In short
The Corporate Tax return must be filed and the tax paid within nine months of the end of your tax period — so a 31 December year-end means 30 September. Registration is a separate deadline: new companies must register within three months of incorporation. Late filing costs AED 500 a month for the first year, AED 1,000 a month after.
Corporate Tax in the UAE comes with a small number of fixed deadlines — but missing any of them can be expensive, and the dates are not the same for every business. The good news is that they all follow from one thing: your tax period. Once you know your year-end, every other date falls into place. This guide sets out the registration, filing, and payment deadlines, shows you how to work out your own, and explains the cost of getting them wrong.
The Corporate Tax deadlines at a glance
| Obligation | Deadline |
|---|---|
| Register with the FTA | Existing companies: per the 2024 staggered timetable (by licence-issue month). New companies: within 3 months of incorporation. |
| File the Corporate Tax return | Within 9 months of the end of your tax period. |
| Pay any Corporate Tax due | Same date as the return — within 9 months of your tax-period end. |
Everything starts with your tax period
Your "tax period" is the financial year for which you calculate Corporate Tax — normally the 12-month period covered by your financial statements. Most UAE businesses use either a calendar year (1 January to 31 December) or a year aligned to their licence or group reporting. Corporate Tax applies to financial years beginning on or after 1 June 2023, so your first tax period is the first such year for your business.
Because the filing and payment deadline is measured from the end of the tax period, the single most important thing you can do is confirm your year-end and your first tax period. Everything else is then just arithmetic.
The registration deadline
Registration is a one-time obligation and is separate from filing. For resident companies that already existed, the FTA set a staggered timetable through 2024 based on the month the trade licence was first issued. Companies incorporated on or after 1 March 2024 must register within three months of incorporation, and individuals carrying on business above the AED 1 million turnover threshold register by 31 March of the following year. If your registration deadline has passed, register immediately — the obligation does not go away.
Related guideHow to Register for Corporate Tax in the UAE (Step-by-Step 2026)The filing and payment deadline — nine months
The headline rule is simple: you must file your Corporate Tax return and pay any tax due within nine months of the end of your tax period. There is a single return for each period — no quarterly or provisional filings — and the payment deadline is the same day as the filing deadline. Here is how that works for common year-ends:
| Financial year-end | First tax period | Return + payment due by |
|---|---|---|
| 31 December | 1 Jan 2024 – 31 Dec 2024 | 30 September 2025 |
| 31 March | 1 Apr 2024 – 31 Mar 2025 | 31 December 2025 |
| 30 June | 1 Jun 2023 – 30 Jun 2024 | 31 March 2025 |
| 30 September | 1 Oct 2023 – 30 Sep 2024 | 30 June 2025 |
A worked example
Take a Dubai LLC with a calendar-year financial period. Its first tax period under Corporate Tax runs from 1 January 2024 to 31 December 2024. Counting nine months from the 31 December year-end gives a filing and payment deadline of 30 September 2025. The same logic repeats every year: the period ending 31 December 2025 will be due by 30 September 2026, and so on. A business with a 30 June year-end simply shifts the whole cycle — its 30 June 2024 period is due by 31 March 2025.
What happens if you miss a deadline?
The penalties are set by Cabinet Decision No. 75 of 2023 (as amended) and are designed to escalate, so acting early is always cheaper:
- Late registration: a fixed AED 10,000 administrative penalty.
- Late filing of the return: AED 500 for each month (or part month) for the first twelve months, then AED 1,000 for each month from the thirteenth month onwards.
- Late payment of tax: 14% per annum on the unpaid tax, charged monthly from the day after the due date until it is settled, with no cap — so a large unpaid bill grows quickly.
- Incorrect return: a fixed AED 500 penalty, unless corrected before the filing deadline; a voluntary disclosure after the deadline adds 1% per month of the underpaid tax, and an error the FTA finds in an audit carries 15% of the underpaid tax plus 1% per month from the original due date.
- Failure to keep the required records carries AED 10,000 (AED 20,000 if repeated), and failure to cooperate with an FTA audit carries AED 20,000 — accurate, well-kept books matter as much as timely filing.
A simple deadline checklist
- Confirm your financial year-end and your first tax period.
- Check your registration position — register now if you have not, and note your TRN.
- Calculate your filing and payment deadline as nine months after your year-end, and diarise it with reminders well ahead.
- Keep IFRS-compliant books through the year so the return is a calculation, not a scramble.
- Prepare the computation and review reliefs and adjustments before the deadline, not on it.
Corporate Tax deadlines are predictable once you anchor them to your tax period — and predictable obligations are easy to stay ahead of. If you want your dates confirmed, your return prepared, or the whole cycle handled for you, talk to our team.
Key takeaways
- Every Corporate Tax deadline is driven by your tax period — usually your financial year — so the first step is always to fix your year-end.
- The Corporate Tax return must be filed, and any tax paid, within nine months of the end of the tax period; there is one return per period and no provisional filings.
- A business with a 31 December year-end has its first return for the period ending 31 December 2024 due by 30 September 2025; a 31 March year-end is due by 31 December.
- Registration is a separate, one-time deadline from filing — most existing companies' registration dates fell during 2024, and new companies must register within three months of incorporation.
- Late filing currently attracts AED 500 per month for the first twelve months and AED 1,000 per month thereafter, on top of a 14%-per-annum penalty on any unpaid tax — so the dates are worth diarising early.
- Deadlines, penalties, and reliefs are set by law and refined over time — treat the figures here as the current position and confirm with the FTA before acting.