Penalty exposure removed
Registration, filing and payment deadlines tracked and met. No AED 10,000 surprises for something entirely avoidable.
UAE Corporate Tax Services
Corporate tax registration with the FTA, Small Business Relief elections, Qualifying Free Zone Person assessment, transfer pricing and annual filing — handled by chartered accountants who also sign the audit.
0% up to AED 375,0009% above the thresholdFiling due 9 months after year endAED 10,000 late registration penalty
Corporate tax is an accounting problem before it is a tax problem
UAE corporate tax is calculated from accounting profit adjusted for specific items. That means the quality of your return is decided months earlier, by the quality of your bookkeeping — not by the person who fills in the form in month nine.
This is where most businesses come unstuck. Books maintained loosely through the year produce a figure nobody can defend under scrutiny. Related-party charges are posted without documentation. Free zone entities assume the 0% rate applies without ever testing the conditions. Elections that had to be made in a specific period are missed entirely.
AONE BIZ works the other direction. We structure the chart of accounts to support tax reporting, maintain the books to IFRS through the year, and arrive at the return with a file that is already defensible. If the FTA asks a question, the answer is already documented.
- 0% on taxable income up to AED 375,000.
- 9% on taxable income above the threshold.
- 0% on qualifying income of a Qualifying Free Zone Person, subject to strict conditions.
- Small Business Relief available where revenue stays at or below AED 3 million, by election.
What our corporate tax consultants in Dubai handle
- FTA registration and EmaraTax setup
- Tax period alignment and elections
- Qualifying Free Zone Person assessment
- Small Business Relief eligibility
- Taxable income computation
- Transfer pricing documentation
- Annual return preparation and filing
- FTA query and assessment support
The upside
What proper corporate tax management gives you
Beyond avoiding penalties — a tax position you can explain, defend and plan around.
Every legitimate relief claimed
Small Business Relief, qualifying free zone treatment and group relief assessed properly — and elected in the correct period.
A defensible file
Computations backed by reconciled ledgers, supporting schedules and documented positions. Retained for the full seven years.
Forward visibility
You see the likely tax charge during the year, not in month nine. That changes how you plan distributions and reinvestment.
Cleaner banking and diligence
A clean FTA record and audited numbers materially smooth bank reviews, investor diligence and licence renewals.
One accountable team
The people who keep your books, file your return and sign your audit are the same people. One version of your numbers.
How we deliver
How we manage your corporate tax
A year-round process, not a nine-month scramble.
01
Position assessment
We review your entity type, jurisdiction, income streams and group structure to establish which rate and reliefs actually apply to you.
02
Registration & elections
FTA registration through EmaraTax, tax period aligned to your financial year, and the relevant elections identified and diarised.
03
Year-round bookkeeping
IFRS-compliant records maintained monthly, with tax-sensitive items — related-party charges, disallowables, exempt income — flagged as they arise.
04
Computation & filing
Taxable income calculated with full adjustments, return prepared and filed within the deadline, and the supporting file archived for seven years.
Realistic timeline
Your corporate tax year, mapped
Illustrated for a company with a 31 December financial year end.
Why filings run late, and how we avoid it
Not the return itself — the accounting behind it. Companies that reach month nine with unreconciled ledgers spend six weeks rebuilding before the computation can start. We work to an internal close date well inside the deadline.
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FTA registration
New entities register and obtain a Corporate Tax Registration Number. Deadlines are tied to licence issue date.
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Bookkeeping and review
Transactions posted, banks reconciled, related-party items documented as they occur rather than reconstructed later.
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Pre-year-end planning
Provisional tax position reviewed, relief eligibility confirmed and any structural adjustments made before the year closes.
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Year-end close and audit
Financial statements finalised to IFRS and, where required, audited by our licensed audit team.
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Tax computation
Taxable income computed with adjustments, elections applied and transfer pricing disclosure prepared.
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Return filed and tax paid
Return submitted through EmaraTax and any liability settled. Supporting file archived for the seven-year retention period.
Investment
Corporate tax service options
Priced on transaction volume and structural complexity, not on your revenue.
Registration Only
From AED 1,500
For businesses that keep their own books and need registration handled correctly.
- EmaraTax account setup
- Entity documentation submission
- Tax period alignment
- Registration number issued
- Deadline calendar provided
Annual Compliance
From AED 6,500
For established companies wanting the full computation and filing handled.
- Everything in Registration Only
- Taxable income computation
- Relief and election assessment
- Return preparation and filing
- Seven-year supporting file
Full Finance Function
Custom
Bookkeeping, VAT, corporate tax and audit delivered as one integrated service.
