Step-by-Step Guide to Corporate Tax Filing in the UAE (2025)

A Taxable Person must file its tax return and pay any due Corporate Tax to the FTA within nine months after its tax period ends. It is a self-assessment system. This guide shows how to prepare and file Corporate Tax Return through the Federal Tax Authority’s EmaraTax portal. It turns the detailed instructions from the FTA Corporate Tax Returns Guide (Nov 2024) into easy steps for business owners, accountants, and finance managers. The guide is based on the latest FTA rules and Corporate Tax Law to help you file accurately and stay compliant.

Key Deadlines and Tax Rates

Corporate Tax Registration Deadline: All UAE businesses must register for Corporate Tax with the Federal Tax Authority (FTA) before their assigned deadline, which depends on the trade license issuance month. Entities formed after 1 March 2024 must register within 3 months of incorporation.

For individuals (like freelancers or sole proprietors), registration is required if annual business income exceeds AED 1 million, by 31 March of the following year. If you miss the corporate tax registration deadline, you could be fined AED 10,000 by the FTA.

Filing Deadline: Corporate Tax returns need to be submitted within nine months following the end of the financial year.

Corporate Tax Rate: Businesses in the UAE are charged 9% Corporate Tax on profits exceeding AED 375,000, while income up to AED 375,000 is taxed at 0%. This lower rate also applies to Qualifying Free Zone entities, provided they meet the Federal Tax Authority’s specified conditions.

Filing Platform: Online through the FTA’s EmaraTax portal.

Register and Verify Your TRN and Tax Period

Registration: If you haven’t completed your corporate tax registration yet, firstly register for Corporate Tax on EmaraTax and get your TRN (Tax Registration Number). Corporate tax registration is mandatory for taxable companies, and it is required for corporate tax filing UAE.

Confirm your Tax Period: Most businesses follow their financial year (the 12 months used for their accounts), while individuals use the calendar year.

If your financial year finishes on 31 December 2024, your Corporate Tax return should be submitted by 30 September 2025, which is exactly nine months later. This nine-month window is the standard filing period set by the Federal Tax Authority (FTA) for all businesses.

You can request to change your tax period with FTA approval, but please verify that the pre-filled Tax Period in EmaraTax is accurate.

Why check now: The details shown in EmaraTax come directly from your registration. If your registration information is wrong, some sections might not appear, or you could see the wrong options for elections and schedules.

Documents and Accounting Preparation

Before filing your Corporate Tax Return, gather and review all key financial and supporting documents. These records help ensure that your return is accurate and compliant with FTA requirements.

You should have:

Financial Statements: Mandatory for all businesses, unless you are claiming Small Business Relief.
Audit Report (if audited): Include the auditor’s name and opinion. All UAE businesses that are earning over AED 50 million, as well as Qualifying Free Zone Persons, are required to maintain audited financial statements.
General Ledger, Trial Balance, and Reconciliations: Required to ensure that your accounting income matches the figures reported in the tax return.
Related-Party Contracts and Invoices: Needed for the Connected Persons Schedule and Transfer Pricing verification.
Proof of Foreign Tax Paid: This is needed when you want to claim a credit for taxes paid in another country.
Tax Residency Certificates: Needed if you are relying on a Double Taxation Agreement (DTA) or making a Foreign Permanent Establishment (PE) election.
Valuation Documents: Provide evidence of market value for financial assets or liabilities if Transitional Rules apply.

Having these ready before you begin filing will make the EmaraTax process faster and reduce the risk of missing or incorrect entries.

How the Tax Return Is Structured

The Corporate Tax Return in the UAE is divided into several key parts. Each section gathers specific information needed to calculate and report your tax correctly. When you file through EmaraTax, only the sections relevant to your business type will appear.

Here is how the return is organized:

Part A – Taxable Person Information:

Verifies your Tax Registration Number (TRN) and registered business details.
Confirms your resident or non-resident status for tax purposes.
Checks your turnover and accounting basis (cash or accrual).
Identifies the number of businesses or activities you operate.
Used to verify whether you are operating in a Free Zone and meet the conditions for Free Zone status.
Checks whether you are part of a Tax Group or an Unincorporated Partnership.

