Published: 2026-09-02
Companies in the UAE whose financial year ended on 2025-12-31 must file their Corporate Tax return and pay the tax due by 2026-09-30. The Federal Tax Authority (FTA) issued the reminder on 2026-09-02, four weeks before the deadline, and stressed that the rule is the same for every Taxable Person: a return and payment within nine months of the end of the Tax Period, with no separate schedule for small companies. Businesses that claim Small Business Relief file a simplified return by the same date, and Exempt Persons that had to register file an annual declaration within the same nine months. The cost of missing the date is fixed by Cabinet Decision No. 75 of 2023: AED 500 for each month of delay during the first twelve months, AED 1,000 a month from the thirteenth month, and 14% per annum on unpaid tax. Everything is done through the EmaraTax platform, directly or through an FTA-approved Tax Agent.
What the FTA said on 2026-09-02
The reminder, published through the UAE press on 2026-09-02, repeats the core rule of Federal Decree-Law No. 47 of 2022: a Taxable Person files its Corporate Tax return and settles the tax within nine months of the end of its Tax Period. For the largest group of UAE companies, those whose accounts follow the calendar year, the 2025 Tax Period closed on 2025-12-31 and the nine months run out on 2026-09-30. The FTA asked businesses to prepare their documents early and described filing and payment as legal obligations that must be completed within the statutory timeframe.
The key points of the statement:
- Deadline: 2026-09-30 for the return and for payment of the Corporate Tax due, for financial years ended 2025-12-31.
- Scope: all Taxable Persons, including those eligible for Small Business Relief, who file simplified returns within the same timeframe.
- Exempt Persons required to register: an annual declaration within nine months of the end of their financial year.
- Channel: registration, filing and payment are available around the clock through EmaraTax, directly or through an approved Tax Agent from the list on the FTA website.
- Records: every Taxable Person must keep the documents that support the return, and Exempt Persons must keep the records that prove their exemption; failure to do so is an administrative penalty under the Tax Procedures Law and the Corporate Tax Law.
The reminder contains no extension. In 2024 the FTA had granted extra time to companies with short first Tax Periods ending on or before 2024-02-29, moving their deadline to 2024-12-31 under FTA Decision No. 7 of 2024. Nothing of the kind has been announced for the 2025 calendar year, and the statement treats 2026-09-30 as final.
Who must file by 30 September 2026
The nine-month rule produces one date for calendar-year companies and different dates for everyone else. The table sets out the main groups.
| Who | What to file | Deadline |
|---|---|---|
| Taxable Person with a financial year ended 2025-12-31 | Corporate Tax return and payment of the tax due | 2026-09-30 |
| Taxable Person eligible for Small Business Relief, year ended 2025-12-31 | Simplified return with the relief election; no tax to pay if the election is valid | 2026-09-30 |
| Exempt Person required to register (for example a qualifying investment fund or a qualifying public benefit entity), year ended 2025-12-31 | Annual declaration | 2026-09-30 |
| Taxable Person with a financial year ended 2026-03-31 | Return and payment | 2026-12-31 |
| Taxable Person with a financial year ended 2026-06-30 | Return and payment | 2027-03-31 |
Two points are often misread. First, the deadline covers payment, not only filing: a return submitted on time with the tax unpaid still attracts the 14% per annum late-payment penalty from 2026-10-01. Second, a company with zero tax due still files. A Small Business Relief election, a loss year or a result under the AED 375,000 threshold changes the amount, not the obligation. The standard rate is 9% on Taxable Income above AED 375,000 and 0% up to that amount, and the return is what tells the FTA which case applies.
Small Business Relief: the relief runs to 2029, the return does not go away
Small Business Relief lets a resident Taxable Person with Revenue of AED 3 million or less in the current and all previous Tax Periods be treated as having no Taxable Income. The threshold was set by Ministerial Decision No. 73 of 2023 and was originally available for Tax Periods ending on or before 2026-12-31. On 2026-08-07 the Ministry of Finance announced Ministerial Decision No. 131 of 2026, which extends the relief to Tax Periods ending on or before 2029-12-31 with the same AED 3 million threshold. The relief therefore covers the 2025 return being filed now and the following four years.
