Compliance
Registration, filing, monitoring and deadline management for VAT, Corporate Tax and FTA requirements.
Why disciplined compliance matters.
UAE tax went from almost nothing to a full regime in under a decade. VAT since 2018. Corporate Tax arrived in 2023. E-invoicing opened its pilot on 1 July 2026, with mandatory go-live for large businesses on 1 January 2027. Most owners only learn a rule once they have already broken it.
The costs are specific, not vague. Late Corporate Tax registration carries an administrative penalty of AED 10,000. Filing late runs AED 500 per month for the first twelve months, then AED 1,000 per month. Since 14 April 2026 unpaid tax carries interest of 14 percent per year, charged daily.
Deadlines follow your own financial year, not one national date. Registration falls within 3 months of your financial year end. The return is due within 9 months of that same year end. Two businesses in the same building can owe on different days.
Free zone status is the most expensive misunderstanding we see. A free zone company still registers and still files. The 0 percent rate applies to qualifying income, not to the licence itself. Get that assessment wrong and the difference is 9 percent on everything above AED 375,000.
We run compliance as a continuous practice, not an annual scramble. Filings prepared, reviewed and submitted on schedule. Every deadline tracked against your financial year, not a generic one.
The dates and the amounts.
These apply to most UAE businesses. Your own dates depend on your financial year end, which is why we map them per entity rather than working from a shared calendar.
| Corporate Tax registration | Within 3 months of your financial year end |
|---|---|
| Late registration penalty | AED 10,000 |
| Corporate Tax return | Within 9 months of your financial year end |
| Late filing penalty | AED 500 per month for the first twelve months, then AED 1,000 per month |
| Interest on unpaid tax | 14 percent per year, charged daily, since 14 April 2026 |
| Corporate Tax rate | 0 percent on the first AED 375,000 of taxable income, 9 percent above it |
| VAT returns | Quarterly for most businesses. Monthly only above AED 150 million in revenue |
| E-invoicing | Pilot opened 1 July 2026. Mandatory for large businesses on 1 January 2027 |
What is handled.
Compliance covered end-to-end, not patched together.
- VAT registration and quarterly filings
- Corporate Tax registration and annual filings
- Deadline tracking against your own financial year end
- Free zone qualifying income assessment, reviewed every year
- Small Business Relief election, which is not automatic
- Mainland and free zone compliance monitoring
- Tax position reviews before the return goes in, not after
- E-invoicing readiness ahead of your mandatory date
- FTA correspondence and query responses handled for you
How we run it.
Audit the current state
What is filed. What is not. Where the exposure sits today. If a registration was missed we quantify the penalty position first, because that decides the order of everything after it.
Set up the tracker
Every deadline mapped to your financial year end, with the owner, the documents and the status against each one. Registration at 3 months, the return at 9 months, VAT quarterly. You see the same view we do.
Run monthly
Filings prepared, reviewed and submitted on schedule. The books are reconciled before anything is submitted, so the quarterly VAT returns and the annual Corporate Tax return agree on revenue. That match is the first thing an FTA query tests.
Stay current
The rules keep moving. The interest framework changed on 14 April 2026. E-invoicing arrives in phases. We tell you what changed, what it costs you specifically, and what we are already doing about it.
Across four jurisdictions.
UAE Federal Tax Authority compliance is the anchor. Where you also hold a US LLC, a UK LTD or a Hong Kong Limited Company, those filings run off the same books and the same calendar. One coordinated view, instead of four advisors who have never spoken to each other.
Common questions.
When is the UAE Corporate Tax deadline?
It follows your financial year end, not a single national date. Registration is due within 3 months of your financial year end. The return is due within 9 months of that same year end. A company closing its year on 31 December files by 30 September the year after.
What is the penalty for registering for Corporate Tax late?
AED 10,000 as an administrative penalty. Filing late is charged separately, at AED 500 per month for the first twelve months and AED 1,000 per month after that. Unpaid tax carries interest of 14 percent per year, calculated daily, since 14 April 2026.
What if we have missed deadlines already?
We start by quantifying the exposure, then prioritise the catch-up so the interest stops compounding first. Penalties can often be reduced with the right approach. We handle the response to the FTA on your behalf.
Do free zone companies pay Corporate Tax?
They register and they file, without exception. Whether the 0 percent rate applies depends on qualifying income, not on holding a free zone licence. We assess that case by case and review it every year, because activities change and the assessment changes with them.
How often are VAT returns filed in the UAE?
Quarterly once you are registered. We reconcile the books monthly, so the quarterly return is a submission rather than a reconstruction.
Do we need to do anything about e-invoicing yet?
The pilot opened on 1 July 2026 and the mandatory date for large businesses is 1 January 2027. The work is in your invoicing data quality and your service provider choice, and both take longer than the filing itself.
How often do you check in with us during the year?
Monthly reviews plus an immediate alert when something material changes. No see-you-at-year-end model.
Can you respond to FTA queries directly?
Yes. We handle FTA correspondence and submissions end-to-end so you stay out of the back-and-forth.
