Corporate Tax Consultants in Dubai, UAE
Corporate Tax Registration, Advisory, Filing and Free Zone Planning for Mainland, Free Zone and Offshore Businesses
UAE Corporate Tax has been in force since 1 June 2023, and the decisions that shape what you actually pay keep arriving. Small Business Relief closes at the end of 2026. The audited accounts rule changed in 2025. Free Zone qualifying income is tested every year, not granted once. Credora advises businesses on all of it and files the return as an FTA Registered Tax Agent, which means we can represent you before the Federal Tax Authority rather than hand you to someone who can.
The first consultation is free, and it usually answers the question most business owners actually have: how much will this cost me, and can it be reduced through proper tax planning and compliance?
What Do Corporate Tax Consultants in Dubai Do?
Corporate tax consultants, also called corporate tax advisors or business tax consultants, help UAE businesses work out what they owe, when they owe it, and what they can legitimately do to owe less. In practice the work splits into two halves that businesses often confuse. Compliance is the mechanical side: registering with the Federal Tax Authority, computing taxable income from IFRS financial statements, filing the return within 9 months of your year end, and keeping records for 7 years. Advisory is the side that actually changes the number: choosing a structure, testing Free Zone qualifying income, deciding whether to elect a relief, pricing related-party transactions, and modelling the tax consequences of a decision before you make it rather than after.
The distinction matters because filing is a deadline and advisory is a window. Once the financial year has closed, most of the options that would have reduced your liability have closed with it. A consultant engaged in month two of the year can help you structure a transaction; a consultant engaged in month eleven can only report what happened.
One capability is worth checking before you appoint anyone. Only a tax agent registered with the Federal Tax Authority can formally represent your business before the Authority in a clarification, an audit or a penalty reconsideration. Plenty of firms advise on tax; fewer can stand in front of the FTA on your behalf. Credora is an FTA registered tax agent, so the same team that files your return handles the questions it generates.
UAE Corporate Tax Rates in 2026
Corporate Tax applies to financial years starting on or after 1 June 2023 under Federal Decree-Law No. 47 of 2022. The headline structure is simple, and the AED 375,000 threshold is permanent, not a transitional concession:
| Who and what | Rate | Applies to |
|---|---|---|
| Taxable income up to AED 375,000 | 0% | Every taxable person, mainland and free zone |
| Taxable income above AED 375,000 | 9% | Every taxable person not qualifying for a relief or exemption |
| Qualifying income of a Qualifying Free Zone Person | 0% | Free zone entities meeting substance and qualifying income conditions |
| Non-qualifying income of a QFZP | 9% | The same entity, on income that fails the qualifying test |
| Small Business Relief electors | 0% | Resident businesses with revenue up to AED 3m, for periods ending on or before 31 December 2026 only |
| Domestic Minimum Top-up Tax | 15% | Large multinational groups meeting the global revenue threshold, for financial years from 1 January 2025 |
Two clarifications that save arguments. First, 9% is charged on taxable income, not revenue, and taxable income starts from your accounting profit and is then adjusted for non-deductible items, exempt income and reliefs. Second, the AED 375,000 threshold and Small Business Relief are different things that get confused constantly: the threshold is permanent and applies to everyone, while the relief is temporary and lets qualifying businesses report no taxable income at all.
Small Business Relief Ends on 31 December 2026
For many UAE SMEs, this is one of the most valuable Corporate Tax concessions still available, and the current window is closing. Under Article 21 of the Corporate Tax Law and Ministerial Decision No. 73 of 2023, a resident business with revenue of AED 3,000,000 or less can elect to be treated as having no taxable income for the period. In practical terms, no Corporate Tax is payable for that period, even where the business made a profit. The Ministry set the threshold to apply to tax periods starting on or after 1 June 2023 and ending on or before 31 December 2026.
Read that date carefully. For a business following the calendar year, the tax period ending 31 December 2026 is the last eligible period under the current decision. Tax periods ending after that date fall outside the relief unless the Ministry extends it. As of July 2026, the FTA continues to show 31 December 2026 as the end of the relief window, so the sensible planning assumption is that this is the final year.
