UAE Corporate Tax Filing Deadline 2026 is 30 September: Who needs to pay & How
If your company’s financial year ended on 31 December 2025, one date now sits on your calendar whether anyone told you or not: 30 September 2026. That’s when your Corporate Tax return, and any tax you owe, will fall due. Miss it, and the Federal Tax Authority’s penalty schedule will start running au
If your company’s financial year ended on 31 December 2025, one date now sits on your calendar whether anyone told you or not: 30 September 2026. That’s when your Corporate Tax return, and any tax you owe, will fall due.
Miss it, and the Federal Tax Authority’s penalty schedule will start running automatically under Cabinet Decision No. 75 of 2023, from the day after the deadline. The date doesn’t stop at trading companies, either. Free zone businesses, dormant registrants and anyone claiming Small Business Relief will file on the very same day, under the very same law.
The short answer
If your financial year ended on 31 December 2025, your Corporate Tax return, and any tax due, must be filed by 30 September 2026. This nine-month deadline for filing comes from Article 53 of Federal Decree-Law No. 47 of 2022; the same deadline for paying comes from Article 48. It applies to standard taxable companies, Qualifying Free Zone Persons, dormant and loss-making registrants, and businesses claiming Small Business Relief. Filing happens through EmaraTax, the Federal Tax Authority’s online platform. A late return costs AED 500 a month for the first twelve months, rising to AED 1,000 a month after that. Unpaid tax adds a further 14% a year, charged monthly.
What this article covers
The Federal Tax Authority restated this deadline twice this year. It came in a notice published on 2 September 2026, and again on 3 August 2026, aimed specifically at Small Business Relief claimants. Neither notice mentions an extension.
This article sets out the general filing rules that apply under UAE law. For how they apply to one particular business, a registered tax agent or the Federal Tax Authority has the final word.
UAE Corporate Tax Deadline 2026
Nobody at the Federal Tax Authority sat down and picked 30 September as a tax season. It’s simply what one counting rule produces, run against one very common financial year.
Article 53 of Federal Decree-Law No. 47 of 2022 gives every Taxable Person nine months from the end of its Tax Period to file a return. Article 48 of the same law sets the same nine-month window to pay whatever tax is due.
Start the clock on 31 December 2025 (the year-end most UAE businesses use) and count nine months forward. You land on 30 September 2026.
Most UAE companies run on the calendar year, which is why one date on the calendar catches so many businesses at once.
Run a different financial year, and you work to a different deadline under the exact same rule. A year ending 31 March 2026, for instance, gives you until 31 December 2026 to file.
Payment Follows the Same Nine-Month Clock
Payment runs on the same nine-month clock, under Article 48 of the same law. It doesn’t have to land on the same day as your return, though.
The Federal Tax Authority has said so directly: file and pay whenever suits you inside that nine-month window, as long as both happen before it closes.
There’s a catch worth knowing about, though. A bank transfer sent before 30 September, but processed after it, still counts as late.
Try this
Not every UAE business works to a 31 December year-end. If you aren’t certain when your own Tax Period closes, your trade licence, your incorporation documents or your accountant will have the exact date. Count nine months forward from there yourself, rather than relying on this article’s headline date.
Two figures we are not using
A widely quoted figure (more than 640,000 businesses registered for Corporate Tax) comes from Gulf News and Arabian Business, reporting on the FY2024 filing cycle completed in September 2025. Both outlets attribute it to the Federal Tax Authority, but neither points to a primary Authority statement carrying that number, so it isn’t used above. A possible 2025 update to the free-zone de minimis rule, under Ministerial Decision No. 229 of 2025, was flagged during research but not independently verified in time for publication.
Who Must File the UAE Corporate Tax Deadline 2026
Article 53 doesn’t carve out industries or company sizes. It applies to every Taxable Person, which is a wider net than most people expect.
That catches several distinct groups on the same 30 September 2026 date, each for a different reason. Before anything else, work out which one is you.
Companies With a 31 December 2025 Year-End
If your company’s financial year ran from 1 January to 31 December 2025, your Tax Period ends on 31 December 2025. Count nine months forward from that date, and you reach 30 September 2026.
