Corporate tax registration deadline in the UAE and the AED 10,000 penalty

Every UAE company must register for corporate tax, including free zone companies, dormant companies and businesses that plan to claim Small Business Relief. A company incorporated on or after 1 March 2024 must register within 3 months of incorporation, and an individual must register once their business turnover goes over AED 1 million in a calendar year. Missing the deadline costs a fixed penalty of AED 10,000.

Key points

• All resident companies must register, whatever their size, profit or location.
• New companies (incorporated from 1 March 2024): within 3 months of incorporation.
• Resident individuals: by 31 March of the year after their business turnover passes AED 1 million.
• Late registration penalty: AED 10,000.
• You register through EmaraTax, the Federal Tax Authority (FTA) online portal.

Who must register

Companies

Registration is required for:

• Mainland companies, such as limited liability companies (LLCs).
• Free zone companies, including those that expect to be Qualifying Free Zone Persons (QFZPs).
• Companies with no revenue yet, or that are dormant.
• Companies that will claim Small Business Relief. The relief is claimed in the return, so you need to be registered first.
• Foreign companies that are effectively managed in the UAE, or that have a permanent establishment or other taxable presence here.

Individuals

A natural person (an individual) who carries on a business in the UAE must register once their business turnover goes over AED 1 million in a calendar year. Salary, personal investment income and income from property held in your own name, where no licence is needed, do not count towards that AED 1 million.

Registration deadlines

The FTA set the deadlines in FTA Decision No. 3 of 2024.

Who	Registration deadline
UAE company incorporated on or after 1 March 2024	3 months from the date of incorporation
UAE company incorporated before 1 March 2024	Deadlines fell during 2024, by licence issue month. All have passed, so register now
Resident individual whose business turnover exceeds AED 1 million in a calendar year	31 March of the following year
Non-resident individual with a UAE business	3 months from meeting the conditions

Two examples:

• A company incorporated on 20 May 2026 must register by 20 August 2026.
• A freelancer whose fees pass AED 1 million during 2026 must register by 31 March 2027.

The AED 10,000 late registration penalty

Cabinet Decision No. 10 of 2024 introduced a fixed AED 10,000 penalty for registering late. It is a single amount, not a monthly charge, but it applies however small your business is.

The FTA has previously offered a waiver of this penalty for businesses that register late but file their first corporate tax return (or annual declaration) within 7 months of the end of their first tax period. Check on the FTA website whether this waiver is still available before you rely on it.

Late registration also tends to cause a second problem. If you are not registered, you can't file your return on time. Under the corporate tax penalty rules, a late return costs AED 500 a month for the first 12 months and AED 1,000 a month after that.

How to register on EmaraTax: step by step

1. Create or log in to your EmaraTax account. You can sign in with UAE Pass or an email account. If your company is already registered for VAT, use the same account.
2. Create or select the taxable person profile for your company.
3. Choose Corporate Tax registration from the profile dashboard.
4. Enter entity details. Legal name exactly as on your trade licence, legal form, date of incorporation and financial year end.
5. Enter identification details. Trade licence number, issuing authority, expiry date and business activities. Add every licence if you hold more than one.
6. Add owners and the authorised signatory. Include their passport and Emirates ID details and proof that the signatory can act for the company.
7. Add contact details and address.
8. Review, accept the declaration and submit.

The FTA reviews the application and may ask for more information. Once approved, you receive your corporate tax Tax Registration Number (TRN) by email and in EmaraTax.

Common reasons for delays are names that don't match the trade licence, expired licences, missing signatory authority and unclear scans.

Documents you will need

For a company:

• Trade licence (valid, and all licences if you have more than one)
• Memorandum and Articles of Association, or equivalent founding documents
• Passport and Emirates ID of each owner or partner
• Passport and Emirates ID of the authorised signatory
• Proof of authority for the signatory, such as a power of attorney or the relevant clause in the Memorandum of Association
• Company contact details and registered address
• Your financial year end

For an individual:

• Emirates ID and passport
• Trade licence or freelance permit, if you have one
• Details of your business activities and contact information

If you have already missed the deadline

Don't wait. The AED 10,000 penalty does not grow over time, but the problems around it do:

1. Register now. Submit a complete application on EmaraTax, with documents that match your trade licence.
2. Work out your tax periods. For a company incorporated from 1 March 2024, the first tax period usually starts on the date of incorporation. For older companies, it is the first financial year starting on or after 1 June 2023. Either way, you may already have a return overdue.
3. Prepare the accounts. A return needs financial statements, which often means catching up on bookkeeping first.
4. File any overdue returns as soon as the accounts are ready, to limit monthly late filing penalties.
5. Check whether a penalty waiver applies. If the FTA's waiver for filing the first return within 7 months of the first tax period's end is still available and you can meet it, plan your filing around it.

If a penalty is issued and you believe it is wrong, you can submit a reconsideration request through EmaraTax within the deadline stated on the notice.

After you register

Registration is the first step. Plan the rest of the year:

• Know your first tax period and its return deadline. Returns and payment are due within 9 months of the end of each tax period. A company with a calendar year files its 2026 return by 30 September 2027.
• Decide on Small Business Relief. If revenue is AED 3 million or less, you may be able to elect it, now available for tax periods ending on or before 31 December 2029. See our Small Business Relief service.
• Free zone companies: check the QFZP conditions early, including audited financial statements. Our free zone corporate tax page explains what we check.
• Set up bookkeeping. You will need financial statements for the return, and records must be kept for at least 7 years. Our accounting service in Dubai covers monthly books and year-end accounts.

Register before the deadline

If your company was incorporated in the last 3 months, or you have never registered, deal with it now. A complete application is the quickest route to a TRN.

To see what registration and yearly filing would cost, get an instant estimate. We prepare and submit the application through your EmaraTax account on our corporate tax registration service.