What the relief is worth depends on your taxable income. It removes tax that would otherwise be charged at 9% on taxable income above AED 375,000. The examples below assume that the taxable income shown is the final amount after any required Corporate Tax adjustments:
| Illustrative taxable income, with revenue at or under AED 3m | Corporate Tax without the relief | With Small Business Relief | Tax saved |
|---|---|---|---|
| AED 300,000 | AED 0 | AED 0 | Nil, already under the threshold |
| AED 500,000 | AED 11,250 | AED 0 | AED 11,250 |
| AED 1,000,000 | AED 56,250 | AED 0 | AED 56,250 |
| AED 1,500,000 | AED 101,250 | AED 0 | AED 101,250 |
| AED 2,000,000 | AED 146,250 | AED 0 | AED 146,250 |
| AED 2,800,000 | AED 218,250 | AED 0 | AED 218,250 |
Who Can and Cannot Elect It
The relief was designed for start-ups and small or micro businesses. You can elect if you are a UAE resident taxable person, juridical or natural, whose revenue is AED 3,000,000 or less in the current tax period and in every previous Corporate Tax period. Revenue means gross income reported under the accounting standards you use. It can include exempt income and proceeds from sources other than ordinary sales, and it is measured before deducting costs or applying reliefs. You cannot elect if any of the following apply:
- You are a Qualifying Free Zone Person claiming the 0% rate on qualifying income. The two relief regimes cannot be combined.
- You are a member of a Multinational Enterprise Group with consolidated revenue above AED 3.15 billion.
- Your revenue exceeded AED 3 million in an earlier Corporate Tax period. Crossing the threshold once removes eligibility for later periods within the current relief window, even if revenue subsequently falls below AED 3 million.
- The business was artificially divided between separate entities to keep each entity below the AED 3 million threshold. Where the FTA establishes that artificial separation has taken place, Small Business Relief can be denied and unpaid Corporate Tax and penalties may follow under the anti-abuse rules.
The Two Mistakes That Can Cost Real Money
The first is assuming the relief is automatic. It is not. You must elect it inside the Corporate Tax return on EmaraTax for each eligible period. Once a return has been submitted without the election, the FTA guide states that the relief cannot be claimed later for that period. Being eligible but missing the election can therefore mean paying tax that the relief would have removed. Where portal access is the obstacle, start by linking EmaraTax with UAE PASS before you begin the return.
The second is electing in a year when the trade-off works against you. During a period for which Small Business Relief is elected, the business cannot create, use or transfer a tax loss. It also cannot create or use Net Interest Expenditure under the General Interest Deduction Limitation Rule for that period. Tax losses and Net Interest Expenditure brought forward from earlier periods are not automatically lost; they remain available for a later period in which the business has taxable income and does not elect for the relief, subject to the normal conditions. For a loss-making or heavily financed business, that changes the calculation. The decision framework:
| Your position this year | Elect Small Business Relief? | Reasoning |
|---|---|---|
| Profitable, revenue comfortably under AED 3m | Usually yes | No Corporate Tax is payable for the elected period, including on taxable income that would otherwise be charged at 9% above AED 375,000 |
| Loss-making, but expecting profit soon | Often no; model it first | No tax loss is created for an elected period. Not electing may allow the loss to be carried forward against future taxable income |
| Significant borrowing and interest cost | Model both | No new Net Interest Expenditure is created or carried forward for an elected period. Without the relief, qualifying unused Net Interest Expenditure can generally be carried forward for up to 10 tax periods |
| Revenue close to AED 3m | Check every prior period first | The test includes the current period and all earlier Corporate Tax periods. One previous breach removes eligibility for later relief periods |
| Free zone company claiming QFZP 0% | Not eligible | Qualifying Free Zone Persons are excluded from Small Business Relief |
| Planning for 2027 | Model it now | The current relief window ends with tax periods ending on 31 December 2026. Your first period outside the relief may fall in 2027 |
One more point that surprises people: electing the relief does not remove the registration or filing obligations. You still register with the FTA, file the return within the applicable deadline and retain the required records. The relief changes the tax payable and simplifies parts of the return. It does not take the business outside the Corporate Tax system.
Who Must Register for UAE Corporate Tax?
Registration is broader than liability. Most UAE companies and other taxable businesses must register with the Federal Tax Authority and obtain a Corporate Tax registration number. That includes free zone companies claiming the 0% rate, businesses electing Small Business Relief and companies making a loss. Having no tax to pay is not the same as being outside the regime.
The standard administrative penalty for late Corporate Tax registration is AED 10,000. The FTA currently provides a waiver route for eligible first-period cases where the business completes its registration and submits its first return, or the required annual declaration, within seven months from the end of the first tax period or financial year.