This is the largest single group of filers, simply because most UAE companies use the calendar year. It’s also why the Federal Tax Authority names this specific date in its own notices, rather than a generic tax deadline.
Working to a different year-end changes nothing about the rule, only the date it produces. A company ending its year on 31 March 2026, for instance, files by 31 December 2026 instead: nine months later, exactly as Article 53 requires.
Loss-Making and Dormant Registrants
Filing is tied to registration, not to profit. If your company made a loss in 2025, or didn’t trade at all, you still owe a return by 30 September 2026. That applies once you hold a Corporate Tax Registration Number.
There’s no revenue floor below which the Federal Tax Authority accepts silence instead of a return.
The one group excused from filing altogether is a natural person who never crossed the AED 1,000,000 turnover threshold covered further down this page. That person was never required to register in the first place, so there is no return to be late with.
UAE Corporate Tax Deadline 2026 for Free Zone Persons
Every Free Zone Person that counts as a Taxable Person registers for Corporate Tax and files a return, whether or not it owes anything. The Ministry of Finance states plainly that “all Taxable Persons, including Free Zone Persons” must register and hold a Corporate Tax Registration Number.
Free zone status changes what you pay. It doesn’t change whether you file, or when.
Qualifying Free Zone Person: the 0% Route
A Qualifying Free Zone Person pays 0% on its Qualifying Income. That’s a real saving, but it still files exactly the same return, by the same date, as a company paying the full 9% rate. Zero tax doesn’t mean no return.
Staying Qualified: the De Minimis Rule
Keeping that Qualifying Free Zone Person status carries conditions you have to watch all year, not just at filing time.
- Non-qualifying revenue stays inside a de minimis limit: 5% of total revenue, or AED 5,000,000, whichever is lower.
- Audited financial statements are required, under Ministerial Decision No. 84 of 2025, whatever the revenue.
What breaching either condition costs
Ministerial Decision No. 265 of 2023 sets the penalty, and it’s steep: breach the de minimis limit or the audit requirement at any point in a Tax Period, and you lose Qualifying Free Zone Person status for that Tax Period and the four that follow it. There’s no part-year fix once you’ve crossed the line.
UAE Corporate Tax Deadline 2026 for Small Business Relief
Small Business Relief doesn’t remove the filing obligation, however small your business is. The Federal Tax Authority said so directly, in its 2 September 2026 statement:
“all Taxable Persons, including those eligible for Small Business Relief, whose financial year ended on 31 December 2025 must file their Tax Returns and pay the Corporate Tax due no later than 30 September 2026.”
The relief itself is generous. It treats an eligible resident person as earning no taxable income, provided revenue stays at or below AED 3,000,000 in the current Tax Period, and every one before it.
Small Business Relief Is Not Automatic
Nobody applies Small Business Relief for you. Three things fall to you instead:
- Elect it on the return itself: it isn’t applied automatically.
- Keep evidence that revenue stayed under AED 3,000,000 throughout.
- File a simplified return: less information to provide, not no return at all.
Small Business Relief Ends After 2026
Small Business Relief is temporary, and its clock is already most of the way through.
Under Ministerial Decision No. 73 of 2023, it only applies to Tax Periods ending on or before 31 December 2026. A business filing for the year ended 31 December 2025 is claiming it in one of the relief’s final eligible periods.
| Who qualifies | Revenue at or below AED 3,000,000, every Tax Period | A Free Zone Person meeting the Qualifying Free Zone Person conditions |
|---|---|---|
| What it does | Treats taxable income as zero | Taxes Qualifying Income at 0%, everything else at 9% |
| Do you still file? | Yes: a simplified return | Yes: the standard return, plus audited financial statements |
| Does it expire? | Yes: Tax Periods ending on or before 31 December 2026 only | No sunset date, but the de minimis and audit conditions apply every Tax Period |
Small Business Relief or Qualifying Free Zone Person status: which one applies to you?
UAE Corporate Tax Deadline 2026 for Natural Persons
A resident or non-resident individual only becomes a Taxable Person once turnover from their business or business activity passes AED 1,000,000 within a Gregorian calendar year.
Below that line, Cabinet Decision No. 49 of 2023 is explicit: you “shall not be required to register for Corporate Tax.” Above it, the same nine-month rule applies to you as to a company.
