How to File a UAE Corporate Tax Return, Step by Step (2026)
You file a UAE Corporate Tax return online through the Federal Tax Authority’s EmaraTax portal, and you pay any tax due by the same deadline. The return is a self-assessment, so the figures and the declaration are yours. This guide walks through each step, from the documents to gather to the acknowledgment you keep afterwards.
Key takeaways
- The return and the payment are due within nine months of the end of the tax period.
- Filing is online only, through EmaraTax. There is no paper form and no file upload for the whole return.
- The return has nine parts, A to I, and EmaraTax shows only the fields and schedules that apply to you.
- Small businesses can elect for Small Business Relief, but they still have to file.
- Records behind the return must be kept for at least seven years.
Who Must File and By When
Every taxable person registered for Corporate Tax must file a return for each tax period. That includes free zone companies, even when their income is taxed at 0%, and companies that owe nothing.
The FTA’s Tax Returns guide sets the deadline at nine months from the end of the tax period. For a company with a 31 December year-end, the return for 2025 was due by 30 September 2026, a date the FTA confirmed in its public reminders.
| Financial year ends | Return and payment due |
|---|---|
| 31 December 2025 | 30 September 2026 |
| 30 June 2026 | 31 March 2027 |
| 31 March 2026 | 31 December 2026 |
The return can be submitted by the taxable person, by a registered tax agent, or by a legal representative. A partnership treated as a separate taxable person is filed by its responsible partner, and a tax group is filed by its parent company.
What to Prepare Before You Log In
Most delays come from missing numbers, not from the portal. Gather these items before you start.
- Your tax registration details. Your registration answers decide which fields EmaraTax shows, so they must be correct.
- Finalised financial statements. You need a profit and loss figure and a balance sheet for the tax period.
- The accounting basis. Know whether your accounts are on the cash or accrual basis, because the return asks.
- A tax computation. This shows how you move from accounting profit to taxable income.
- Audit details. If your statements are audited, have the auditor’s name and the type of opinion ready.
- Related-party and loss records. You may need them for the schedules.
Our guide to accounting services in Dubai explains how to keep these records clean from the first month.
The Nine Parts of the Return
The FTA organises the return into parts. Each part collects one kind of information, and your answers in early parts decide what appears later.
| Part | What it covers |
|---|---|
| A. Taxable person information | Your details, the tax period and key facts about the business |
| B. Elections | Choices such as Small Business Relief and the basis of accounting |
| C. Accounting schedule | Profit or loss from your financial statements and the audit question |
| D. Accounting adjustments and exempt income | Adjustments such as unrealised gains and exempt income |
| E. Reliefs | Reliefs you claim, such as losses or group relief |
| F. Other adjustments | Non-deductible items, related-party adjustments and similar entries |
| G. Tax liability and tax credits | The tax payable and any credits |
| H. Review and declaration | The date, the preparer and your signed declaration |
| I. Schedules | Detailed schedules such as free zone, tax losses and related parties |
If a field you expect is missing, the FTA says to check the answers you gave at registration. Our guide to Corporate Tax registration shows what those answers cover.
How to File Step by Step
- Sign in to EmaraTax. Open the Corporate Tax account linked to your registration and start the return for the correct tax period.
- Check the pre-filled details. The tax period is filled in from your account. If something is wrong, you are sent to your profile to correct it, and the update goes to the FTA for approval.
- Complete Part A. Confirm your business details and answer the questions about your activities, because they shape the rest of the return.
- Make your elections in Part B. Choose Small Business Relief if you qualify, and confirm the cash or accrual basis.
- Enter your accounting figures in Part C. Add the profit or loss from your financial statements and answer whether they were audited.
- Work through adjustments and reliefs. Parts D, E and F take you from accounting profit to taxable income.
- Complete the schedules. When a schedule is finished, you return to the main return, which now contains the figures from the schedule. You can reopen a schedule to change it before you submit.
- Check the tax payable in Part G. Confirm that the figure agrees with your own tax computation.
- Declare and submit. Enter the date, say who prepared the return, sign with your name and capacity, and submit.
- Download the acknowledgment. You can download it from the confirmation screen, and the FTA also emails an acknowledgment.
You may be asked to upload supporting documents during the process, so keep them in one folder. If you cannot give a final figure, the return lets you flag estimated numbers and explain where they were used.
Paying the Tax
Submitting the return and paying the tax are separate actions. The FTA does not require you to do both at the same moment, but the payment must arrive by the deadline.
Pay through EmaraTax and copy the payment reference exactly as shown. A wrong or missing reference can leave a payment unmatched to your return. Keep the bank confirmation with your records.
The standard rate is 9% on taxable income above AED 375,000. Income up to that amount is taxed at 0%. Our guide to Corporate Tax and VAT explains how the two taxes differ.
