For most UAE companies with a calendar financial year, 30 September 2026 is the deadline to file the Corporate Tax return for the year ended 31 December 2025, and to pay any tax due. The rule is the same for every tax period: file and pay within 9 months of the end of the period.
The deadline applies even if you owe no tax. Businesses claiming Small Business Relief must still file a return to claim it, and exempt persons may need to file an annual declaration within the same 9 months.
Step 1: Confirm the basics
- Tax period: check it matches the financial year registered on EmaraTax.
- Registration details: legal name, trade licences and authorised signatory are up to date.
- Who files: you can file directly on EmaraTax or through a registered tax agent.
Step 2: Get the financial statements ready
Taxable income starts from the accounting profit in your financial statements, prepared under IFRS (or IFRS for SMEs if your revenue is up to AED 50 million).
- Audited financial statements are required if your revenue is above AED 50 million, or if you are a Qualifying Free Zone Person. Leave time for the audit to finish before the filing date.
- Close the year properly: accruals, depreciation, provisions and intercompany balances should all be booked and reconciled.
Step 3: Work through the tax adjustments
These are the adjustments most often missed in first returns:
- Entertainment: only 50% of client entertainment costs are deductible.
- Non-deductible items: fines and penalties, donations to non-qualifying bodies, bribes and certain other costs must be added back.
- Interest limitation: net interest above 30% of tax EBITDA is not deductible, unless your net interest is under AED 12 million.
- Related parties: transactions with related parties and connected persons must be at arm's length. Above certain thresholds, a transfer pricing disclosure form is needed with the return.
- Exempt income: qualifying dividends and gains on qualifying shareholdings can be excluded.
- Tax losses: losses carried forward can offset up to 75% of taxable income in a year.
- Unrealised gains and losses: check whether you made, or want to make, any of the elections available on the realisation basis.
Step 4: Check your elections and reliefs
- Small Business Relief: available if revenue is AED 3 million or less in the period. It is not available to Qualifying Free Zone Persons or members of large multinational groups.
- Qualifying Free Zone Person: confirm you meet the conditions, including substance, qualifying income and the de minimis test.
- Tax group: if you formed a tax group, one return covers the group.
Step 5: File, pay and keep the records
- File on EmaraTax and pay any tax by the same deadline. Payment is made using the reference generated for the return.
- Keep the financial statements, workings and supporting documents for at least 7 years.
- Late filing and late payment both attract penalties, so do not leave either to the last week.
How Dreambooks helps
Dreambooks keeps your books IFRS-ready, flags entertainment, penalties and related-party transactions as you record them, and produces the tax adjustments schedule from your ledger, so preparing the return is a review rather than a rebuild.
Official sources
- FTA: Corporate Tax Returns guide
- Ministerial Decision No. 114 of 2023 on Accounting Standards and Methods for Corporate Tax purposes
- FTA: Corporate Tax legislation
- FTA: Small Business Relief
This article is general information as of August 2026, not tax advice. Check the latest FTA guidance, or speak to your tax adviser, before acting.