Answers to common UAE tax filing questions.

Registration is tied to your licence and financial year rather than to your profit. Businesses generally need to register even where the taxable income falls below the threshold at which tax becomes payable, so registration should be confirmed early rather than left until the first return is due.

Yes. We work with both mainland LLCs and free-zone entities. Free-zone companies still have Corporate Tax obligations even where a qualifying free-zone person may benefit from a different rate, so registration and filing are confirmed against your specific licence and activity.

Broadly, juridical persons incorporated in the UAE, including mainland LLCs and free zone entities, plus foreign companies effectively managed and controlled from the UAE or with a permanent establishment here. Natural persons come into scope once turnover from a business activity exceeds AED 1 million in a calendar year. Registration follows your licence and activity, not your profit.

Nothing is charged on the first AED 375,000 of taxable income, and 9 percent applies above that. Large multinational groups within scope of the global minimum tax rules face a domestic minimum top-up tax at 15 percent. The regime applies to tax periods beginning on or after 1 June 2023.

Yes. A registered taxable person files a return for every tax period regardless of the result. Filing a loss is also how the loss is recorded so it can be carried forward against future profits, subject to the conditions. Not filing does not preserve anything; it just adds a penalty.

No. Taxable income starts from accounting profit and then applies adjustments. Entertainment is typically only partially deductible, fines and penalties are not deductible, net interest is subject to limitation rules, and related party transactions must meet the arm length standard. The two figures are rarely identical.

An eligible business with revenue not exceeding AED 3 million can elect to be treated as having no taxable income for the period. It is elective and claimed in the return, so registration and filing obligations remain. It is currently scheduled to end for tax periods after 31 December 2026.

No. Electing relief means tax losses from that period are not carried forward. If the period produced a significant loss and you expect profits ahead, preserving the loss can be worth more than the tax saved. It is worth modelling both positions before electing.

A Qualifying Free Zone Person may benefit from a 0 percent rate on qualifying income, but the status is conditional and depends on substance, the nature of the income, transfer pricing compliance and audited financial statements. Non-qualifying income is taxed at the standard rate. Registration and filing are required either way.

A limited amount of non-qualifying revenue is tolerated. Exceed the threshold and the consequence is not a partial adjustment: Qualifying Free Zone Person status can be lost, and the standard regime applies to everything. Supplying services directly to mainland customers is the most common cause.

Generally within nine months of the end of your tax period, with payment due on the same date. A 31 December year end means roughly 30 September the following year; a 30 June year end means roughly 31 March. Your first tax period may not be twelve months, and the count runs from whenever it actually ends.

Late Corporate Tax registration carries a fixed AED 10,000 administrative penalty. Delay does not improve the position. The right sequence is to register, bring records to a filable state, and address the penalty separately rather than waiting for perfect books before registering.

Only once turnover from the business activity exceeds AED 1 million in a calendar year. The test is on revenue, not profit, so a freelancer billing AED 1.2 million with high costs is in scope even if the margin is thin. Salary, personal investment income and personal real estate income are generally outside the regime.

Only where the expenditure was incurred wholly and exclusively for the business, is not capital in nature, and can be evidenced. Personal costs routed through the company are among the most common add-backs we see. Keeping a separate business bank account makes this far easier to support.

Registration is mandatory once taxable supplies and imports exceed AED 375,000 over the previous 12 months, or if you expect to exceed it within the next 30 days. It is a rolling window, not a financial year, so reviewing it only at year end usually means discovering the threshold was crossed months earlier.

AED 187,500. Voluntary registration can be based on taxable expenses rather than supplies, which is what allows a pre-revenue business with significant setup costs to register and recover input VAT. It does create a permanent filing obligation, including nil returns.

Standard-rated supplies, zero-rated supplies, imported goods and services subject to reverse charge, and the value of relevant business assets transferred. Exempt supplies do not count. Note that zero-rated exports still count, which surprises businesses selling entirely overseas.

Generally within 28 days of the end of each tax period, with payment due on the same date. Most businesses are assigned quarterly periods. Those with turnover above AED 150 million are generally assigned monthly periods.

A zero-rated supply is taxable at nought percent, so input VAT attributable to it is generally recoverable. An exempt supply is outside the charge, so input VAT attributable to it generally is not. For a business with significant costs, that distinction decides whether VAT is neutral or a real expense.

