a small or medium business. Article 3(3), added by Federal Decree-Law 60 of 2023, provides for a top-up tax bringing large multinational groups to a 15 percent effective rate, and the article states that it takes effect from the date specified in a Cabinet Decision.

Does Small Business Relief still apply to you?

For most owners reading this, yes, for now. Article 21(1) of the Decree-Law lets an eligible taxable person elect to be treated as not having derived any taxable income for the period. Ministerial Decision No. 73 of 2023 sets the terms.

The expiry, stated precisely

Article 2(2) ends the relief with your tax period, not with the calendar. That means two businesses lose it on different dates.

A 30 June year end business loses the relief a full six months before a 31 December one. As at 31 July 2026 no ministerial decision extending the relief beyond 31 December 2026 has been published, so plan on the current legal position and re-check before your next return.

What it costs you to lose it

Once you are out, taxable income above AED 375,000 is taxed at 9 percent even if your revenue stays below AED 3,000,000. The relief is a revenue test. The rate band is a profit test. They are not the same measure.

It is also a cliff edge rather than a taper. One dirham of revenue over AED 3,000,000 in any period removes the relief for that period, and Article 2(3) then removes it for every later period as well.

Two things to know before you elect

Electing has consequences. Article 21(2) of the Decree-Law switches off exempt income, reliefs, deductions, tax loss relief and the transfer pricing documentation article for that period, and Articles 4 and 5 of Ministerial Decision No. 73 of 2023 add that tax losses and net interest expenditure incurred in an elected period cannot be carried forward. If you are sitting on losses you expect to use later, the election has a real price.

And the election lives in the return itself, for each tax period, which is only possible once you are registered and hold a tax registration number. The Federal Tax Authority Small Business Relief Guide CTGSBR1 of August 2023, which is guidance rather than law, states that once the return for the period has been filed without the election there would be no possibility to claim the benefit at a later stage. Article 6 of the same ministerial decision mirrors the anti splitting rule: artificially separating a business so that combined revenue crosses AED 3,000,000 is treated as an arrangement under Article 50.

What breaks free zone 0 percent status?

A free zone licence is not a tax exemption. It gives access to a status, the qualifying free zone person, and that status has to be earned every single tax period. Article 3(2)(a) of the Decree-Law applies 0 percent to qualifying income, and Article 3(2)(b) applies 9 percent to taxable income that is not qualifying income.

The seven conditions

Article 18(1) of the Decree-Law lists five, and Article 5(1) of Ministerial Decision No. 229 of 2025 adds two more. All seven must hold.

Substance has a definition. Article 8 of Cabinet Decision No. 100 of 2023 requires the core income generating activities to be undertaken in a free zone or designated zone, with adequate assets, an adequate number of qualified full time employees and adequate operating expenditure. Outsourcing to another person in a free zone or designated zone is allowed provided the qualifying free zone person has adequate supervision.

What counts as qualifying income

Article 3(1) of Cabinet Decision No. 100 of 2023 sets out four categories: income from transactions with another free zone person, excluding excluded activities and only where that person is the beneficial recipient of the goods or services; income from transactions with a non free zone person, but only in respect of qualifying activities that are not excluded activities; income from qualifying intellectual property, calculated under the nexus formula in Article 4 of Ministerial Decision No. 229 of 2025; and any other income, only if the de minimis requirement is met.

Article 3(3) of the same decision defines the beneficial recipient as a person with the right to use and enjoy the service or good, with no contractual or legal obligation to supply it onward. Invoicing a free zone intermediary that passes the goods straight on does not create qualifying income.

The list of qualifying activities changed in 2025

Article 2(1) of Ministerial Decision No. 229 of 2025, issued 28 August 2025 and effective from 1 June 2023, repealed Ministerial Decision No. 265 of 2023. Any article or adviser note still citing the 2023 decision is out of date.

The current activities are manufacturing of goods or materials, processing of goods or materials, trading of qualifying commodities, holding of shares and other securities for investment purposes, ownership and management and operation of ships, reinsurance services, fund management services, wealth and investment management services, headquarter services to related parties, treasury and financing services to related parties or for own account, financing and leasing of aircraft, distribution of goods or materials in or from a designated zone, logistics services, and any activity ancillary to those.

The excluded activity that catches free zone service companies

Article 2(2) of the same decision lists the excluded activities. The first one is the one to read carefully: any transaction with a natural person, meaning an individual rather than a company, except transactions under ships, fund management, wealth and investment management, and aircraft financing and leasing. Also excluded are banking activities, insurance activities without prejudice to reinsurance and headquarter services, finance and leasing activities without prejudice to qualifying commodities and ships and treasury and aircraft, and ownership or exploitation of immovable property other than commercial property located in a free zone where the transaction is with a free zone person.

