Your First Corporate Tax Return Is Due 30 September 2026
Nine months after your financial year end, the return and the payment are both due. For the thousands of UAE companies that closed their first tax period on 31 December 2025, that means 30 September 2026 on EmaraTax. We prepare, check and file it end to end.
until the 30 September 2026 deadline for December year ends
Free 30-minute consultation. You speak to a senior advisor, not a call centre.
The cost of missing it is not abstract
Federal Decree-Law No. 47 of 2022 gives every taxable person nine months. After that, the meters start, and they do not stop until you file.
Late filing penalty for each of the first twelve months. A return that is one day late is a full month late.
From the thirteenth month onwards, the monthly penalty doubles and keeps running.
Late payment penalty on unpaid tax under Cabinet Decision No. 129 of 2025, on top of the filing penalties.
Registered late? The AED 10,000 late registration penalty has been waived for businesses that filed their first return within seven months of their first tax period ending. Filing early is how you qualify for concessions like this.
Find your exact deadline
Your deadline is nine months after your financial year end. Select yours:
Your filing deadline
Select a year end
Both the return and the tax payment are due by this date.
Before you tick the Small Business Relief box, read this
If your revenue is AED 3 million or less, EmaraTax will offer you Small Business Relief: elect it and you are treated as having no taxable income. Tempting. But the election is irreversible for that period once the return is submitted, and it wipes out your right to carry that year’s tax losses forward. If 2025 was a loss-making or heavy-investment year, one tick can cost you real tax savings in 2026 and 2027. This is the single most common first-return mistake we see, and it is why we model both routes, in numbers, before anything is submitted. The full analysis is in our first-return filing guide.
What the fixed fee includes
One engagement, six deliverables, no per-hour surprises.
Accounting income review
Your financial statements checked against IFRS (IFRS for SMEs up to AED 50M revenue, cash basis up to AED 3M).
Adjustment schedules
Entertainment at 50%, fines, exempt income, interest limitation: every add-back computed and documented.
Election modelling
Small Business Relief, reliefs and loss positions modelled both ways before you commit to anything irreversible.
Transfer pricing check
Related-party and connected-person disclosures assessed against the thresholds, and the schedule completed if required.
EmaraTax filing
The return prepared, reviewed with you on a call, and submitted on EmaraTax with confirmation in your inbox.
Payment setup
GIBAN payment instructions prepared so the tax clears before the deadline, because filing alone does not stop the payment meter.
From first call to filed: seven days
Discovery call
30 minutes. We confirm your tax period, registration status and send a precise document list.
Computation
Books reviewed, adjustments computed, elections modelled. You get a one-page summary of the numbers.
Your approval
We walk you through the return line by line. Election decisions are documented in writing.
Filed
Submitted on EmaraTax, payment instructions issued, confirmation and working papers archived for FTA audit readiness.
Senior advisors. Fixed fees. Filed on time.
- Every return is prepared and reviewed by a senior advisor, not passed to a junior team working from a template.
- Your fee is fixed and agreed in writing before work starts. No hourly billing and no surprises at filing time.
- Standard turnaround is 7 days from complete documents, with the EmaraTax submission handled end to end.
- Small Business Relief and other elections are modelled before you elect, because an SBR election that goes wrong cannot be undone for that year.
Book your free 30-minute consultation
Tell us your financial year end and where your books stand. A senior advisor replies within one business day.
Prefer WhatsApp? Message +971 54 752 3359 for a faster answer.
Straight answers
We made a loss. Do we still file?
Yes. Every registered taxable person files, profitable or not. Filing a loss return is also how the loss is preserved for carry-forward against future profits, unless you elect Small Business Relief and give that up.
What does it cost?
A fixed fee quoted after the discovery call, based on the state of your books and the complexity of adjustments. It is agreed in writing before any work starts, and it is a fraction of twelve months of accumulating penalties. Market ranges are in our 2026 price guide, and you can estimate late penalties with our free penalty calculator.
Our bookkeeping is behind. Can you still file by the deadline?
Usually, yes. Our accounting team brings the ledger to IFRS standard first, then the tax team files. The earlier you start, the cheaper this is: September is our busiest month and rush work costs more everywhere.
We never registered for corporate tax. How bad is it?
The late registration penalty is AED 10,000, but the FTA has waived it for businesses that filed their first return within seven months of their first tax period ending. The answer depends on your dates: send them to us today and we will tell you exactly where you stand.
Late filings compound monthly. Early filings are cheap.
Send us your financial year end and trade licence today. You will know your deadline, your exposure and your fixed fee within one working day.