Corporate Tax Deadlines and Fines in the UAE: What the FTA Checks at Each Step

A company registers for Corporate Tax two months after the deadline - that's an AED 10,000 penalty. The same company files its first return 10 months after the end of the tax period instead of the required nine - that's another AED 500 for every month of delay. The tax itself is paid one month late - plus 14% per annum on the remaining balance. Three separate steps - three separate counters, and they add up rather than cancel each other out.

This article walks through the whole ladder in order: registration, filing, payment, with the figures and the primary source for each, and what happens if more than one link in the chain is missed.

Step 1. Registration - a separate penalty regardless of tax due

Any company subject to Corporate Tax must register with the FTA through EmaraTax. Missing the registration deadline has cost AED 10,000 since 1 March 2024 - a fixed amount, not tied to the company's turnover or profit.

An important detail that's often missed: the penalty applies for the delay itself, even if the company has no tax payable for the year - for example, because of Small Business Relief. The relief zeroes out the tax, but it doesn't remove the obligation to register on time.

Step 2. The return - the penalty grows monthly with no upper limit

After registering, a company must still file its return and pay the tax within nine months of the end of its tax period (Article 53 of the Corporate Tax Law). Under Small Business Relief the tax payable is zero, but the return still has to be filed and the company still has to be registered.

The penalty for a late return is calculated for each month or part of a month of delay:

• the first 12 months - AED 500 per month;
• from the 13th month of delay - AED 1,000 per month.

This penalty has no time cap: it keeps accruing until the return is filed. The deadline for filing the return and the deadline for paying the tax are the same - the same nine-month window after the end of the tax period.

Step 3. Payment - a separate counter on top of the filing penalty

If the return is filed but the tax isn't paid, a third, separate penalty kicks in: 14% per annum on the unpaid amount, charged monthly for each month or part of a month of delay (Cabinet Decision No. 75 of 2023 on administrative penalties for Corporate Tax). It runs in parallel with the late-filing penalty, not instead of it - so a company that both filed late and paid late and in full pays under both grounds at the same time.

Common mistakes

Assuming no tax due means no risk. The late registration penalty doesn't depend on the tax amount - the AED 10,000 applies even to companies with no tax payable for the period. Fix: register by the regime's deadline, not based on whether tax is due.

Confusing the return deadline with the company's registration date. The nine months are counted from the end of the tax period, not from the date the company registered. Fix: pin down the end date of the tax period itself and count from there.

Delaying tax payment after the return has already been filed. The 14% per annum keeps accruing monthly even if the filing obligation is formally closed. Fix: pay the tax on the same deadline as filing the return.

Checked against tax.gov.ae, FTA Public Clarification CTP006/2025 and Cabinet Decision No. 75 of 2023, as of 14 October 2026.