If your business closed its financial year on 31 December 2025, your UAE Corporate Tax return and any tax due must be filed and paid within nine months of that year-end — which puts the deadline at 30 September 2026. This is the largest single group of UAE taxpayers hitting a filing deadline this year, since a calendar-year financial year is the most common choice for mainland and free zone companies alike.
Who This Deadline Applies To
This 30 September 2026 date applies specifically to businesses with a financial year running from 1 January 2025 to 31 December 2025. If your company uses a different financial year-end — say, 31 March or 30 June — your own deadline is nine months after your year-end, not this one. Not sure which category you fall into? That is usually the first thing we confirm when a client reaches out close to a deadline.
What Needs to Be Filed and Paid
- Your annual Corporate Tax return, filed electronically through the Federal Tax Authority's EmaraTax portal
- Any Corporate Tax due for the period — 9% on taxable income above AED 375,000, or 0% below that threshold
- Supporting financial statements and, where applicable, transfer pricing documentation
Penalties for Missing the Deadline
The FTA applies separate penalties for late filing and late payment, and they compound the longer a return remains outstanding:
- Late filing: AED 500 per month for the first 12 months, rising to AED 1,000 per month after that
- Late payment: 14% per annum on the unpaid tax, calculated monthly from the payment due date
- These penalties apply even if the return is eventually filed correctly — the cost is purely for missing the date
How to Prepare Before 30 September
- Confirm your financial year-end and exact filing deadline with your accountant
- Close out your books and reconcile accounts for the full financial year
- Calculate taxable income, applying the adjustments required under UAE Corporate Tax Law
- Review whether transfer pricing documentation is required for related-party transactions
- File the return and settle any payment through EmaraTax ahead of the deadline, not on the day itself
A short pre-filing tax health check is usually the fastest way to catch a missing document or a miscalculated adjustment while there is still time to fix it — rather than after the FTA raises a query.
Penalty amounts and deadlines reflect UAE Corporate Tax Law and Cabinet Decision No. 75 of 2023 on administrative penalties as of the publication date, and are provided for general guidance only. Always confirm your specific filing deadline and current requirements with the FTA or your tax advisor.