Residents in the UAE with licenses issued in March and April are reminded by the Federal Tax Authority (FTA) to submit their corporate tax registration applications by June 30. This applies to all businesses, regardless of the year the license was issued.
For juridical persons — entities with a distinct legal personality from their founders, owners, and directors — who did not have a license by March 1, the deadline for corporate tax registration is today, May 31.
Corporate tax is applicable to juridical persons incorporated in the UAE and foreign entities managed and controlled within the country.
This includes entities in free zones and those established abroad but operated from the UAE. According to the Ministry of Finance, individuals conducting business activities in the UAE will be subject to corporate tax only if their combined turnover exceeds Dh1 million annually.
Businesses that fail to register for corporate tax by the deadline will face a Dh10,000 fine, as per a Cabinet decision issued in February this year.
What is Corporate Tax?
Corporate tax is a direct tax levied on the net income or profit of corporations and other businesses. Khalid Ali Al Bustani, the FTA director-general, emphasized the importance of adhering to the specified deadlines.
“Business sectors have been informed of the deadlines for different taxpayer categories as part of our ongoing efforts to strengthen strategic partnerships with taxable persons and provide them with the means to facilitate smooth and accurate tax compliance,” he said.
To aid in this compliance, the FTA has conducted a comprehensive campaign to educate business stakeholders on the importance and requirements of corporate tax compliance.
This campaign includes in-person and virtual workshops, as well as engagements across economic councils and business assemblies in commercial and industrial areas. “The aim is to disseminate tax awareness broadly and interact with all categories of taxpayers,” Al Bustani added.