Special Cases to Check
Small Business Relief
A resident business with revenue of no more than AED 3 million in the current and all previous tax periods can elect for Small Business Relief. If you elect, you are treated as having no taxable income. You must still file the return, and the relief is not open to qualifying free zone persons or members of a multinational group. Read our guide to small business relief for the full conditions.
Free zone companies
A qualifying free zone person completes a free zone schedule. It tests the de minimis rule, which lets non-qualifying revenue stay below the lower of 5% of total revenue or AED 5 million. It also records the company’s substance in the free zone. Our guide to qualifying free zone persons explains the conditions.
Audited statements
The audit question is pre-filled as yes if your revenue exceeded AED 50 million in the tax period, or if you are a qualifying free zone person. For a UAE company, a UAE-registered auditor must do the work. See our auditing services in Dubai page for how that process runs.
Correcting a Mistake After Filing
The FTA treats errors from earlier periods in two ways. If the tax impact of an error is AED 10,000 or less in total, you correct it in the next return that is not yet due, or in the return for the period in which you found it, whichever comes first.
Any larger error must be fixed through a Voluntary Disclosure. Do not wait for the FTA to find it, because penalties grow with time.
What Happens If You File or Pay Late
Late filing and late payment both carry penalties. The FTA stated in 2025 that the penalty is AED 500 for each month or part of a month for the first twelve months, rising to AED 1,000 a month after that.
These amounts come from an FTA statement and can change, so check the FTA website for the current figures. If you have already missed a date, file as soon as you can and ask whether a waiver applies. Our guide to the Corporate Tax penalty waiver explains the request.
An Example: A Small Free Zone Consultancy
This is an illustration, not advice for your case. A consultancy in a free zone has a 31 December year-end and earns AED 900,000 in the year.
- January to March. The company closes its books and prepares the profit and loss account.
- April to June. It checks whether it meets the free zone conditions or qualifies for Small Business Relief.
- July to August. It prepares the tax computation and gathers any supporting documents.
- Early September. It completes the return in EmaraTax, reviews every part and submits.
- Before 30 September. It pays any tax due and files the acknowledgment and payment proof with its records.
Common Mistakes to Avoid
- Waiting for the last week. The return has many parts, and a missing figure can stall you.
- Wrong registration answers. Fields you need may not appear if the registration data is wrong.
- Mismatched numbers. The statements, the tax computation and the return should agree.
- Assuming a free zone company need not file. A 0% rate still requires a return.
- Treating filing and payment as one step. You can file today and still owe a payment.
- Losing the records. You must keep them for at least seven years.
Who Can File for You
Many small companies use a tax agent or an accountant, because the cost is low compared with penalties. The FTA lists registered tax agents on its website, and an agent needs authority from you before filing.
Whoever files, you remain responsible for the accuracy of the return. Our annual compliance checklist shows where the return sits among your other deadlines.
A Pre-Submission Checklist
- The financial statements are final and match the profit figure you entered.
- The tax computation and the tax payable in Part G agree.
- Elections such as Small Business Relief are chosen on purpose.
- Required schedules are complete.
- Estimated figures, if any, are disclosed.
- The payment amount and reference are ready.
Summary: What to Remember
- File online through EmaraTax within nine months of the end of the tax period.
- Pay the tax by the same deadline, using the reference EmaraTax gives you.
- Prepare final financial statements and a tax computation before you start.
- Small Business Relief and free zone status change the return but do not remove the duty to file.
- Fix small earlier errors in the next return, and use a Voluntary Disclosure for larger ones.
To get help with your return, book a free consultation. The FTA publishes its Corporate Tax Tax Returns guide for reference, and our sister site companyformationinuae.com covers company formation.
Once the return is in, our guide to what comes next after Corporate Tax filing lists the six priorities for the weeks that follow.
Frequently Asked Questions
Within nine months of the end of the tax period. For a 31 December year-end, the 2025 return was due by 30 September 2026. Payment is due by the same date.
Online, through the FTA's EmaraTax portal. The return is completed in the portal, and you can also appoint a registered tax agent or legal representative to file for you.
Yes. A 0% rate on qualifying income does not remove the duty to file. A qualifying free zone person also completes a free zone schedule and must have audited financial statements.
Yes. The relief is an election made in the return. It treats a resident business with revenue of AED 3 million or less in the current and all earlier periods as having no taxable income, but the return is still required.
You can submit the return and pay separately, but the payment must still reach the FTA by the deadline. Use the payment reference EmaraTax gives you.
If the tax impact is AED 10,000 or less, correct it in your next return that is not yet due or in the return for the period you found it. Larger errors need a Voluntary Disclosure.
At least seven years after the end of the tax period they relate to.