A free zone consultancy or agency billing individuals is earning non qualifying revenue on every one of those invoices. That is a business model question, not a bookkeeping one.

The de minimis limit

Non qualifying revenue must not exceed 5 percent of total revenue, or AED 5,000,000, whichever is lower. Article 4(1) of Cabinet Decision No. 100 of 2023 delegates the figures to the Minister, and Article 3 of Ministerial Decision No. 229 of 2025 sets them. Article 4(2)(a) of Cabinet Decision No. 100 of 2023 defines non qualifying revenue as revenue from excluded activities, from activities that are not qualifying activities where the counterparty is a non free zone person, and from transactions with a free zone person who is not the beneficial recipient.

The cost of one breach

This is the part that surprises people, because there are two layers and the second is heavier than the first.

One breach therefore costs five tax periods of 0 percent treatment, and it applies retroactively from the start of the year in which the breach happened. There is also a voluntary route out: Article 19 of the Decree-Law lets a qualifying free zone person elect into the standard 0 and 9 percent regime, effective from the current or the following tax period. Article 18(4) sets the life of the incentive by reference to the tax incentive period in the free zone own legislation, extendable, with no single period exceeding 50 years.

Audited accounts, with no revenue floor

Article 2(1) of Ministerial Decision No. 84 of 2025, which applies to tax periods commencing on or after 1 January 2025 and repeals Ministerial Decision No. 82 of 2023 for those periods, requires audited financial statements from a taxable person with revenue above AED 50,000,000 in the period, and from every qualifying free zone person, with no revenue floor at all. Article 2(2) requires audited special purpose financial statements for a tax group. A free zone company claiming 0 percent must be audited even if it earned nothing.

New for 2026, if you distribute from a designated zone

FTA Decision No. 6 of 2026, issued 2 June 2026 and effective for tax periods commencing on or after 1 January 2026, adds a step that is not yet in most advisers material. A qualifying free zone person relying on the qualifying activity of distribution of goods or materials in or from a designated zone must obtain an agreed upon procedures report, prepared under ISRS 4400 by the external auditor who audits its financial statements or another auditor licensed in the UAE. The report must show that customers resell the goods, or process or alter them for sale or resale, and that goods entering the UAE, where imported by the qualifying free zone person, are imported through a designated zone.

The submission deadline is within 30 days after the deadline to file the corporate tax return for that period. So for a 31 December 2026 year end, the return is due 30 September 2027 and the report is due 30 October 2027. Article 2(8) of the decision provides that where it is not submitted, the distribution activity conditions are not considered to be met, which removes the qualifying activity and, through Article 5(2) of Ministerial Decision No. 229 of 2025, puts the five period loss of status in play.

Your next step

Six actions, in order. The first two take five minutes and settle the question this article set out to answer.

1. Write down the last day of your financial year. Take it from your accounts, not from your licence.
2. Add nine months. That date is your filing deadline under Article 53(1) and your payment deadline under Article 48. Put it in the calendar with a reminder two months before it.
3. Check that you are registered and hold a tax registration number. If your company was incorporated on or after 1 March 2024, the deadline was three months from incorporation under FTA Decision No. 3 of 2024.
4. If this is your first tax period, check the waiver date. Seven months from the end of that period, not nine. Missing it is an AED 10,000 decision.
5. Decide on Small Business Relief before you file, because the election is made in the return and the relief runs out with tax periods ending after 31 December 2026.
6. If you are in a free zone, test yourself against the seven conditions, count your non qualifying revenue against the de minimis limit, and book the audit. One breach costs five tax periods.

Corporate tax registration is a separate registration from VAT, with a separate trigger and a separate deadline. If you have not settled the VAT question yet, read do you need to register for VAT in the UAE next, and the corporate tax overview for the wider picture.

Entityz has established more than 500 businesses, keeps 95 percent of its clients, and stays with founders for 12 months after the licence is issued, which is the year these deadlines land in. Our VAT and corporate tax registration service handles the registration, the deadlines and the filing calendar alongside your setup. Send us your year end date and we will work the rest back from it.

General information, not tax or legal advice. Your obligations depend on the specific facts of your business. Every rate, threshold, deadline and penalty above was checked on 31 July 2026 against Federal Decree-Law 47 of 2022 and its amendments as consolidated by the Ministry of Finance, the cabinet and ministerial decisions cited by number in the text, and the published announcements of the Federal Tax Authority. Laws and published guidance change. Confirm your position with the Federal Tax Authority or a qualified tax adviser before acting.