Late Corporate Tax return in the UAE: penalties and what to do next

Every UAE company files a Corporate Tax return for each tax period, within nine months of the end of that period — including a company with a loss, no revenue or nothing to pay. When the deadline has passed, the most useful thing to know is that the penalty keeps building for every month the return is still missing. Filing sooner is usually cheaper than filing perfectly later.

How the late-filing penalty builds

Because a part month counts as a full month, a delay of a few days into a new month adds a full month's penalty.

Check: is the company registered at all?

A missing return often comes with a missing registration — for example where a set-up agent was expected to register the company and did not. Late Corporate Tax registration carries a separate AED 10,000 penalty. It is waived, or refunded if already paid, where the first return is filed within seven months of the end of the first tax period, so if that window is still open, the return becomes even more urgent. See how the waiver works, and if you are not sure what was registered or filed, start with checking your EmaraTax position.

What to do next, in order

1. Confirm the position on EmaraTax. Which tax periods are set up on the account, which returns are shown as due, and any penalties already raised.
2. Bring the books up to date. The return is prepared from financial statements, so the accounts for the missing period come first. Where months of bookkeeping are missing, this is usually the longest step — see catch-up bookkeeping.
3. Prepare and file the return. File as soon as the accounts are ready, rather than waiting for the next period's work.
4. Pay any tax due. Late payment is charged separately from late filing, so pay as soon as the amount is known.
5. Review the penalties raised. Check each one against the dates on the account.

Can the penalty be challenged?

A penalty can be reviewed through a reconsideration request to the Federal Tax Authority (FTA), made within 40 business days of being notified of the penalty. A request stands the best chance where there was a genuine reason for the delay and it is supported by documents — for example, evidence of the events that prevented filing. The FTA decides every request, so the outcome cannot be assumed. See penalty reconsideration.

If an earlier return was wrong, not just late

Where a return was filed but contains an error, the route is different: the return is corrected through a voluntary disclosure. Correcting an error before the FTA raises it generally leads to lower penalties than waiting for an audit. See voluntary disclosures.

How we help

• We check the EmaraTax account with you and set out which returns, payments and penalties are open.
• We bring the books up to date and prepare the missing returns, starting with the oldest.
• We prepare reconsideration requests where the facts support one.

Our published fees: Corporate Tax returns from AED 999^* per tax year, catch-up bookkeeping from AED 299^* per month of backlog, and penalty reconsideration from AED 1,499^*. Your fee is confirmed in a written proposal before any work starts. Tell us which periods are open and we will set out the order of work.