You generally fall within the registration scope if you are:
- A resident juridical person: a company incorporated in the UAE, whether mainland or free zone, or a foreign company that is effectively managed and controlled from the UAE.
- A natural person carrying on business: a sole-establishment owner, freelancer or other individual conducting business activity in the UAE whose total business turnover exceeds AED 1,000,000 during the calendar year. Wages, personal investment income and qualifying real estate investment income are not treated as business turnover for this test.
- A non-resident with a UAE taxable presence: a foreign juridical person with a permanent establishment or taxable nexus in the UAE. A non-resident juridical person earning only UAE State-Sourced Income, with no permanent establishment or nexus, is generally not required to register solely because of that income.
A limited group of exempt persons sits outside the ordinary taxable regime. These include government entities and government-controlled entities, extractive and non-extractive natural resource businesses meeting the conditions, qualifying public benefit entities, qualifying investment funds, and qualifying pension or social security funds. Several of these categories depend on specific conditions, approval or continuing evidence, so exemption should not be assumed from the entity name alone. If the business closes, deregistration also has a deadline: the application is generally due within three months of the event that triggers deregistration.
Corporate Tax Filing Deadlines: Actual Dates
The general rule is nine months from the end of the tax period for both filing the return and paying the Corporate Tax due. Rather than restate the rule, here is what it means for the financial year ends commonly used by UAE businesses:
| Financial year end | Return and payment due | Is this the last SBR-eligible period for that year end? |
|---|---|---|
| 31 December 2025 | 30 September 2026 | No, one more eligible period remains, ending 31 December 2026 |
| 31 March 2026 | 31 December 2026 | Yes, the next period ending 31 March 2027 falls outside the relief window |
| 30 June 2026 | 31 March 2027 | Yes, this is the final eligible period for a June year end |
| 30 September 2026 | 30 June 2027 | Yes, this is the final eligible period for a September year end |
| 31 December 2026 | 30 September 2027 | Yes, this is the final calendar-year period under the current decision |
| 31 December 2027 | 30 September 2028 | No, the standard Corporate Tax rules apply unless the relief is extended |
Late registration normally attracts an administrative penalty of AED 10,000, although the current first-period waiver may apply where its conditions are met. Late filing and late payment carry separate penalties. The FTA states that these begin at AED 500 for each month or part of a month during the first 12 months and rise to AED 1,000 per month or part of a month from the thirteenth month. There is no separate payment date to remember: the Corporate Tax payment is due by the same deadline as the return.
Free Zone Companies: How the 0% Rate Actually Works
Free zone companies are not exempt from Corporate Tax. They are within the regime and can access the 0% rate only on qualifying income, while they meet all the conditions of a Qualifying Free Zone Person. Income that does not qualify is generally taxed at 9% in the same entity and tax period.
To remain a QFZP, a company must maintain adequate substance, derive qualifying income under Cabinet Decision No. 100 of 2023 and Ministerial Decision No. 229 of 2025, avoid electing into the standard Corporate Tax regime, comply with the arm’s length principle and transfer pricing requirements, remain within the de minimis limit for non-qualifying revenue, and prepare audited financial statements. The audit is a condition of the status, not an optional filing preference. Failing a QFZP condition can affect the status from the start of the relevant tax period and for the following four tax periods.
The practical consequence is that free zone status must be tested each year against the company’s actual income and activities, not assumed from the trade licence. Selling to mainland UAE customers, earning income from an excluded activity or breaching the de minimis limit can move income outside the 0% treatment and, in some cases, place the QFZP status itself at risk. This is where timely advice earns its fee, because the review needs to happen while the year is still running and the transactions can still be changed.
New requirement for Designated Zone distributors. FTA Decision No. 6 of 2026 applies to tax periods beginning on or after 1 January 2026 for Qualifying Free Zone Persons carrying on the distribution of goods or materials in or from a Designated Zone. These businesses must obtain an agreed-upon procedures report from an independent external auditor covering matters such as customer reseller status and the importation of goods through a Designated Zone. The report must generally be submitted to the FTA within 30 days after the Corporate Tax return deadline.
Free Zone Corporate Tax treatment should be reviewed for every tax period based on the company’s activities, customers, income and supporting records. Transactions with mainland customers do not all receive the same treatment. The result depends on the relevant Qualifying Activity, the type of customer, whether an Excluded Activity is involved and whether the de minimis requirements are met. Reviewing these areas before the financial year-end allows the company to correct documentation and assess its expected Corporate Tax position before filing.