Part B – Elections:

Covers any tax elections you wish to make, such as Small Business Relief, Realization Basis, Foreign Permanent Establishment Exemption, or Group and Restructuring Reliefs.

Part C – Accounting Schedule:

Requires figures from your financial statements, including accounting income and audit details.

Part D – Accounting Adjustments and Exempt Income:

Adjusts accounting income for tax purposes, including exempt income, disallowed expenses, and transitional adjustments.

Part E – Reliefs:

Records any reliefs claimed, such as Transfers within a Qualifying Group or Business Restructuring Relief.

Part F – Other Adjustments:

Includes non-deductible expenses, interest limitation adjustments, and related-party transactions.

Part G – Tax Liability and Tax Credits:

Calculates your Taxable Income, applies Tax Losses and Foreign Tax Credits, and determines the Corporate Tax payable.

Part H – Review and Declaration:

The final review and confirmation section where you declare that all information provided is true and complete.

Part I – Schedules:

Additional forms and attachments for specific situations, such as Free Zone schedule, UAE dividends schedule, FPE schedule, tax credits, related party schedules, tax loss schedules, participation exemption, unrealized gains/losses, transitional rules schedules and attachments.

How to File Your Corporate Tax Return on EmaraTax

Step 1: Log in to EmaraTax

Open the EmaraTax portal and sign in using your registered Emirates ID or email and password.
Select the Corporate Tax account linked to your Tax Registration Number (TRN).
On your dashboard, you will see your Taxable Person details, tax period, and filing deadlines.

Step 2: Confirm Taxable Person Details (Part A)

Review and confirm your entity type (e.g., Juridical Person, Natural Person, Qualifying Free Zone Person, Tax Group).
Select your accounting basis (Accrual or Cash).

Important: Choosing the Cash Basis will automatically hide inapplicable questions related to the Realization Basis and Transitional Rules, streamlining your return.

Step 3: Select Applicable Elections (Part B)

Carefully evaluate and make any relevant elections.
Exercise caution with one-time, often irrevocable elections like the Realization Basis and Transitional Rules, as they will impact all future Tax Periods. It is a best practice to document the business rationale for these decisions.

Step 4: Complete the Accounting Schedule (Part C)

Input your Accounting Income (net profit or loss) as per your Financial Statements.
Disclose whether your Financial Statements have been audited. If yes, provide the auditor’s name and the opinion issued.

Step 5: Report Adjustments & Exempt Income (Part D)

Systematically adjust your Accounting Income to arrive at your Taxable Income.
Key areas include:
- Exempt Income: Report UAE-sourced Dividends (always exempt) and income from Participating Interests.
- The system will guide you to complete specific schedules like the Participation Exemption Schedule and Foreign Permanent Establishment Schedule as needed.

Step 6: Apply Reliefs and Other Adjustments (Parts E & F)

Reliefs: If you have undertaken qualifying transactions, complete the relevant schedules for Transfers within a Qualifying Group or Business Restructuring Relief.
Other Adjustments: Report non-deductible expenses, interest limitations, and transactions with Related Parties and Connected Persons.

Note: The Connected Persons Schedule is mandatory if the total value of transactions with a single Connected Person (and their Related Parties) exceeds AED 500,000.

Step 7: Calculate Final Tax Liability & Credits (Part G)

The system will automatically calculate your Taxable Income and preliminary Corporate Tax Liability based on prior inputs.
Indicate if you wish to claim any tax credits (e.g., Foreign Tax Credit). This will trigger the Tax Credit Schedule, where you can input the relevant details.

Step 8: Upload Supporting Documents (Part I – Schedules)

Mandatory: Attach your Financial Statements, unless you have elected for Small Business Relief.
Highly Recommended: Proactively upload supporting documents such as:
- Transfer Pricing Documentation
- Evidence of Tax Paid in another country.
- Tax Residency Certificates
- Documentation for Transitional Rules elections
- If you cannot provide optional documents, state the reason, but ensure you retain them as required by law.

Step 9: Submit the Return

Check all the entries carefully.
Attach audited financial statements.
Counter check figures against your books.
Submit the return.

Step 10: Pay the Tax

Make sure to pay your Corporate Tax by the filing deadline.