The relief is elected in the return itself, not granted automatically, and it is not available to a Qualifying Free Zone Person or to a member of a multinational enterprise group with consolidated revenue above AED 3.15 billion. On 2026-08-03 the FTA had already reminded eligible businesses that the relief removes tax, not compliance: the company must be registered for Corporate Tax, file a simplified return within the legal deadline and keep the records that show its Revenue stayed under the threshold. The simplified return reduces the information required, but it is submitted through EmaraTax by the same 2026-09-30 date as a full return. A company that has not filed by then owes the same AED 500 a month as any other late filer, whatever its size.
The records the FTA expects to see
The 2026-09-02 statement spends as much space on records as on the deadline, and the emphasis is deliberate: the return is a summary, and the records are what an audit will test. The FTA lists four core sets of documents that a Taxable Person must keep and, where required, submit with the return:
- a record of all transactions during the Tax Period;
- an asset register showing the purchase and disposal of assets;
- a record of liabilities;
- a record of shares or ownership interests held at the end of the Tax Period.
These records let the FTA verify Revenue, Taxable Income and, for small companies, eligibility for Small Business Relief. Under Article 56 of the Corporate Tax Law they must be kept for seven years after the end of the Tax Period they relate to. Failure to keep them is a separate violation from late filing: Cabinet Decision No. 75 of 2023 sets the penalty at AED 10,000 for each violation and AED 20,000 for a repeat within 24 months, and not providing records in Arabic when the FTA asks for them costs a further AED 5,000. Exempt Persons are not spared: they must keep the records that allow the FTA to verify their exempt status.
The return also rests on financial statements. Taxable Persons with Revenue above AED 50 million and all Qualifying Free Zone Persons must prepare audited financial statements under Ministerial Decision No. 82 of 2023; smaller companies may file on the basis of unaudited statements, and a business with Revenue up to AED 3 million may keep its accounts on a cash basis. Whichever basis applies, the figures in the return must reconcile to the statements and the statements to the four record sets above.
What a missed deadline costs
| Violation (Cabinet Decision No. 75 of 2023) | Administrative penalty |
|---|---|
| Late Corporate Tax return | AED 500 for each month or part of a month for the first twelve months, AED 1,000 a month from the thirteenth month, counted from the day after the deadline |
| Unpaid Corporate Tax | 14% per annum on the unsettled amount, charged monthly from the day after the due date |
| Late annual declaration by an Exempt Person | AED 500 a month for the first twelve months, then AED 1,000 a month |
| Failure to keep required records | AED 10,000 per violation; AED 20,000 for a repeat within 24 months |
| Incorrect return | AED 500, unless corrected before the filing deadline |
| Late Corporate Tax registration | AED 10,000 (added by Cabinet Decision No. 10 of 2024) |
A worked example: a calendar-year company that files its 2025 return on 2027-01-15 has missed the deadline by three full months and part of a fourth, so it owes AED 2,000 in late-filing penalties before any tax is counted; if AED 100,000 of tax was also unpaid, the 14% per annum charge adds roughly AED 1,167 for each month of delay. The late-registration line is a reminder of the waiver window described in our guide on the first Corporate Tax return and the AED 10,000 penalty: companies that registered late could have the AED 10,000 cancelled by filing their first return within seven months of the period end, by 2026-07-31 for the 2025 calendar year. That window has closed. The nine-month deadline of 2026-09-30 is the statutory one, and it carries the standard late-filing penalty rather than a waiver.
Checklist for the next four weeks
- Confirm the Tax Period in EmaraTax: the deadline is nine months after the end of the period shown in the registration, not after the licence anniversary.
- Close the 2025 accounts and reconcile them with the bank statements; the return is built on financial statements, audited where Revenue exceeds AED 50 million or the company is a Qualifying Free Zone Person.
