Tax · Corporate Tax
UAE Corporate Tax Registration
Mandatory for taxable persons, even when your rate is 0%.
Corporate tax registration with the Federal Tax Authority is mandatory for taxable persons, including free zone companies and small businesses, regardless of whether your effective rate is 0%. We register you and keep you compliant.
What's involved
0% and 9%
0% on profit up to AED 375,000, 9% above, plus 0% on qualifying free zone income for a QFZP.
Mandatory registration
Register on EmaraTax even if you'll pay 0%; returns are filed within 9 months of your financial year end.
QFZP structuring
We help you meet the substance, de minimis and audit conditions to protect your 0% qualifying income.
Bookkeeping
Clean books and (for QFZPs) audited accounts underpin your tax position.
Registration is mandatory even when your rate is 0%
This is the single most expensive misunderstanding in UAE corporate tax. Registration with the Federal Tax Authority is an obligation for taxable persons regardless of profit, regardless of free zone status, and regardless of whether you elect Small Business Relief. A company expecting to pay nothing still has to register and still has to file. Late registration carries an administrative penalty that is entirely avoidable.
| Obligation | Applies to | Timing |
|---|---|---|
| FTA registration via EmaraTax | Every taxable person, including 0% free zone companies | Within the deadline set for your licence issuance date |
| Annual return | Every registered taxable person | Generally within nine months of the end of the tax period |
| Record retention | Every taxable person | Seven years, including supporting documentation |
| Audited financial statements | Qualifying Free Zone Persons, and where a zone requires it | Annually, as a condition of QFZP status |
A 31 December year end therefore files by the following 30 September. Confirm your specific registration deadline with the FTA, as it is tied to your licence.
The two routes to 0%, and why you cannot stack them
- Qualifying Free Zone Person status
- 0% on qualifying income only, and conditional on all of: adequate substance in the zone, qualifying activities, staying inside the de minimis limit for non-qualifying revenue, transfer pricing compliance, audited financial statements, and not electing out. Fail any one and the company is taxed at 9% on all taxable income for that period and the following four.
- Small Business Relief
- An election that can treat the business as having no taxable income while revenue stays at or under AED 3 million, for tax periods ending on or before 31 December 2026. It is generally not available to a Qualifying Free Zone Person, so this is a choice between two routes rather than a way to combine them.
- The mainland comparison people skip
- A mainland company pays 0% on the first AED 375,000 of taxable income and 9% above it. A free zone company that fails the QFZP tests is taxed at 9% on all taxable income without that threshold. A mainland company with modest profits can therefore pay less tax than a free zone company that assumed it qualified.
- Track the split monthly, not annually
- The de minimis limit is the lower of 5% of total revenue or AED 5 million. Breaching it costs five years of 0%, not one. That asymmetry is why the qualifying and non-qualifying revenue split needs watching as invoices are raised, not reconstructed at year end when nothing can be done.
Frequently asked
01Do I have to register for corporate tax if I pay 0%?＋
Yes. Registration with the Federal Tax Authority is mandatory for taxable persons, including free zone and small businesses, even where the effective rate is 0%.
02When is the corporate tax return due?＋
Generally within 9 months of the end of your financial year. Keeping clean books from day one makes filing straightforward.
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