Elections and Reliefs – What to Choose and Why

When filing your Corporate Tax Return, you can make certain elections and reliefs that affect how your tax is worked out. Choosing the right ones can help you save tax or make filing easier. Most of these choices stay in place for future years, so pick carefully.

Realization Basis Election

What it means: Lets you pay tax only when gains or losses actually happen (for example, when you sell an investment), instead of when they first appear in your accounts.

Who it helps: Businesses with big changes in investment values or unrealized gains.

Note: Usually can’t be changed later without FTA approval and applies to all future tax years. You must also complete the Unrealized Gains/Losses Schedule if you choose this.

Transitional Rules Election

What it means: Allows you to adjust the value of assets or liabilities that existed before Corporate Tax started, so you don’t get taxed twice on old gains.

When to use it: If you have property, intangibles, or investments bought before your first tax period.

Note: Once you choose this, you can’t reverse it for those assets. Keep records showing market value as proof.

Small Business Relief

Who can use it: UAE resident businesses with revenue of AED 3 million or less for the current and all previous tax periods. Not available to multinational groups or Free Zone companies.

Benefit: Treated as having no taxable income, so you won’t pay Corporate Tax for that year. It also reduces the amount of information you need to file.

Group Transfer and Restructuring Relief

What it means: Lets companies within the same group move assets or restructure their business without paying tax immediately.

When to use it: Before moving assets, shares, or business divisions between related companies.

Note: You need supporting documents, and if group conditions are broken later, tax may apply.

Foreign Permanent Establishment (FPE) Exemption

Who can use it: UAE businesses with a branch or office in another country.

Benefit: Lets you exclude that branch’s income and expenses from UAE tax if it is already taxed abroad (at a rate of 9% or more).

How to apply: Fill out the Foreign Permanent Establishment Schedule in EmaraTax.

Accounting Adjustments and Common Schedules

When completing your Corporate Tax Return, you start with your accounting profit from your financial statements (audited or unaudited). From there, you make several adjustments:

Add back expenses that are not allowed for tax.
Remove income that is exempt from Corporate Tax.
Apply any transitional or realization adjustments if you’ve chosen those elections.

These adjustments make sure your taxable income reflects what’s actually subject to tax under UAE law. Below are the main schedules you may need to fill in and how to think about them.

Accounting Income & Audit Details (Part C)

Enter your total accounting profit or loss from your financial statements.
If your accounts are audited, include the auditor’s name and their opinion.
Audited financials are mandatory for companies with revenue above AED 50 million and all Qualifying Free Zone Persons.

Exempt Income & Participation Exemption (Part D)

Dividends received from companies based in the UAE are not subject to Corporate Tax.
You may be exempt from tax on dividends or gains from foreign shares if you own at least 5% of the shares and keep them for 12 months or more.
Fill in the Participation Exemption Schedule to claim this.
If the conditions are not met later, the exempt income may need to be added back to your taxable income.

Unrealized Gains and Losses / Realization Basis

If you chose the Realization Basis Election, fill in the Unrealized Gains and Losses Schedule.
Record any unrealized gains or losses that were deferred in earlier periods.
When those gains or losses become realized (for example, when the asset is sold), include them in the current tax period’s return with the date and amount.

Transitional Rules Schedules

If you used the Transitional Relief Election in your first tax period, complete schedules for:
- Qualifying Immovable Property (like buildings or land)
- Qualifying Intangibles (like trademarks or software)
- Qualifying Financial Assets and Liabilities
These schedules show how pre-tax period gains are excluded and what values are used for future tax periods.
Keep supporting evidence of the market value for those assets in case the FTA asks for proof.

Tax Credit Schedule

Use this schedule if you paid tax in another country on income that is also taxed in the UAE.
Provide proof of foreign tax paid (such as a tax receipt or assessment).
The FTA will use this information to apply a Foreign Tax Credit, reducing your UAE tax liability by the amount of tax already paid abroad (within the allowed limits).
In some cases, the schedule may automatically show values you entered elsewhere in your return.

Completing these schedules correctly ensures that your taxable income, exemptions, and credits are accurately reflected in your return. It also helps you avoid double taxation, missed deductions, or errors that could delay approval from the Federal Tax Authority (FTA).