The words tax invoice, supplier name, address and 15 character TRN, recipient details including their TRN where registered, a sequential number, issue date, date of supply where different, description of the supply, unit price, quantity, tax rate, amount in AED, and the VAT charged. It must be issued within 14 days of the date of supply.

Almost always documentation. Common causes are a missing supplier TRN, your own TRN absent from a business to business invoice, a proforma or delivery note filed as if it were a tax invoice, or a bank statement used as the only evidence. Entertainment and certain motor vehicle costs are blocked regardless of paperwork.

Where you receive goods or services from outside the UAE, you account for the VAT yourself, showing it as both output and input tax on the same return. Where fully recoverable it is cash neutral, but omitting it understates both boxes. Overseas software, advertising and marketplace fees are the most commonly missed.

Yes, and in some circumstances you must. Where the criteria for deregistration are met, the application generally has to be submitted within 20 business days, with a final return filed afterwards. Missing that window carries a penalty, so deregistration is not something to leave until convenient.

Possibly. Exports of goods and services can be zero-rated where the conditions and evidence requirements are met, but zero-rated supplies still count towards the AED 375,000 registration threshold. Being export-only removes the VAT charge, not necessarily the registration obligation.

A specific VAT concept applying to the movement of goods, not a general exemption. Designated Zone treatment is frequently confused with free zone Corporate Tax status; they are separate regimes answering separate questions, and a company can be in one and not the other.

The first supply of newly constructed residential property within the prescribed period is generally zero-rated, so input VAT is recoverable. Subsequent supplies are generally exempt, so it is not. Same building, different treatment, entirely different recovery position. Bare land is generally exempt.

Yes. Monthly bookkeeping plus tax filing is the most common arrangement, because the return is then prepared from books we already maintain. That removes the year-end scramble to reconstruct records before a deadline.

Yes. Both Corporate Tax and VAT require records capable of supporting the figures you file, and retention periods apply. Retention for real estate records runs longer than the general rule. Records disposed of early cannot be reconstructed, which is a problem if a return is later queried.

Yes. We work directly in QuickBooks, Xero, Zoho Books, Sage, Odoo or Excel. There is no migration requirement and nothing to rebuild before we can prepare and file your returns. If you have no system yet, we will recommend one proportionate to your size.

Yes, and it is common. We scope the backlog first so you know the cost before work starts, then clear it period by period, working backwards from whatever deadline is nearest rather than chronologically from the beginning. After that you move onto a monthly cycle so the gap does not reopen.

For a small business with transactions posted through the month, one to two days after month end. It becomes a week if nothing was posted as you went, which is the practical argument for continuous posting rather than a monthly catch-up.

It depends on your free zone authority, licence conditions, bank facilities and shareholder agreements. Qualifying Free Zone Person status also carries the requirement. We prepare the audit file and handle auditor queries, but we do not audit our own work, because independence matters.

Usually because the tax computation was prepared from draft accounts, the auditor then proposed adjustments, and nobody revisited the tax figures. Discrepancies between filed documents are exactly what draws scrutiny. Keeping a reconciliation from audited profit to taxable income prevents it.

The Wage Protection System requires salaries to be paid through approved channels and reported to MOHRE in a prescribed file format. Late or non-compliant submissions flag automatically and can block work permit processing, so new hires cannot be onboarded and existing visas cannot be renewed.

Twenty-one days of basic wage for each of the first five years, and 30 days for each year beyond the fifth, with the daily wage being basic salary divided by 30. Eligibility begins after one year and the total is capped at two years of wages.

Basic wage only, as stated in the MOHRE-registered contract. Housing, transport and other allowances are excluded. Where a package is structured as roughly half basic and half allowances, gratuity is built on the basic figure, which is often half what an employee expects.

No. The sliding scale that reduced gratuity on resignation was abolished under Federal Decree-Law No. 33 of 2021. An employee who resigns after one year receives the full entitlement. The old rule is still widely quoted in negotiations and is out of date.

Within 14 days of the contract ending. That is a short window for a figure that can run into six digits, which is why accruing the end-of-service provision monthly matters. UAE law does not require it to be funded in a segregated account.

Yes, and it is usually better that way. Both returns draw on the same accounting records, so when one team maintains the books, the VAT return and the Corporate Tax computation stay consistent with each other and with your audited accounts.

Late registration for either Corporate Tax or VAT carries a fixed AED 10,000 administrative penalty. Late VAT filing is AED 1,000 for a first offence and AED 2,000 if repeated within 24 months. Since Cabinet Decision No. 129 of 2025 took effect on 14 April 2026, late payment accrues at 14 percent per annum, charged monthly on the outstanding balance, replacing the older compounding structure. We review what is outstanding, bring the records up to date, file the overdue returns and advise on the penalty position and whether voluntary disclosure is appropriate.