What Counts Toward the AED 1 Million
Not every dirham you earn counts toward that threshold. Three kinds of income are excluded from it entirely, however much of them you have:
- Wages
- Personal investment income
- Real estate investment income
A natural person’s turnover is measured over a calendar year. Someone who crossed AED 1,000,000 during 2025 works to the same 30 September 2026 date as a company.
As of 3 September 2026, though, the Federal Tax Authority hasn’t issued a statement naming natural persons against that date directly. It follows from applying Article 53 to a calendar-year Tax Period, not from a quoted Federal Tax Authority line. This article will update if the Authority publishes one.
| The AED figure | What it decides |
|---|---|
| 375,000 | The taxable income threshold below which the Corporate Tax rate drops to 0%, under Cabinet Decision No. 116 of 2022 |
| 1,000,000 | The turnover a natural person’s business must cross before Corporate Tax applies at all, under Cabinet Decision No. 49 of 2023 |
| 3,000,000 | The revenue ceiling for Small Business Relief, in every Tax Period counted, under Ministerial Decision No. 73 of 2023 |
| 5,000,000 | The de minimis cap on a Qualifying Free Zone Person’s non-qualifying revenue, under Ministerial Decision No. 265 of 2023 |
| 50,000,000 | The revenue above which a standalone Taxable Person must prepare audited financial statements, under Ministerial Decision No. 84 of 2025 |
Every AED threshold in this article: which one applies to your business?
What Happens If You Miss the UAE Corporate Tax Deadline?
Miss it, and two separate penalties will start running automatically the day after 30 September 2026, under Cabinet Decision No. 75 of 2023: one for the return itself, one for any tax left unpaid.
| What went wrong | What it costs |
|---|---|
| Return filed late | AED 500 a month for the first 12 months; AED 1,000 a month from month 13 onward |
| Tax paid late | 14% a year, charged monthly on the unpaid amount |
| Registration filed late | AED 10,000 (waived automatically if the first return is filed within 7 months of the first Tax Period ending) |
| Return filed with an error | AED 500, unless corrected before the filing deadline passes |
| Required records not kept | AED 10,000, rising to AED 20,000 for a repeat within 24 months |
Cabinet Decision No. 75 of 2023’s wider penalty schedule: only the first two rows follow from missing 30 September 2026 itself.
Watch the payment method, not just the date. A transfer that leaves your account before 30 September, but lands in the Authority’s account after it, still counts as late. The Federal Tax Authority has said so specifically. Building in a day or two of buffer avoids that risk entirely.
UAE Corporate Tax Deadline 2026 for Exempt Persons
Exempt Persons aren’t free of obligations either. They must keep records that let the Federal Tax Authority verify their exempt status.
A missing declaration is fined at the same AED 500-then-AED 1,000 monthly rate as a missing return, under Cabinet Decision No. 75 of 2023. The record-keeping the Federal Tax Authority actually spells out isn’t a list drawn up for Exempt Persons alone. It’s the same general guidance every filer, including Small Business Relief claimants, works to. It covers:
- Transactions carried out during the tax period
- Assets acquired or disposed of
- Liabilities
- Shares or ownership interests held at the period’s end
Article 56 sets how long you keep all of this: seven years from the end of the Tax Period it relates to. That applies whether or not you were ever audited.
How to File Your UAE Corporate Tax Return on EmaraTax
Every Corporate Tax return is filed online, through EmaraTax, the Federal Tax Authority’s own platform. It’s a portal you can reach around the clock, not a service with counter hours.
The Authority describes the process as quick and straightforward, but it doesn’t publish a numbered click-by-click guide. The sequence below is the general shape reported by tax and audit firms that file returns on the platform, not a screenshot-verified script.
Before you open EmaraTax at all, three things are worth knowing about your own business:
- The exact date your own Tax Period ends (not just the 31 December date used as the example throughout this article)
- Whether you’re electing Small Business Relief or Qualifying Free Zone Person status, since each changes what the return asks for
- Whether the AED 50,000,000 audited-statements threshold applies to you
Returns are filed through EmaraTax, the FTA’s platform, available around the clock.