Other Important Adjustments to Review

When finalising your Corporate Tax Return, you may need to make extra adjustments to make sure your income and expenses meet the FTA’s rules. These areas often cause mistakes, so check them carefully.

Non-Deductible Expenses

Some business costs cannot be claimed as deductions for tax purposes. You must add them back to your accounting profit when calculating taxable income.

Common examples include:

Fines and penalties that aren’t related to normal business operations.
Personal or non-business expenses, such as entertainment or private costs.
Certain provisions or reserves, unless they meet specific FTA requirements.

Always keep records showing why these amounts were adjusted, as the FTA may ask for proof.

Interest Expenses and Limitation Rules

Interest costs are allowed as a deduction only within certain limits. The FTA applies rules that cap how much interest can be claimed, especially for intra-group loans.
Calculate interest according to the interest limitation formula in the FTA guide.
Report the total interest and any disallowed portion in Part F of the return and the related schedule.

If your business has loans between group companies, check that the amounts and interest rates are properly documented.

Related-Party and Connected-Person Transactions

If you make payments to related parties (such as group companies or shareholders) or connected persons (like owners or directors), you must disclose them in your return.

Complete the Connected Persons Schedule if total payments to any connected person exceed AED 500,000 during the period.
Keep transfer-pricing documentation showing that transactions were made at market value.
If you adjust prices downward for tax purposes, FTA approval is required before the adjustment can be claimed.

Qualifying Investment Fund Income

If you invest in a Qualifying Investment Fund that is exempt from tax, you still need to report your share of the fund’s income.

Use the figures provided by the fund manager showing how your income is split between exempt income, interest, and rental income.
Enter these allocations correctly in your tax return and keep the fund’s supporting documents.

Checking these adjustments carefully ensures your Corporate Tax Return is accurate and fully compliant with Federal Tax Authority (FTA) rules, reducing the risk of errors or penalties later.

Calculating Tax Liability, Tax Losses, and Tax Credits

When you reach the final part of your Corporate Tax Return, EmaraTax automatically calculates your Taxable Income and Tax Liability based on the numbers you entered. Still, it’s important to understand how the calculation works and what adjustments may apply.

How Taxable Income Is Calculated

The system follows this basic flow:

Accounting Profit → Add non-deductible expenses → Subtract exempt income and reliefs → Apply carried-forward tax losses and other reliefs → Taxable Income → Tax rate applied (0% or 9%) → Tax Liability

The 9% Corporate Tax rate applies to taxable income above AED 375,000, while income up to that amount is taxed at 0% (unless you are a Qualifying Free Zone Person eligible for other exemptions).

Tax Losses

If your business had losses in earlier tax periods, you can use them to reduce future taxable income.

Record these in the Tax Loss Schedule on EmaraTax.
You can carry forward tax losses and apply them in future periods, subject to FTA rules and ownership conditions.
For Tax Groups, losses are applied differently — there are special rules for how losses are shared among group members.
If a company joins or leaves a Tax Group, transitional rules decide how much of its previous losses can still be used.
Always check that any pre-grouping elections and supporting documents are completed properly.

Tax Credits

You may be able to claim credits for taxes already paid elsewhere, reducing your UAE tax liability.

The most common types are:
- Foreign Tax Credit – for corporate tax paid in another country on the same income.
- Withholding Tax Credit – for tax withheld at source by another jurisdiction.
You must provide proof of foreign tax paid, such as official receipts or tax certificates.
When you select these options in your return, EmaraTax will automatically open the Tax Credit Schedule for you to fill in.

Once all adjustments, losses, and credits are entered, the system will calculate your final tax due. Review the total carefully before submission to ensure all data matches your financial statements and supporting records.

Free Zone Schedules

This schedule checks if your business can get the 0% Corporate Tax rate as a Free Zone company. It reviews your business activities and presence in the Free Zone (also known as your economic substance) and ensures that any non-qualifying income you earn remains within the allowed limit, referred to as the de minimis threshold.

Key Steps & What to Prepare:

Gather Revenue Data: You will need a detailed breakdown of all your income sources.

