Do you work with businesses outside Dubai?

Yes. BPOAS serves clients across all 7 Emirates and manages UAE entities for overseas owners who cannot be on-site themselves.

What makes BPOAS different from other accounting firms in Dubai?

We come to your office, verify physical source documents ourselves, and run every account through two departments - accounting and tax - before you see a number. Most firms work remotely from what you send them.

Do you handle both Zoho Books and Odoo implementation?

Yes. BPOAS is a certified partner for both Zoho Books and Odoo. We implement, migrate, and train your team - then continue managing your books on the same system.

UAE Corporate Tax Filing Deadlines: Registration, Returns, and Payment

Missing a UAE Corporate Tax deadline costs money. The FTA’s administrative penalty schedule does not distinguish between a business that forgot and one that chose to delay. The result is the same: penalties that are charged from the day the deadline is missed and do not stop until the obligation is fulfilled.

What surprises most UAE business owners is that the CT deadlines are not a single fixed date in the calendar. They depend on the end of each entity’s financial year. A business with a December year-end has a different deadline to one with a March or June year-end. For the first CT period, some businesses also had a shorter period than they expected — which meant an earlier first return deadline.

This guide covers CT registration timing, the nine-month rule for return filing and payment, what the deadlines look like for different financial year-end dates, and what the administrative penalties are for missing any of them.

Deadlines update — October 2026. The first CT return and payment deadline for December year-end businesses (30 September 2025) has now passed. If your business has a December year-end and has not yet filed and paid for the period ending 31 December 2024, the late filing and late payment penalties described in this article are already accruing. File and pay as soon as possible to stop further accumulation. The deadline for the period ending 31 December 2025 is 30 September 2026 — also now passed. BPOAS will update this article as subsequent deadlines approach.

CT Registration: Who Must Register and When

Every entity subject to UAE Corporate Tax must register for CT with the FTA through the EmaraTax portal. This includes businesses that expect to have nil CT liability, businesses that will elect Small Business Relief, and Qualifying Free Zone Persons that pay 0% on their qualifying income. Registration is a separate obligation from return filing and payment — it is not conditional on having a tax liability.

The FTA set staggered registration deadlines for existing businesses during the initial rollout, based on licensing month and entity type. For businesses incorporated after the initial registration drive, the general rule is that registration is required within three months of the date the entity is incorporated or established in the UAE.

Failure to register is a penalty event independent of the return and payment deadlines. A business that registers late but files and pays on time has still committed a late registration — and the two events carry separate penalties.

Source: Federal Decree-Law No. 47 of 2022, Article 51; Federal Tax Authority EmaraTax guidance on CT registration.

The Nine-Month Rule: CT Returns and Payment

The CT return and the CT payment are both due nine months after the end of the relevant tax period. They share the same deadline — filing a return without paying, or paying without filing a return, are both incomplete and can attract penalties.

The nine months is measured from the end of the tax period, not from the return filing date or the date the entity became aware of the liability.

For a business whose financial year ends on 31 December:

Period ending 31 December 2024: return and payment due by 30 September 2025
Period ending 31 December 2025: return and payment due by 30 September 2026
Period ending 31 December 2026: return and payment due by 30 September 2027

For a business whose financial year ends on 31 March:

Period ending 31 March 2025: return and payment due by 31 December 2025
Period ending 31 March 2026: return and payment due by 31 December 2026

For a business whose financial year ends on 30 June:

Period ending 30 June 2025: return and payment due by 31 March 2026
Period ending 30 June 2026: return and payment due by 31 March 2027

For a business whose financial year ends on 30 September:

Period ending 30 September 2025: return and payment due by 30 June 2026
Period ending 30 September 2026: return and payment due by 30 June 2027

Source: Federal Decree-Law No. 47 of 2022, Articles 53 and 57.

The First Tax Period: When CT Began for Each Business

UAE Corporate Tax applies from the beginning of the first financial year that starts on or after 1 June 2023. For an already-operating business, this means CT did not apply to the financial year that was already in progress on 1 June 2023 — it applied from the next full financial year that started after that date.

December year-end businesses: The financial year that started on 1 January 2023 began before 1 June 2023, so CT did not apply to that year. The first CT period was the year starting 1 January 2024, ending 31 December 2024. First return and payment: due 30 September 2025.

March year-end businesses: The financial year starting 1 April 2023 began before 1 June 2023 — CT did not apply. First CT period: 1 April 2024 to 31 March 2025. First return and payment: due 31 December 2025.

June year-end businesses: The financial year starting 1 July 2023 began after 1 June 2023 — this is the first CT period. First CT period: 1 July 2023 to 30 June 2024. First return and payment: due 31 March 2025.