- Monthly bookkeeping and reporting
- VAT registration and returns
- Corporate tax filing
- Annual audited statements
- Transfer pricing documentation
Fees depend on transaction volume, number of entities, group structure and whether historical records require reconstruction. Ranges shown are indicative for planning and do not constitute a binding offer. This page is general information, not tax advice — request a written engagement scope for advice specific to your circumstances.
Before you start
What we need to file your return
The cleaner the underlying records, the faster and cheaper the filing.
Requirements & eligibility
- A valid UAE trade licence and Corporate Tax Registration Number.
- A defined tax period aligned to your financial year.
- Financial statements prepared under IFRS or IFRS for SMEs.
- Complete accounting records for the full tax period.
- Documentation supporting any relief, exemption or election claimed.
- Transfer pricing support where related-party transactions exist.
Documents you will need
- Trial balance and general ledger for the tax period.
- Audited or management financial statements.
- Bank statements for all company accounts, fully reconciled.
- Sales and purchase invoices, plus expense documentation.
- Related-party agreements — management fees, loans, licence fees.
- Fixed asset register with depreciation schedules.
- Prior period return and computation, where one exists.
Registration
Corporate tax registration is not optional
Every taxable person registers — including free zone companies, loss-making businesses and dormant entities holding a live licence.
What registration involves
- EmaraTax account creation and entity verification.
- Licence, MOA and shareholder documentation upload.
- Correct tax period elected and aligned to your financial year.
- Corporate Tax Registration Number issued.
- Group and relief elections assessed at the point of registration.
The cost of getting it wrong
- AED 10,000 administrative penalty for late registration.
- Separate penalties for late filing and late payment of tax due.
- Reliefs and elections lost if not claimed in the correct period.
- Free zone 0% status forfeited where conditions are breached.
- Banking and licence renewal friction where FTA status is not clean.
Related parties
Transfer pricing: the part most UAE businesses underestimate
If you charge management fees between your own entities, pay yourself director remuneration, or lend between group companies, transfer pricing rules apply to you.
UAE corporate tax requires transactions with related parties and connected persons to meet the arm's length standard. Where prescribed thresholds are met, a master file and local file must be maintained. Below those thresholds, a disclosure form still accompanies the return and the FTA may request supporting evidence at any point.
The practical exposure is that a group structure built for operational convenience — an intra-group service charge set at a round number, a shareholder loan with no interest, a licence fee to an overseas parent — becomes a documented tax adjustment under review. We benchmark those charges and build the supporting file before it is requested, not after.
Discuss Your Group StructureTransfer pricing support
- Related-party transaction mapping
- Arm's length benchmarking
- Master file and local file preparation
- Disclosure form completion
- Intra-group agreement drafting
- FTA query response support
Why AONE BIZ
Why AONE BIZ for UAE corporate tax
A tax return is only as strong as the accounting behind it. We control both.
Chartered accountants, not form-fillers
The computation is prepared by the people who maintain your ledgers and understand every balance in them.
Audit and tax under one roof
Licensed auditors in-house means your financial statements and your tax return tell the same story — because they come from the same file.
Free zone specialists
We test Qualifying Free Zone Person status against your real income streams rather than assuming the 0% rate applies.
Documentation-first approach
Positions are documented when they arise. If the FTA asks in year three, the evidence already exists.
Deadlines managed for you
Registration, filing and payment dates tracked in our compliance calendar with escalation well before they land.
Support through assessment
If the FTA raises a query or opens an assessment, the team that prepared the return handles the response.
Advisory
When a corporate tax adviser earns their fee
Four moments where advice changes the outcome rather than just filing the form.
Corporate tax advice is worth paying for at the points where the answer changes what you do, not simply to have a return submitted. In practice that means four moments.
- Before your first filing — confirming registration, year end and whether an audit sits on the critical path. Start at corporate tax registration.
- While the year is still open — testing Qualifying Free Zone Person status while the numbers can still move. After year end the facts are fixed.
- Before restructuring — whether grouping helps or hurts, and whether accumulated losses survive an ownership change.
- When related party dealings are material — connected person payments over AED 500,000 are disclosable. See transfer pricing.
If something has already gone wrong, correcting it through voluntary disclosure before the FTA finds it almost always costs less than being assessed.
Corporate tax registration in the UAE: deadlines and process
Corporate tax registration is mandatory for every UAE company, including free zone entities claiming the 0% rate and companies making no profit at all. Registration and payment are separate questions, and confusing the two is the most expensive mistake we see.