Cabinet Decision No. 129 of 2025 took effect on 14 April 2026. The old late payment structure of 2 percent immediately, 4 percent after seven days then 1 percent daily was replaced by a flat 14 percent per annum, charged monthly on the outstanding balance. Guides published before 2026 may still show the old figures.

AED 1,000 for a first offence, rising to AED 2,000 if repeated within 24 months. Filing and payment penalties are separate, which is why it is always better to file on time even when you cannot pay the full amount on the due date.

It is the mechanism for correcting an error in a submitted return. The threshold is a tax difference of AED 10,000 per error, with a 20 business day window from discovery. A 1 percent monthly penalty applies on the tax difference from the day after the original due date until disclosure, so cost rises with delay. Smaller errors can usually be corrected in the next return.

Read what has actually been asked and identify which period and which return it relates to, because the response window is short. Reply completely rather than quickly. An incomplete answer usually produces a follow-up and consumes the time you had. Send us the notice and we will tell you what it is and what the deadline is.

We provide accounting support, record preparation, reconciliation, computation and document assembly. Formal representation as a Tax Agent is a regulated activity restricted to those registered with the FTA for that purpose. Where a matter requires registered Tax Agent representation, that element is carried out by or through appropriately registered professionals, and we will tell you when that applies.

In phases. Businesses with annual revenue of AED 50 million or more must appoint an Accredited Service Provider by 30 October 2026, with go-live on 1 January 2027. Businesses below AED 50 million appoint by 31 March 2027 with go-live on 1 July 2027. Government entities follow on 1 October 2027.

It can. The mandate applies to businesses conducting transactions in the UAE regardless of VAT registration status, subject to specific exclusions. Businesses in scope that are not registered will need a Tax Identification Number. Business to consumer transactions are currently excluded.

Corporate Tax counts nine months from your financial year end, and VAT counts 28 days from each tax period end, so they differ by business. Our tax deadline calendar works them out from your year end and filing frequency, and lets you download the dates as a calendar file.

Bank statements for the full period, sales and purchase invoices, expense receipts, payroll records, your trade licence, and any prior returns or FTA correspondence. If your books are already maintained in accounting software, access to that is usually enough to begin.

Your trade licence, financial year end, and details of what is outstanding. From there, typically bank statements for the period, sales and purchase records, expense records, payroll information and any prior returns or FTA correspondence. Every service page carries a specific checklist rather than a generic one.

Tell us rather than delaying. Missing supplier invoices are the most common gap and matter most, because input VAT cannot be claimed without them and they get harder to recover from suppliers every week. We will scope what can be done with what exists and what needs chasing.

We agree the channel at the start of the engagement and will tell you exactly what to send and in what form. We will not ask for sensitive documents before an engagement is agreed, and we do not ask for banking credentials at any point.

Message us on WhatsApp or send an enquiry with your licence type and financial year end. We will confirm which returns apply to your business and what the filing timeline looks like.

Yes. We work directly inside QuickBooks, Xero, Zoho Books, Sage, Odoo or Excel. There is no need to migrate your data before we can prepare and file your returns.

You tell us your licence type, financial year end and which returns are outstanding. We review what has been filed so far, confirm your registration status and come back with the filings required, the deadlines and a fixed scope before any work starts.

Scope is agreed in writing before work begins, based on transaction volume, entity structure, the condition of your existing records and the services required. We do not start on an open-ended basis and bill for what it turned out to involve. If the records reveal more work than assumed, we come back with a revised scope before continuing.

Yes. Corporate Tax and VAT are federal, so the rules are the same across the UAE. We work with mainland and free zone businesses in every emirate. Free zone specifics vary by authority, which we confirm against your particular licence.

Yes, and it is usually better. Both returns draw on the same accounting records, so when one team maintains the books, the VAT return, the Corporate Tax computation and your audited accounts stay consistent with each other.

We review what you have sent, clarify your business and what is outstanding, confirm which filings apply and the deadlines, then send a scope and quote. Work begins after you approve it. Nothing is submitted to any authority without you seeing it first.

Yes. If your revenue is below a threshold or a registration is not required, we will say so. Selling compliance work that is not needed is a short-term gain and a long-term problem, and it is the kind of thing clients check afterwards.