Tax · Corporate Tax
Corporate Tax Return Filing in the UAE
We build your corporate tax computation from your accounts — adjustments, exemptions, reliefs and losses — then prepare and submit your annual return through your EmaraTax account, with the tax payable confirmed before the deadline.
- Computation From Accounts
- Reliefs & Losses Applied
- QFZP & Tax Group Returns
Licensed by Dubai DET · Licence 1394564
At a glance
- After the tax period ends to file and pay
- 9 months
- On taxable income above AED 375,000
- 9%
- Of taxable income that brought-forward losses can offset
- 75%
- Minimum record retention after each tax period
- 7 years
A return is only as good as the computation behind it
Every registered taxable person files an annual corporate tax return — including companies with nil tax or claiming Small Business Relief — and pays any tax due within 9 months of the end of the tax period. The return doesn’t start from revenue: it starts from the accounting profit in your financial statements, then adjusts for non-deductible costs, exempt income, reliefs and losses brought forward. Mistakes in those adjustments are what lead to underpaid tax, penalties and FTA queries.
Smartgic prepares the computation line by line from your accounts, applies the elections and reliefs you qualify for, and documents every adjustment in working papers you can show the FTA. We check Small Business Relief eligibility, prepare QFZP and tax group computations, and coordinate the audit or transfer pricing disclosure where the rules require one. You review and approve the figures; we prepare and submit the return through your EmaraTax account and confirm what to pay, and by when.
Key facts
- After the tax period ends to file and pay
- 9 months
- On taxable income above AED 375,000
- 9%
- Of taxable income that brought-forward losses can offset
- 75%
- Minimum record retention after each tax period
- 7 years
Everything covered in Corporate Tax Return Filing
The concrete scope our team delivers, grouped the way we actually run your file.
Computation & Return
From the profit in your accounts to the figure on the return.
- Accounting-to-taxable-income reconciliation
- Non-deductible and partly deductible expense review
- Exempt income and participation exemption
- Loss carry-forward within the 75% limit
- Small Business Relief eligibility and election
- Return preparation and EmaraTax submission
Specialist Computations
Returns that need more than a standard computation.
- QFZP qualifying and non-qualifying income split
- Tax group consolidated return
- Transfer pricing disclosure form, where required
- Audited financial statements coordination
- Interest deduction limitation check
Payment & Aftercare
Everything that follows the submission.
- Tax payable confirmation and payment guidance
- Working papers archive for the retention period
- Voluntary disclosure if an error surfaces later
- Responses to FTA queries on the return
- Next-period deadline and data calendar
What you gain with Corporate Tax Return Filing
The practical difference when the work is planned and filed properly the first time.
Computation You Can Defend
Every adjustment from accounting profit to taxable income is reconciled and explained in working papers, ready if the FTA asks how a figure was reached.
Reliefs Not Left Unclaimed
We check exempt dividends and gains, qualifying group and restructuring reliefs, and losses brought forward, so you pay only the tax the law requires.
Small Business Relief Tested
If your revenue is AED 3 million or less, we confirm whether you can elect the relief for the period and what electing it means.
Free Zone Income Split
For Qualifying Free Zone Persons we separate qualifying from non-qualifying income, so 0% and 9% are each applied to the right figures.
Deadline and Payment Covered
We plan the work back from your filing deadline and confirm the amount and payment route, so the return and the tax arrive on time together.
Records Kept in Order
Working papers, elections and schedules are archived with your return, so the records you must keep for at least 7 years are complete.
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
Year-End Data Request
We request your financial statements, trial balance, fixed asset register and related-party details, and confirm whether an audit or transfer pricing disclosure is needed for the period.
- 02
Tax Computation
Starting from accounting profit, we make the adjustments, apply exempt income, reliefs and elections, offset losses within the 75% limit, and calculate tax at 0% and 9%.
- 03
Your Review & Approval
You receive the draft return with a plain-English summary of each adjustment. We answer your questions and update the figures before you approve the final version.
- 04
Submission & Payment
We prepare and submit the return through your EmaraTax account, with any disclosure forms attached, and confirm the tax payable and how to pay it before the deadline.
- 05
Archive & Next Year
We archive the computation and working papers, note losses and elections carrying into next year, and diarise your next filing deadline.
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.
Who files a corporate tax return
- Every company registered for corporate tax, including free zone and offshore companies
- Companies with a loss, nil taxable income or tax at 0%
- Businesses electing Small Business Relief for the period
- Tax groups, which file one return through the parent company
- Individuals registered because their business turnover exceeded AED 1 million
Documents we’ll need
- Financial statements for the tax period (audited where required)
- Trial balance and general ledger
- Fixed asset register and depreciation schedule
- Related-party and connected-person transaction details
- Previous returns and losses brought forward
- Dividend, shareholding and investment details
- Free zone licence and substance evidence, if claiming QFZP status
- EmaraTax access for the authorised user
Need documents attested or translated? Our document clearing team can help.
Estimate your corporate tax
Enter your taxable income to see how much falls in the 0% band and how much is taxed at 9%.
Your figures
Accounting profit after tax adjustments — not revenue.
Estimated corporate tax
AED 33,750
Effective rate 4.50%
- Taxed at 0%
- AED 375,000
- Taxed at 9%
- AED 375,000
An estimate for a standard UAE taxable person, not tax advice. Registration and an annual return are required even when no tax is due.
Corporate Tax Return Filing questions
Straight answers to what clients ask us most. If yours is not here, ask us directly.
The return must be filed, and any tax paid, within 9 months of the end of your tax period, which is usually your financial year. For a financial year ending 31 December, that means filing and paying by 30 September the following year. There are no quarterly corporate tax returns — it is one annual return per tax period.
Yes. A return is due for every tax period, even when the result is a loss or nil tax. Filing is also how the loss is established for later use: tax losses can be carried forward and set against up to 75% of taxable income in a later period, subject to conditions such as continuity of ownership or of the business.
Small Business Relief is elected in the return itself. If you are a resident business with revenue of AED 3 million or less, you can elect to be treated as having no taxable income for tax periods ending on or before 31 December 2026. It is not available to Qualifying Free Zone Persons or members of large multinational groups, and you still file the return and keep records.
For corporate tax, audited statements are required if your revenue is above AED 50 million or you are a Qualifying Free Zone Person — and your licensing authority may require an audit anyway. Otherwise you file from financial statements prepared under IFRS, or IFRS for SMEs where revenue is under AED 50 million. Audits are carried out and signed by UAE-registered auditors independent of your bookkeeping; we manage the engagement.
Errors in a submitted return are corrected through a voluntary disclosure on EmaraTax. Correcting a mistake yourself is generally treated better than the FTA finding it in an audit, so it pays to act once an error is spotted. We quantify the difference, prepare the disclosure and supporting reconciliation, and confirm any additional tax to pay. Penalties are set by the FTA and depend on the circumstances.
The calculator gives a quick estimate by applying 0% up to AED 375,000 and 9% above it. Your actual liability depends on the computation that produces your taxable income — non-deductible costs, exempt income, reliefs, losses brought forward and elections such as Small Business Relief. Treat the result as a guide, then let us build the full computation from your accounts.
Related services
Most clients combine these. We run them as one engagement with a single point of contact.
Guides on Corporate Tax Return Filing
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.
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