The corporate tax registration deadline depends on your licence issue date, and the penalty for missing it is AED 10,000 regardless of your tax position — a dormant company with no income pays exactly what a profitable one pays. Our guide to the late registration penalty covers whether it can be waived, and the full deadline calendar sets out what falls due when.
To register you need your trade licence, memorandum, Emirates ID and passport for authorised signatories, and your financial year end confirmed. It is done through the FTA’s EmaraTax portal. A corporate tax consultant earns their fee less in the registration itself — which is genuinely straightforward — than in what follows: the qualifying income analysis, related party disclosure, and the accounting policy decisions that determine what you actually pay. We act as corporate tax advisors across all of it.
Questions
Frequently asked questions
Straight answers, with the caveats that actually matter.
Every taxable person must register with the Federal Tax Authority and obtain a Corporate Tax Registration Number — including free zone companies expecting a 0% rate, companies making losses, and dormant entities that still hold a valid licence. Registration is not optional and is not triggered by profitability. Late registration attracts an administrative penalty of AED 10,000.
The headline structure is 0% on taxable income up to AED 375,000 and 9% on taxable income above that threshold. A separate 0% rate applies to qualifying income of a Qualifying Free Zone Person that meets all the prescribed conditions. Large multinational groups within scope of the OECD Pillar Two rules face a different global minimum tax treatment. Which rate applies to you depends on entity type, jurisdiction and income composition — it is worth confirming rather than assuming.
Small Business Relief allows a resident taxable person whose revenue does not exceed AED 3 million in the relevant tax period, and in all previous tax periods since it became available, to elect to be treated as having no taxable income for that period. It is an election you must actively make in your return — it is not applied automatically. Qualifying Free Zone Persons and members of large multinational groups are excluded. We assess eligibility and make the election correctly as part of your filing.
The return and any payment are due within nine months of the end of your tax period. A company with a financial year ending 31 December 2025 therefore has a filing deadline of 30 September 2026. There is no extension mechanism in ordinary circumstances, and late filing and late payment carry separate penalties. We work backwards from your deadline and set an internal close date with real margin.
No — and this is the most costly misunderstanding we encounter. The 0% rate applies only to qualifying income of a Qualifying Free Zone Person, and requires adequate substance in the free zone, income falling within prescribed qualifying categories, compliance with transfer pricing documentation, and non-qualifying revenue staying inside the de minimis limits. Breach any condition and the entity is taxed at 9% on all taxable income above the threshold, potentially for multiple years. We test qualifying status against your actual income streams.
If you transact with related parties or connected persons, those transactions must meet the arm's length standard and be supported. Full documentation — a master file and local file — is required where prescribed revenue or group thresholds are met. Even below those thresholds, a disclosure form must accompany the return and the FTA can request supporting evidence. Related-party charges such as management fees, director remuneration and intra-group loans attract particular scrutiny.
Records and supporting documentation must be retained for seven years following the end of the relevant tax period. That means financial statements, general ledger, invoices, contracts, bank statements, related-party agreements and any documents supporting elections or exemptions claimed. In practice this means proper accounting throughout the year — reconstructing seven years of records after an FTA query is not a viable plan.
Yes. We register you with the FTA, structure your chart of accounts to support tax reporting, maintain the books, prepare IFRS-compliant financial statements, calculate taxable income with all adjustments, make the appropriate elections, file the return and hold the supporting file for the seven-year retention period. If the FTA raises a query, the same team that prepared the return responds to it.
Keep exploring
Related services
Most clients pair this service with one or more of the following.
Accounting & Bookkeeping
IFRS-compliant monthly records — the foundation every corporate tax return is built on.
Audit & Assurance
Audited statements are the strongest support for a corporate tax computation if the FTA opens an assessment. We sign them in-house, from the same file.
Free Zone Company Formation
Qualifying Free Zone Person status starts with the right zone and the right substance.
Unsure where you stand on corporate tax?
Send us your licence and last set of accounts. We will confirm your registration status, likely rate and any relief you should be claiming.
Talk to us
Start with a free, no-obligation consultation
Whether you need registration, a first filing, or a review of a position someone else took — send us the details and we will tell you plainly where you stand.
- One business hour response during working days.
- Fixed, itemised quotations — government fees shown separately from our fee.
- One named consultant from first call through to licence, visa and first filing.
- No obligation. If the UAE is not right for you yet, we will say so.
Request your free consultation
Takes under a minute. No obligation, no sales script.