What to Have Ready Before You Start
Tax and audit firms that file these returns for clients generally ask for the same paperwork before they open EmaraTax:
- Audited financial statements, where these apply
- Trial balances and detailed workings
- Supporting schedules and reconciliations
- The non-financial details EmaraTax itself will ask for on the form
That’s advisory practice, not a Federal Tax Authority requirement stated in those exact terms. Having it ready before you log in saves you a second sitting, though.
UAE Corporate Tax Deadline 2026: Has It Been Extended?
As of 3 September 2026, the Federal Tax Authority hasn’t announced any extension, grace period or deferral of the 30 September deadline.
No extension found as of 3 September 2026
Every Federal Tax Authority statement traced for this article, dated 2 September 2026 and 3 August 2026, restates 30 September 2026 as the deadline. None mentions an extension. The Authority’s 14 May 2026 statement concerns the late-registration penalty waiver only and does not address the 30 September deadline. This article will update if the Authority publishes one.
The 2024 Precedent
The Authority has granted a narrow extension before, so the possibility isn’t unprecedented — it just wasn’t a general one.
On 25 September 2024, it issued Decision No. 7 of 2024, moving the deadline to 31 December 2024. That applied only to taxable persons with a short first tax period ending by 29 February 2024. Mainly, that meant companies incorporated between 1 June and 1 September 2023, plus businesses that had already ceased to exist.
Every other taxable person kept the standard nine-month deadline.
| What happened | 2024 filing cycle | 2026 filing cycle |
|---|---|---|
| Extension issued? | Yes: Decision No. 7 of 2024, on 25 September 2024 | None announced, as of 3 September 2026 |
| Who it covered | Short first Tax Periods ending by 29 February 2024 only | Nobody so far: the standard nine-month rule applies to everyone |
| New deadline | Moved to 31 December 2024, for that narrow group | Still 30 September 2026, for a 31 December 2025 year-end |
Did the Federal Tax Authority extend the deadline before, and could it happen again?
No equivalent decision has been issued for the 2026 cycle. Any extension the Federal Tax Authority does grant would arrive the same way the 2024 one did: as a numbered, dated Decision, naming exactly who it covers.
UAE Corporate Tax Deadline 2026 and the Late-Registration Waiver
A separate concession does remain open, and it’s easy to confuse with an extension — it isn’t one.
The penalty for late Corporate Tax registration is waived automatically. The condition: you file your first tax return, or annual declaration, within seven months of your first Tax Period ending.
That window only covers a business’s first Tax Period. It doesn’t cover this year’s return for an established company that has already filed once.
The waiver needs no application: once the seven-month condition is met, the Federal Tax Authority lifts the penalty on its own. If you’d already paid it, a credit lands automatically in your EmaraTax account, to offset other tax or to refund.
The Federal Tax Authority said on 14 May 2026 that more than 68,600 taxable persons had already benefited, with more than 22,000 more still eligible in the period ahead. It expected the total to pass 91,000.
Sources
- Ministry of Finance, Corporate Tax in the UAE overview page, accessed 3 September 2026
- Federal Decree-Law No. 47 of 2022 on Taxation of Corporations and Businesses, Articles 3, 48, 53, 54, 55, 56 and 57
- Cabinet Decision No. 75 of 2023, as amended by Cabinet Decision No. 10 of 2024, full administrative penalty schedule
- Cabinet Decision No. 49 of 2023, natural persons and the AED 1,000,000 turnover threshold
- Cabinet Decision No. 116 of 2022, the AED 375,000 taxable income threshold
- Ministerial Decision No. 84 of 2025, audited financial statements
- Ministerial Decision No. 265 of 2023, Qualifying Free Zone Person activities and the de minimis rule
- Federal Tax Authority, news notice, 2 September 2026
- Federal Tax Authority, news notice, 3 August 2026
- Federal Tax Authority, news notice, 14 May 2026, late-registration penalty waiver
- Federal Tax Authority, Waiver of Penalties page, live as of 3 September 2026
UAE Corporate Tax Deadline 2026 at a Glance
UAE Corporate Tax Deadline 2026 at a glance
| Column 1 | Column 2 |
|---|---|
| Deadline | 30 September 2026 (financial year ended 31 December 2025) |
| Legal basis | Article 53, Federal Decree-Law No. 47 of 2022 |
| Filing window | 9 months from the end of the Tax Period |
| Filing platform | EmaraTax |
| Who must file | Taxable companies, Qualifying Free Zone Persons, dormant/loss-making registrants, Small Business Relief claimants, natural persons over AED 1,000,000 turnover |
| Late filing penalty | AED 500/month (first 12 months), AED 1,000/month after |
| Late payment penalty | 14% a year, charged monthly on unpaid tax |
| Late registration penalty | AED 10,000 (waivable if first return filed within 7 months of first Tax Period) |
| Natural person threshold | AED 1,000,000 annual turnover (Cabinet Decision 49/2023) |
| Small Business Relief threshold | AED 3,000,000 revenue or below, all periods |
| Small Business Relief sunset | Tax Periods ending on or before 31 December 2026 only (Ministerial Decision 73/2023) |
| Audited financial statements | Required over AED 50,000,000 revenue, or for any Qualifying Free Zone Person |
| Extension for 2026 | None announced as of 3 September 2026 |
UAE Corporate Tax Deadline 2026 Frequently Asked Questions
FAQs
What is the UAE Corporate Tax deadline for 2026?