The Rules That Changed Recently
Corporate Tax is not a settled body of law that you learn once. Two changes matter for the returns being filed in 2026 and 2027.
Audited financial statements. Ministerial Decision No. 84 of 2025 replaced Ministerial Decision No. 82 of 2023 for tax periods commencing on or after 1 January 2025, with the earlier decision continuing to apply only to periods that began before that date. Audited statements are still required from any taxable person with revenue above AED 50,000,000 and from every Qualifying Free Zone Person. The main change is for tax groups: every group must now prepare audited special purpose aggregated financial statements with no revenue threshold, where previously only groups above AED 50 million were caught. Individual members of a group, however, no longer need to prepare audited standalone statements. Groups formed on the assumption that staying small avoided an audit may now need to plan for one. Our audit services in Dubai page explains what the audit process involves.
Domestic Minimum Top-up Tax. Large multinational groups meeting the global consolidated revenue threshold under the OECD Pillar Two framework face a 15% minimum effective rate in the UAE for financial years starting on or after 1 January 2025. This affects a small number of very large groups rather than the typical Dubai SME. However, if you are part of an international group, it should be one of the first questions you ask, because the 9% headline rate may not be where the analysis ends.
Transfer Pricing and Related Party Transactions
If your business transacts with related parties or connected persons, whether a parent company abroad, a sister company in another emirate or a shareholder drawing a salary, those transactions must follow the arm’s length principle: priced as they would be between independent parties. This applies to every taxable person, including small ones, and includes transactions that feel purely internal.
Formal documentation is a separate question. A Local File and Master File are required where the thresholds in Ministerial Decision No. 97 of 2023 are met, broadly revenue of AED 200 million or more in the tax period, or membership of a multinational group with consolidated revenue of AED 3.15 billion or more. Below those thresholds, the formal documentation obligation may fall away, but the arm’s length principle does not. The FTA can still ask you to justify the price used. Payments to connected persons, such as owners and directors, have their own test: they are deductible only to the extent that they reflect market value for the service actually provided.
When to Consult a Corporate Tax Advisor
Most businesses call a tax consultant when the return is due. By then the year is closed and the answer is arithmetic. These are the moments when advice earns its fee, because the transaction has not happened yet and the structure can still be changed.
Starting or restructuring a business
Mainland, free zone or branch is a tax decision as much as a licensing one, and it is usually cheaper to get right at incorporation than to unwind later. Mergers, acquisitions, shareholder changes and asset transfers can all carry consequences that are difficult to reverse once the documents are signed.
Opening a new branch or entering a new market
Expansion changes your tax footprint, sometimes in another jurisdiction. A branch in another emirate, a subsidiary abroad or a first mainland customer for a free zone company can each move income between different tax treatments.
Hiring employees overseas or operating cross-border
Staff working in another country can create a permanent establishment there, and a foreign company managed from Dubai can become UAE resident without anyone intending it. Both are often discovered late and expensively.
Related party and connected person transactions
Management fees to a parent, loans between group companies and owner remuneration all need pricing that can stand up to a challenge, along with documents that support it where the thresholds apply.
Major purchases, financing and dividends
Capital expenditure, long-term contracts and financing arrangements affect deductibility, depreciation and the interest limitation rules. The treatment is often shaped by how the deal is structured, which is a conversation to have before signing.
Before you file, and before the relief closes
Even with complete accounts, reviewing the computation and the elections before submission can catch errors while they are still relatively cheap to fix. For 2026 specifically, this includes deciding whether to elect Small Business Relief in what may be your last eligible period, and modelling what your first fully taxable year could look like.
Corporate Tax is calculated from the figures in your financial statements, so the accounting and tax work need to line up. With accounting and bookkeeping services in Dubai, the books can be closed each month instead of rebuilt when the return is due. Businesses that also need forecasts, cash-flow planning and board reporting can add CFO services. Owners who need evidence of UAE tax residence for treaty purposes can also apply for a Tax Residency Certificate.
Small Business Relief Closes After 31 December 2026
If your revenue is no more than AED 3 million, this may be your final eligible period under the current rules. The election is not automatic, and claiming it is not always the best choice for a business with losses or significant interest costs. A consultation can confirm whether you qualify, estimate the tax saving and compare the relief with the alternatives. The first consultation is free.