Calculate De Minimis Requirement: The system will guide you, but you must ensure your non-qualifying revenue (e.g., from certain activities or from mainland clients) does not exceed the lower of 5% of your total revenue or AED 5 million.

Report Qualifying Revenue: Disclose all income derived from Qualifying Activities.

Confirm Substance Requirements: You must confirm that you have adequate assets, employees, and operating expenditure within the Free Zone. If you outsource core activities, you must provide details of the service provider and confirm you have adequate supervision.

Final Confirmations: You will be asked to confirm that you have met all ongoing conditions, such as preparing audited financial statements and maintaining transfer pricing documentation.

Pro Tip: If your business earns both qualifying and non-qualifying income, you need to divide your expenses between them before filing your return. The 0% tax rate applies only to the net qualifying income after the related expenses are deducted.

UAE Dividends Schedule

Use this schedule if you received dividends from other companies that are tax residents of the UAE. Dividends received from UAE-based companies are not subject to Corporate Tax, as they are generally excluded from taxable income under UAE tax rules.

You simply list each company that paid you a dividend. You need to enter the company’s name and its Tax Registration Number (TRN). Then you enter the amount of the dividend you received.

This tells the system to remove these dividend amounts from your taxable income. Do not include dividends from foreign companies here.

Foreign Permanent Establishment Schedule

If your UAE company has a branch or office in another country, this schedule is for you. It is used if you elected to ignore that foreign branch’s income for UAE tax purposes.

You will report the profit or loss of your foreign branch. The schedule also checks an important rule. If you used losses from that branch to reduce your UAE tax in the past, you must have since earned enough profit in the branch to make up for those losses.

Tax Credit Schedule

Use this schedule if you paid income tax in a foreign country. It allows you to claim a credit for that foreign tax against your UAE tax bill.

You will need to provide proof, like a foreign tax receipt. For each foreign country, you report the income you earned there and the tax you paid there. The system will then calculate the credit you can claim. The credit cannot be more than the UAE tax you would owe on that same foreign income.

Related Party and Connected Person Schedules

If your business deals with companies or people it is connected to, you may need to complete these schedules. The Related Party Schedule is for transactions with other companies in your group or under common control.

You must disclose these transactions if their total value is high. The Connected Person Schedule is for payments to business owners, directors, or their relatives. You must report these if the total payments to one person exceed AED 500,000. The goal is to ensure all these transactions are done at fair market prices.

Tax Losses Schedules

If your business made a loss, this schedule helps you manage it. You can carry forward a tax loss to use against future profits. This reduces your tax bill in profitable years.

The schedule lets you report losses from previous years. It then helps you calculate how much of those old losses you can use to reduce this year’s profit. There is a limit: you can only use losses to offset up to 75% of your current year’s taxable income. In some cases, you can even transfer losses to another company in your group.

Participation Exemption Schedule

This schedule provides a tax exemption for income from significant investments. If you own at least 5% of another company, you may qualify.

The exemption can apply to dividends you receive from that company. It can also apply to the profit you make when you sell that investment. You must own the investment for a minimum of 12 months to be eligible. The company you invested in must also be subject to a similar tax in its home country.

Interest Capping Schedules

There is a rule that limits how much interest expense you can deduct. This is to stop companies from reducing their tax bill too much by having very high interest costs.

This schedule calculates that limit. Basically, you can only deduct interest up to a certain amount. The limit is the higher of AED 12 million or 30% of your profit before interest, tax, and depreciation. Any interest you cannot deduct this year can be carried forward for up to 10 years.

Tax Relief Schedules

These schedules are for specific tax-free transactions. One is for transferring assets between companies in the same group. This allows you to move an asset without paying tax on any gain.

Another is for restructuring your business. This allows you to transfer a whole business unit to another company without an immediate tax charge. These schedules record the details of these transactions. They also handle the “clawback” if the assets or business are sold outside the group within two years.

Transitional Rules Schedules

If you owned assets like property or investments before Corporate Tax started, these schedules are for you. They help you avoid being taxed on gains that happened before the tax law existed.

When you sell such an asset, you will use the relevant schedule. It will split the total profit into two parts: the part that happened before CT (which is exempt) and the part that happened after (which is taxable). This ensures you are only taxed on the true economic gain that occurred during the CT period.

