Corporate Tax
Registration, tax computations and returns, Small Business Relief and Free Zone qualifying income reviews.
UAE Corporate Tax applies at 9% on taxable income above AED 375,000. We register your business, assess reliefs you may qualify for, prepare your tax computation from your financial statements and file your return with the FTA on time.
Avoid penalties
Deadlines tracked and filings prepared well ahead of due dates.
Pay only what’s due
Reliefs, exemptions and allowable deductions applied correctly.
Free Zone certainty
Know before year end whether your 0% position holds, not after the FTA asks.
One working file
Every adjustment traced to the ledger, ready for an auditor or an FTA review.
In-depth guide
01Who has to register and file
Every UAE company, including Free Zone companies, must register for Corporate Tax and file a return for each tax period, even when no tax is due. Individuals running a business with turnover above AED 1 million in a calendar year are also in scope.
The return is due within nine months of the end of the tax period, and any tax must be paid by the same date. A company with a December year end therefore files and pays by the end of the following September.
02How the tax is worked out
The starting point is accounting net profit under IFRS. Non-deductible items such as fines, 50% of entertainment and interest above the allowed limit are added back, exempt income such as qualifying dividends is removed, and losses brought forward are offset. The first AED 375,000 of the result is taxed at 0% and the balance at 9%.
Small Business Relief lets resident businesses with revenue of AED 3 million or less elect to be treated as having no taxable income for tax periods ending on or before 31 December 2026.
03Free Zone companies
A Qualifying Free Zone Person can benefit from a 0% rate on qualifying income, but only if it keeps adequate substance in the zone, earns the right kind of income, meets the de minimis test for non-qualifying revenue and prepares audited financial statements. Fail any condition and the standard rates apply for five years.
We review your revenue streams line by line before you rely on the 0% rate, and document the position so it can be defended in an FTA review.
04Records, related parties and audits
Transactions with related parties and connected persons must be at arm's length and, above the thresholds, disclosed in a transfer pricing form filed with the return. Records supporting the return must be kept for seven years.
Because we keep your books, the tax computation is built from reconciled figures rather than reconstructed at year end, which is what makes a return defensible.
- 1
Register
We register the company on EmaraTax and confirm the first tax period and filing deadline.
- 2
Review
We check reliefs, Free Zone status and related-party dealings before year end, while there is still time to act.
- 3
Compute
The tax computation is prepared from your IFRS financial statements with every adjustment documented.
- 4
File & pay
We file the return and transfer pricing disclosures, confirm the amount due and keep the full working file.
0% on taxable income up to AED 375,000 and 9% on taxable income above that. Different rules apply to Qualifying Free Zone Persons and large multinational groups.
Corporate Tax
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