For any business whose financial year ended on 31 December 2025, the Corporate Tax return and any tax due must be filed by 30 September 2026. This nine-month deadline comes from Article 53 of Federal Decree-Law No. 47 of 2022, and the Federal Tax Authority restated it in a notice published on 2 September 2026. A business on a different financial year works to a different date, always nine months after its own Tax Period ends.
Who has to file a Corporate Tax return by 30 September 2026?
Every Taxable Person whose Tax Period ended on 31 December 2025 must file. That covers standard companies, Qualifying Free Zone Persons, dormant and loss-making registrants, and businesses claiming Small Business Relief. It also includes a natural person whose business turnover passed AED 1,000,000 during 2025, though the Federal Tax Authority hasn’t named natural persons against this exact date directly. A natural person who stayed under that threshold was never required to register.
What happens if I file my UAE Corporate Tax return late?
A late return costs AED 500 a month for the first twelve months, then AED 1,000 a month from month thirteen. That figure comes from Cabinet Decision No. 75 of 2023. Unpaid tax adds a further 14% a year, charged monthly on the outstanding amount. Both penalties start the day after the deadline and accrue automatically each month.
Do I have to file if my business made a loss or had no activity in 2025?
Yes. Filing is tied to holding a Corporate Tax Registration Number, not to making a profit, so a dormant or loss-making company still owes a return by 30 September 2026. There’s no revenue floor below which the Federal Tax Authority accepts a missing return instead. The only businesses excused entirely are natural persons whose turnover never crossed AED 1,000,000, who weren’t required to register in the first place.
Does Small Business Relief mean I do not have to file?
No. The Federal Tax Authority confirmed on 2 September 2026 that businesses eligible for Small Business Relief must still file their Tax Returns by 30 September 2026. The relief lets a business with revenue at or below AED 3,000,000 be treated as earning no taxable income, but it has to be elected on the return itself. What changes is the paperwork (a simplified return), not the obligation to file one. It’s also temporary: under Ministerial Decision No. 73 of 2023, it only applies to Tax Periods ending on or before 31 December 2026.
Has the Federal Tax Authority extended the 30 September 2026 deadline?
No extension had been announced as of 3 September 2026. Every Federal Tax Authority statement found for this article, including notices dated 2 September and 3 August 2026, restates 30 September as the deadline. The Authority has granted narrow extensions before, most recently in 2024 for a small group of short-first-period filers, but nothing equivalent has been issued for 2026.
Is the late-registration penalty waiver the same thing as an extension?
No, and it’s worth keeping the two apart. The waiver cancels the AED 10,000 penalty for registering late, automatically, for anyone who files their first tax return or annual declaration within seven months of their first Tax Period ending. It only ever applied to a business’s first Tax Period. It doesn’t move the 30 September 2026 filing deadline for an established company’s current return. The Federal Tax Authority said on 14 May 2026 that more than 68,600 taxable persons had already benefited from the waiver, with the total expected to pass 91,000.
