UAE corporate tax returns must be filed, and any tax paid, within nine months of the end of the financial year. For the many businesses whose financial year ended on 31 December 2025, that deadline was 30 September 2026. If your company filed on time, the next date to plan for depends on your financial year end. If it did not, penalties are already accruing, and acting this week costs far less than acting next quarter. This guide from Cressford Chartered Accountants sets out the rule, the penalties, and every upcoming deadline through 2027.
The rule is the same for every taxable person: the corporate tax return is due, and the corporate tax payable must be settled, no later than nine months after the end of the relevant tax period. There are no extensions for small companies, free zone entities or dormant businesses. A company with no tax to pay, including one electing small business relief, still has to file by the same date.
Applied to common financial year ends, the deadlines are:
Filing and payment share one deadline. A return submitted on time with the tax unpaid still triggers late payment charges on the unpaid amount.
Nothing is gained by waiting. The Federal Tax Authority applies penalties that grow with every month a return stays outstanding, so the practical answer is to prepare and submit the return immediately, pay the tax in full, and keep evidence of when and why the delay occurred.
The penalties that apply to a late corporate tax return are:
Where a filed return later turns out to be wrong, a voluntary disclosure submitted before the FTA raises the issue is treated more leniently than a correction made after an audit letter arrives. If your 2025 figures were filed under pressure in September and you doubt a position taken in the return, have it reviewed now rather than leaving it for the FTA to find.
Two categories of taxable person must prepare and maintain audited financial statements: businesses with revenue above AED 50 million in the relevant tax period, and every Qualifying Free Zone Person, regardless of size, as a condition of keeping the 0 percent free zone rate. In practice this means the external audit has to be completed well before the filing deadline, because the return is prepared from the audited numbers. Companies with a 31 March 2026 year end that have not yet appointed an auditor are now working against a 31 December filing date.
Resident businesses with revenue of AED 3 million or less in the relevant tax period, and in every prior tax period ending on or after 1 June 2023, can elect small business relief and be treated as having no taxable income. Two points are routinely misunderstood. First, the relief is only available for tax periods ending on or before 31 December 2026, so the current financial year is the last one it covers. Second, the relief is claimed by election in the tax return itself. A business that files nothing receives nothing, and still collects late filing penalties.
A business that ceases trading or enters liquidation must apply to deregister from corporate tax within three months of the date of cessation, and a final return is still required for the last tax period. VAT deregistration runs on its own, shorter timeline. Missing either one adds administrative penalties to a company that is trying to close cleanly, so the tax steps belong inside the liquidation plan, not after it.
The companies that file comfortably share the same habits: the trial balance is closed within two months of year end, the audit, where required, is booked early, transfer pricing documentation and related party schedules are prepared alongside the accounts rather than at the end, and the return is reviewed against the financial statements before submission. Cressford Chartered Accountants handles this as a single sequence, from VAT and accounting records through the audit to the corporate tax computation and filing, so the nine-month window is never a scramble.
For financial years ending 31 December 2025, the return and payment were due by 30 September 2026. Businesses with other year ends have their own deadline nine months after year end.
AED 500 for each month or part month of delay during the first twelve months, then AED 1,000 per month, plus a 14 percent annual charge on any unpaid tax, applied monthly.
Yes. The filing obligation applies regardless of profit level. Losses should be filed properly, since they can be carried forward against future taxable income.
No. Qualifying Free Zone Persons follow the same nine-month rule, and additionally must maintain audited financial statements to retain the 0 percent rate on qualifying income.
The FTA has run specific waiver initiatives with strict conditions, and penalties can be contested in defined circumstances. Whether your business qualifies depends on the facts, which is worth a professional review before penalties are simply paid.
Whether you missed 30 September 2026 and need the position fixed, or your deadline is 31 December 2026 and the audit has not started, Cressford Chartered Accountants will give you a fixed fee and a clear timeline the same day.
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