Corporate Tax Late Registration: The AED 10,000 Penalty and How to Avoid It
Last checked: 24 October 2026. We re-check fees, deadlines and rules every quarter.
A late Corporate Tax registration carries a fixed AED 10,000 administrative penalty. This guide explains which deadline applies to your company, how the penalty works and when the FTA can waive it.
Which Deadline Applies?
| Company | Deadline |
|---|---|
| Newly incorporated company | Within three months of incorporation |
| Company licensed before March 2024 | Set by the month the license was first issued, under FTA Decision No. 3 of 2024. Those dates have all passed |
If a company holds more than one license, the earliest issue date is used. A company that is still unregistered from the earlier group is already late.
The AED 10,000 Penalty
The penalty applies per taxable person, not per license. Sources report that it applies even when no tax is due, and that the FTA sends no warning first.
Can the Penalty Be Waived?
Sources describe a waiver for late registrants. To qualify, a company files its first Corporate Tax return within seven months of the end of its first tax period.
The terms vary between sources, and your first tax period on EmaraTax may differ from your accounting records. Check your eligibility there, or ask us to check it for you.
What to Do Next
- Check your license issue date and your incorporation date.
- Register on EmaraTax if you have not yet done so.
- Diary your first return date using our Corporate Tax filing guide.
Our Corporate Tax registration guide covers the registration steps, and the TRN guide explains the difference between a VAT TRN and your Corporate Tax registration. The Federal Tax Authority website publishes the decisions.
