Tax · Corporate Tax
Corporate Tax Advisory for UAE Businesses
We advise on the decisions that change your corporate tax position — QFZP status, Small Business Relief, tax groups, exemptions and restructures — review past filings for errors, and support you when the FTA asks questions.
- QFZP Assessments
- Tax Groups & Exemptions
- Health Checks & FTA Audits
Licensed by Dubai DET · Licence 1394564
At a glance
- Common ownership needed to form a tax group
- 95%
- Shareholding broadly needed for participation exemption
- 5%
- Latest period end eligible for Small Business Relief
- 31 Dec 2026
- QFZP rates on qualifying and other income
- 0% / 9%
The big corporate tax numbers are decided before the return
Much of your corporate tax position is settled long before the return is filed — by whether your free zone company really meets the QFZP conditions, whether Small Business Relief still applies, how group companies are owned and how related parties charge each other. These choices carry conditions, and getting one wrong can cost more than a single year’s tax. With Small Business Relief unavailable for tax periods ending after 31 December 2026, many businesses face these questions now.
Smartgic gives you written, practical advice on these decisions and the evidence to support them. We assess QFZP status condition by condition, plan for life after Small Business Relief, test tax group and participation exemption options, and review related-party and connected-person arrangements. Our health checks review past filings against your accounts and the law, so errors can be corrected through a voluntary disclosure before the FTA finds them — and when the FTA does write, we help you respond.
Key facts
- Common ownership needed to form a tax group
- 95%
- Shareholding broadly needed for participation exemption
- 5%
- Latest period end eligible for Small Business Relief
- 31 Dec 2026
- QFZP rates on qualifying and other income
- 0% / 9%
Everything covered in Corporate Tax Advisory
The concrete scope our team delivers, grouped the way we actually run your file.
Status & Reliefs
The elections and conditions that set your rate.
- Qualifying Free Zone Person assessment
- Small Business Relief and transition planning
- Tax group feasibility and application
- Participation exemption tests (5% holding, 12 months)
- Loss utilisation planning
Reviews & Health Checks
A second look at what has already been filed.
- Corporate tax health check of past filings
- Compliance audit against accounts and records
- Related-party and connected-person review
- Restructuring and share transfer impact analysis
- Prioritised findings and correction plan
FTA Interaction
Support whenever the authority is involved.
- FTA query and audit preparation
- Voluntary disclosure preparation
- Clarification requests to the FTA
- Reconsideration request drafting
- Document packs and reconciliations
What you gain with Corporate Tax Advisory
The practical difference when the work is planned and filed properly the first time.
QFZP Status Tested
We test substance, qualifying activities and income, audited accounts and transfer pricing before you rely on 0%, not after the FTA questions it.
Planning Beyond Small Business Relief
Relief only covers tax periods ending on or before 31 December 2026, so we plan your books, computation and cash flow for the periods after.
Group Options Compared
We test whether a tax group, participation exemption or qualifying group relief suits your companies, and what conditions and liabilities come with each.
Related Parties in Order
Payments to owners, directors and group companies are reviewed against the arm’s-length and market-value rules before they become a deductibility problem.
Mistakes Caught Early
A health check compares past returns with your accounts and the law, so mistakes are corrected by voluntary disclosure rather than discovered in an audit.
Support When the FTA Asks
When the FTA queries a return or opens an audit, we prepare reconciliations and responses within the time it allows and keep every submission consistent.
A clear process, step by step
One adviser owns your file from first call to completion, and you always know which step you are on.
- 01
Scoping Call
We discuss your structure, the decision or concern behind the request and any FTA correspondence, then agree the questions to answer and the documents we need.
- 02
Review & Analysis
We work through your accounts, filings, agreements and ownership records against the Corporate Tax Law and the FTA’s published guidance, testing each condition that applies.
- 03
Written Advice
You receive a clear memo: our findings, the options open to you, the tax effect of each, and the evidence you’ll need to support the position.
- 04
Implementation
We help put the decision into effect — elections, tax group applications, voluntary disclosures, clarification requests, agreements or policy changes — and update your compliance calendar.
- 05
Ongoing Support
As your business changes, or when the FTA asks questions, we revisit the analysis and help you respond with consistent figures and documents.
Who it’s for and what you’ll need
Have these ready and we can move quickly. If something is missing, we will tell you what the authority accepts instead.
When to get corporate tax advice
- Your free zone company plans to apply 0% as a Qualifying Free Zone Person
- You have relied on Small Business Relief and need a plan for later periods
- You own several companies, or hold shares in other businesses
- You are planning a restructure, a sale, a new holding company or a share transfer
- Past returns were filed without a professional review
- The FTA has sent a query, an audit notice or a request for documents
Documents we’ll need
- Financial statements for recent periods
- Filed corporate tax returns and computations
- Group structure chart with ownership percentages
- Intercompany and related-party agreements
- Trade licences and MOAs for each entity
- Any FTA letters, queries or audit notices
- Details of the transaction or change you are planning
Need documents attested or translated? Our document clearing team can help.
Corporate Tax Advisory questions
Straight answers to what clients ask us most. If yours is not here, ask us directly.
A Qualifying Free Zone Person pays 0% on qualifying income and 9% on other income, but only while every condition is met: adequate substance in the free zone, qualifying activities and income, audited financial statements, compliance with transfer pricing rules, and no election to be taxed at the standard rate. We test each condition against your contracts, customers and accounts and tell you where the risks sit.
Small Business Relief is available only for tax periods ending on or before 31 December 2026. For later periods, your return is based on a full computation — taxable income from your accounts, with 0% up to AED 375,000 and 9% above. Bookkeeping quality, expense evidence and related-party pricing then matter much more, so we review them before your first full period starts, not after it ends.
UAE-resident companies with 95% common ownership can apply to form a tax group that files a single return, with transactions between members eliminated. Members need the same financial year and accounting standards, and exempt persons and Qualifying Free Zone Persons cannot join. The trade-off is that members become jointly and severally liable for the group’s tax. We compare the group result with filing separately before you apply.
A health check — sometimes called a corporate tax compliance audit — is a review of returns already filed. We reconcile each return to your financial statements, test the adjustments, elections and exemptions claimed, check related-party dealings, and confirm your records meet the 7-year retention rule. You receive a prioritised list of findings, and where something was wrong, we prepare the voluntary disclosure to correct it.
Yes. We read the request with you, work out exactly what the FTA is asking for, and prepare the reconciliations, explanations and supporting documents within the time it allows. If the query points to an error, we advise on correcting it through a voluntary disclosure. No adviser can promise how the FTA will decide, but a clear, consistent and well-documented response puts your position on solid ground.
You can submit a clarification request through EmaraTax, setting out the facts and asking how the FTA applies the law to them. It suits genuinely uncertain points — a restructure, an unusual income stream, a free zone activity question. The answer is specific to your facts, so the request has to be precise. We draft it, attach the evidence and follow it through.
Related services
Most clients combine these. We run them as one engagement with a single point of contact.
Guides on Corporate Tax Advisory
In-depth articles from our team on the questions clients most often ask about this service.
Let’s plan your next move
Tell us what you are planning. An adviser will come back with the route, the documents and an itemised quote — no obligation, no pressure to commit.
Visit our office
Office 44, Floor M2, BN Complex, Deira Al Muteena, Dubai, UAE
Mon – Sat, 9:00 AM – 6:00 PM (GST)
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