Other Schedules

These are extra forms for less common situations. For example, if you chose the “realization basis” for accounting, you will have a schedule to report unrealized gains and losses. Another schedule is for gains that were recorded in your financial statements but will never appear in your profit and loss account. EmaraTax will guide you to these if your answers in the main return show that you need them.

Exempt Persons

Some entities are classified as exempt and generally do not have to pay Corporate Tax on their core activities. These persons are not required to file a standard, full Corporate Tax Return for their exempt income. The list contains:

Government Controlled Entities as well as Government Entities.
Extractive Businesses and Non-Extractive Natural Resource Businesses (as they are typically taxed under separate Emirate-level legislation).
Qualifying Public Benefit Entities.
Personal pension as well as Social Security Funds.
Qualifying Investment Funds.

However, the exemption is not complete. If an Exempt Person carries out a business or activity that doesn’t qualify for exemption, that activity will be treated as taxable. In that case, the person must file a full Corporate Tax Return and pay tax on the income from that business.

Also, if an Exempt Person no longer meets the exemption conditions during a tax period, it must file a full tax return for the whole period.

Common Mistakes to Avoid When Filing Corporate Tax

Delaying Registration: Failing to register for Corporate Tax on time can result in penalties.
No Audited Accounts: Businesses that must have audited financial statements but don’t prepare them risk non-compliance.
Wrongly Claiming Exemptions: Listing Free Zone income as exempt when it doesn’t meet the conditions can lead to fines and corrections.
Missing Related-party Reporting: Not disclosing transactions with related or connected persons is a common oversight.
Paying Late: Late tax payments attract daily penalties until the full amount is paid.

Let Vertix Auditing Handle Your Corporate Tax Filing

If you want to make your UAE Corporate Tax filing simple, then contact Vertix Auditing, as we can do it all for you with maximum accuracy. We will register your business, prepare and submit your return on EmaraTax, and take care of all elections, schedules, and documents needed for compliance. Our experts understand UAE Corporate Tax rules, Free Zone benefits, Tax Group filings, and Transfer Pricing requirements. Contact Vertix Auditing today for reliable help!

FAQs

When should I file my tax return?

You must submit your Corporate Tax Return within nine months of your financial year-end. Filing within this period ensures compliance with the FTA’s deadlines and helps you avoid penalties for late submission.

Am I required to provide audited financial statements?

Yes, in most cases. Audited financial statements are required if your annual revenue is above AED 50 million or if you are a Qualifying Free Zone Person. Other taxpayers must still prepare financial statements, unless they qualify for Small Business Relief.

How do I claim a credit for taxes paid in another country?

Go to the Tax Credit Schedule in EmaraTax and upload proof of foreign tax paid (like tax receipts). The system will apply a foreign tax credit to reduce your UAE tax, if you qualify.

Are all the Free Zone businesses eligible for 0% tax rate?

No, only Free Zone entities that meet the Qualifying Free Zone Person criteria and earn eligible income up to AED 375,000 can benefit from the 0% Corporate Tax rate. You must complete the Free Zone Schedule in your return to show you meet the requirements.

What if I discover a mistake after submitting my return?

You can file a Voluntary Disclosure in EmaraTax to correct the error. It’s best to fix issues early, as repeated or major errors may lead to a review by the FTA.

Who is required to register for Corporate Tax UAE?

All businesses and individuals engaged in commercial activities in the UAE must register for Corporate Tax if they meet the eligibility criteria. This includes:

UAE companies (mainland or Free Zone entities) that conduct business in the UAE.
Foreign companies that earn income from the UAE or have a Permanent Establishment (PE) in the country.
Natural persons (such as sole proprietors or freelancers) whose annual business income exceeds AED 1 million.

Even if a business has no taxable income, registration may still be mandatory to comply with Federal Tax Authority (FTA) requirements.

Are government entities exempt from Corporate Tax?

The majority of government bodies and organizations managed by the government are not subject to Corporate Tax. However, if they carry out commercial activities outside their exempt functions, they must file a Corporate Tax Return and pay tax on that income. Some reliefs, such as intragroup transfer reliefs, may not apply to them.

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