- Decide on elections before filing: Small Business Relief if Revenue is AED 3 million or less, the Qualifying Free Zone Person regime for free zone companies with qualifying income, and any other election that applies.
- Assemble the four record sets named by the FTA: transactions, asset register, liabilities, shares and ownership interests at the period end.
- Calculate the tax and arrange the payment ahead of the last day rather than on it; the late-payment penalty starts on 2026-10-01.
- If a Tax Agent files for you, sign the engagement and grant EmaraTax access now; the FTA’s list of approved agents is public.
- Companies with other year ends: diary the nine-month date, and use the same preparation for the next compliance layers, the UAE e-invoicing rollout in 2026-2027 and, for large groups, the Pillar Two information return.
How Atlant Capital can help
Atlant Capital works with founders and companies that set up and run a business in the UAE. We handle company formation in free zones and on the mainland, licence renewals and amendments, employee visas, Corporate Tax registration in EmaraTax as part of the setup, and corporate bank account opening, so that a new company enters its first Tax Period with a registration, a bank account and a clear structure. The accounts and the return itself are prepared by licensed accounting firms and FTA-approved Tax Agents from our partner network; our part is to make sure the company side is in order before they start: which Tax Period applies, whether the licence, ownership and free zone status match what the return will say, and where the records named by the FTA are kept. If your 2025 accounts are not closed yet, the four weeks to 2026-09-30 are enough, provided the work starts now.
Conclusion
The FTA’s reminder of 2026-09-02 adds no new rule; it names the date. Every Taxable Person with a financial year ended 2025-12-31 files its Corporate Tax return and pays the tax by 2026-09-30, Small Business Relief filers submit their simplified return by the same date, and Exempt Persons that registered file their annual declaration. The relief for small businesses now runs to 2029-12-31 under Ministerial Decision No. 131 of 2026, but it is claimed in a return, not instead of one. Late filing costs AED 500 a month, late payment 14% per annum, missing records AED 10,000 per violation. With four weeks left, the practical question for a UAE company is not whether it has to file but whether its 2025 records will stand behind the numbers it submits.
FAQ
When is the UAE Corporate Tax return due for the 2025 financial year?
For a company whose financial year ended on 2025-12-31, the Corporate Tax return must be filed and the tax paid by 2026-09-30, nine months after the end of the Tax Period. The FTA confirmed the date on 2026-09-02 and announced no extension. Companies with other year ends follow the same nine-month rule: a year ended 2026-03-31 is due by 2026-12-31, a year ended 2026-06-30 by 2027-03-31.
Do I have to file a Corporate Tax return if I claim Small Business Relief?
Yes. A resident Taxable Person with Revenue of AED 3 million or less elects Small Business Relief in the return itself and files a simplified return through EmaraTax by the same deadline, 2026-09-30 for the 2025 calendar year. The relief was extended by Ministerial Decision No. 131 of 2026 to Tax Periods ending on or before 2029-12-31, but it does not remove the duty to register, file and keep records, and a late simplified return carries the same AED 500 monthly penalty.
What is the penalty for filing the UAE Corporate Tax return late?
Cabinet Decision No. 75 of 2023 sets AED 500 for each month or part of a month of delay during the first twelve months and AED 1,000 a month from the thirteenth month, counted from the day after the deadline. Unpaid tax attracts a separate penalty of 14% per annum, charged monthly on the outstanding amount. Failure to keep the required records costs AED 10,000 per violation and AED 20,000 for a repeat within 24 months.
What records does the FTA require to support a Corporate Tax return?
The FTA names four core sets: a record of transactions during the Tax Period, an asset register with purchases and disposals, a record of liabilities, and a record of shares or ownership interests held at the end of the period. They must be kept for seven years after the end of the Tax Period and allow the FTA to verify Revenue, Taxable Income and eligibility for Small Business Relief. Taxable Persons with Revenue above AED 50 million and Qualifying Free Zone Persons also need audited financial statements.