September year-end businesses: The financial year starting 1 October 2023 began after 1 June 2023 — this is the first CT period. First CT period: 1 October 2023 to 30 September 2024. First return and payment: due 30 June 2025.

Businesses incorporated on or after 1 June 2023: The first CT period starts from the date of incorporation. If a business was incorporated on 15 August 2023 with a December year-end, its first CT period runs from 15 August 2023 to 31 December 2023. The return and payment for this short first period are due nine months after 31 December 2023 — by 30 September 2024. A first period can therefore be significantly shorter than a full year.

Source: Federal Decree-Law No. 47 of 2022, Article 57.

What the CT Return Covers

The CT return is not simply a payment form. It is the document through which the business declares its taxable income, applies any available reliefs and exemptions, and provides the FTA with the information it needs to assess compliance.

The return covers: the taxable income calculation (accounting income adjusted for CT Law add-backs and deductions), any SBR election for the period, any QFZP income classification, any tax group position, transfer pricing disclosures (for businesses with related party transactions above the prescribed thresholds), and the resulting CT liability or nil position.

The SBR election — if the business qualifies and wants to claim it — is made inside the return, not by a separate filing. There is no mechanism to retroactively claim SBR after the return deadline has passed.

Amended Returns and Voluntary Disclosure

If a business files a CT return and subsequently discovers an error, the mechanism for correction is a voluntary disclosure or an amended return submitted through EmaraTax. The FTA has published guidance on the conditions and timing.

Where the error results in additional CT being owed, the voluntary disclosure should be filed as soon as the error is identified — delay in disclosing compounds the penalty exposure. Where the error was in the business’s favour (the return overstated CT), an amended return can be filed to claim a refund or credit.

A voluntary disclosure does not eliminate the penalty for the original error, but it typically reduces it compared to what the FTA would impose if the error were discovered through an audit.

Source: Federal Decree-Law No. 28 of 2022 on Tax Procedures, Articles 10–11.

Administrative Penalties for Missing Deadlines

The administrative penalties for CT non-compliance are set out in the FTA’s penalty schedule (Cabinet Decision No. 75 of 2023, as amended). Key penalty events and their consequences:

Late registration: A business that fails to register for CT by the required deadline is subject to a fixed penalty. Registration late is a separate event from late filing or late payment — it can be assessed independently even where the CT return and payment are made on time.

Late return filing: A business that files its CT return after the nine-month deadline is subject to a per-month penalty. The penalty amount is lower for the first twelve months of delay and increases thereafter. Monthly filing penalties accumulate until the return is filed — there is no cap on the number of months.

Late payment: A business that has not paid the CT due by the nine-month deadline is subject to an immediate percentage-based penalty on the unpaid amount. Additional penalties are imposed if the tax remains unpaid after one month. Where the unpaid amount remains outstanding for an extended period, the daily rate of accumulation increases further.

All penalty amounts should be verified against the current FTA administrative penalty schedule, as these figures are subject to revision.

Source: Cabinet Decision No. 75 of 2023 on Administrative Penalties for Violations of Tax Laws.

Common Misunderstandings

“The deadline is nine months after filing, not nine months after the year-end.” The nine months runs from the end of the tax period — the last day of the financial year. It is not measured from the date of filing or any other milestone. For a December year-end, the deadline is 30 September of the following year, regardless of when the business started preparing the return.

“We can file the return now and pay later.” The return and payment deadline is the same date. Filing without paying is not complete compliance. The penalty for late payment begins from the day after the deadline, not from the date the return is eventually paid.

“We’re under SBR so we don’t need to file a return.” SBR is a relief elected inside the CT return. If no return is filed, no election is made, and the SBR relief is not claimed. A business that qualifies for SBR but fails to file a return has both missed the SBR election and committed a late filing — both attract penalties.

“We registered late but we’re paying the CT on time — the late registration penalty won’t apply.” Late registration and late payment are separate penalty events with separate triggers. Paying CT on time does not cure a late registration. Both penalties can be assessed simultaneously.

“Our first financial year ends in December 2023, so our first CT return was due September 2024.” This depends on when the current financial year started. For a business with a December year-end that was already operating before June 2023, the first applicable CT period is the year starting 1 January 2024 — not 2023. The first return would be due September 2025. But a business incorporated in mid-2023 with a December year-end does have a short first period ending December 2023, and that return was due September 2024. The entity’s incorporation date and financial year start are the key facts.

Prepared by BPOAS. This article provides general guidance and does not constitute specific tax advice. Businesses should seek advice from a qualified UAE tax professional on their individual circumstances.