0% is a condition, not a default.
Registration is mandatory, and the penalties for missing it are automatic. Whether you actually owe anything is a completely separate question, and it turns on conditions nobody works out for you. We confirm exactly where your entity stands before you file, not after the FTA does.
Book a 30-minute call, no pitch
Not on the rate card. In the conditions, before a return is filed.
The threshold
0% on taxable income at or below AED 375,000, and 9% on anything above it. Even below the line, you still have to register and file.
The QFZP gate
That free zone 0% only holds when all five conditions are met. Miss a single one, and your qualifying income is taxed at 9%.
Small Business Relief
Revenue at or below AED 3 million can elect to treat its taxable income as zero. Note the word: elected, not granted.
Arm's length pricing
Any related-party transactions have to be priced at arm's length and properly documented. The FTA can adjust the ones that are not.
The penalties are automatic. The obligations do not wait.
UAE Federal Corporate Tax applies to every entity, mainland, free zone, and offshore, whatever your turnover. The rate is 9% on taxable income above AED 375,000 and 0% below it. Registering with the Federal Tax Authority is mandatory for all of them. Miss the deadline and the penalty is AED 10,000; late filing then adds AED 500 a month for the first year, and AED 1,000 after that. None of it is up for discretion. The real question is whether you owe anything at all, and that turns on the five QFZP conditions, Small Business Relief, and arm's length pricing. Every one of them is assessed, never assumed.
Registered, filed, and protected, in that order.
Five things, ordered so your position is sound before a return goes in, rather than corrected after the FTA raises it.
CT registration
Any UAE entity has to register with the FTA for a Tax Registration Number. Miss the deadline and you are hit with an automatic AED 10,000 penalty.
CT filing
Annual returns prepared and filed through EmaraTax. We build the financial statements, work out your taxable income, apply the deductions and reliefs you genuinely qualify for, and file inside the deadline.
QFZP analysis
For free zone entities, we test your Qualifying Free Zone Person status against all five conditions. Plenty of businesses assume they qualify. Not all of them actually do.
VAT registration and filing
VAT registration becomes mandatory at AED 375,000 of annual taxable turnover, and is voluntary from AED 187,500. Quarterly returns prepared and filed through EmaraTax.
Compliance review
For businesses already up and running, we review your current tax and VAT position, surface any unreported obligations or errors, and advise on the fix. Closing a gap before an FTA audit costs far less than closing it after one.
Find your real position before anyone quotes you a number.
Corporate tax here is set by thresholds and conditions, not by a slider. Four bands cover most entities. Find the one that matches you, then check it against your own figures, because the line between two bands is exactly where the expensive mistakes happen.
Thresholds reflect current UAE federal corporate tax and VAT rules: 9% above AED 375,000, VAT mandatory at AED 375,000 turnover and voluntary from AED 187,500. Which band applies to your entity is a matter of fact, confirmed in a short review, not typed into a form. The non-qualifying de minimis limit for QFZP is 5% of total income or AED 5 million, whichever is lower; breaching it disqualifies the entity entirely.
The obligations that are real, not the ones still sold as urgent.
UAE compliance runs on a calendar, with dates that come round every year. For a company today, these four genuinely apply. We tell you what is current, and what has quietly fallen away.
What firms are still selling
You have to file an Economic Substance Regulations return again this year.
In practice: The Economic Substance Regulations applied for financial years 2019 to 2022, and were wound down for periods from 2023 onward under Cabinet Decision No. 98 of 2024. ESR is no longer an annual filing for current years. Anyone still selling you an ESR filing for this year is behind the times. Work with us and you hear what is actually real, not whatever keeps an old invoice alive.
From exposure spotted to position protected.
We tell you where your position is strong, where it is exposed, and what we would not file the way it currently stands. Nobody can promise you an outcome the FTA controls, so we simply leave it nothing to find.
Worth the call for some entities, and not for others.
A generic provider will register anyone for anything. We would rather tell you up front whether your situation actually needs senior judgement or just a clean filing, because that is the difference between advice that is worth paying for and a form you could fill in yourself.
Worth a conversation
You are a free zone entity assuming 0% applies, and nobody has ever formally tested your QFZP position against all five conditions. There are related-party or cross-border transactions on your books with no transfer pricing documentation behind them. Perhaps a registration or filing deadline has slipped, and you want the exposure understood before the FTA raises it. Or you are sitting close to a threshold (AED 375,000, AED 3 million, the de minimis limit) and the right side of the line is not obvious.
You may not need us yet
You just need a Tax Registration Number, your activity is simple, and your books are already clean and current. You are pre-revenue with no transactions, so all you have to do is register and keep records. Or you already have an accountant you trust and just want a second opinion rather than a switch.
We will say so, and point you the right wayThe costliest assumption free zone businesses make.
What free zone businesses assume
Being in a free zone means we automatically pay 0% corporate tax.
The advisor's note: The 0% rate is a conditional status, earned rather than granted by address. It is available only to Qualifying Free Zone Persons, only on Qualifying Income, and only once you meet five conditions at the same time: the right income mix, the de minimis test, adequate UAE economic substance, audited financials, and documented arm's length transfer pricing. Miss any single one and the entity is disqualified outright, which puts all of its income at 9%. Plenty of free zone businesses have never formally checked whether they qualify. An assumption carried for two years becomes a multi-year liability the moment the FTA audits.
Accurate filings start with accurate books.
A corporate tax return is only ever as reliable as the bookkeeping underneath it. Where the books are behind, we get them straight before any CT or VAT filing.
Bookkeeping
For UAE entities that need accurate, current books before annual CT and VAT filings.
- Monthly books maintained to filing standard
- Reconciliations and chart of accounts structured for CT
- VAT-coded transactions for quarterly return preparation
- FTA audit-ready records and supporting documentation
Scoped to your entity and transaction volume. See how we price.
The people who trust us with the parts that matter.
Corporate tax is a relationship of trust well before it is a filing. These are real, named recommendations from clients who worked with the firm directly.
They delivered what they promised without any hidden agenda and informed me of better and less costly ways to achieve what I need.
Communication was clear from the start, everything managed end to end with full transparency on costs.
A trusted advisor, a skilled navigator of complex regulatory landscapes, with unshakeable integrity.
Manish demonstrated deep expertise, professionalism, and a thorough understanding of the incorporation process. Proactive, responsive, and efficient.
Great and professional support from Manish. I recommend working with him on any project.
From the initial assessment to final implementation, the team demonstrated strong expertise, structured methodology, and clear communication.
Manish was instrumental in setting up our company in Dubai. Always responsive, readily available to answer our questions.
UAE corporate tax and VAT, answered plainly.
Does every UAE company have to pay corporate tax?
What is the UAE corporate tax rate?
My company is in a free zone. Do I still pay UAE corporate tax?
What is Small Business Relief and how do I claim it?
When do I need to register for VAT in the UAE?
What is the penalty for late UAE corporate tax filing?
A note on specialist services. Accounting, bookkeeping, VAT and corporate tax, and legal or liquidation work are delivered with our independently licensed partners. This page is general information, not tax or legal advice; confirm your own position with an independent tax advisor before you act.
Not sure which tax registrations are actually yours?
Answer a few questions and a senior advisor tells you exactly which Corporate Tax and VAT obligations and deadlines are actually yours. No obligation.
Not sure where your entity stands? A thirty-minute review will clarify it.
Thirty minutes, no pitch. Bring your licence, your revenue, and your financial year end. We map out your corporate tax and VAT obligations, flag the deadlines that actually apply to you, and tell you whether QFZP or Small Business Relief is realistic in your case. You speak with Manish, the firm's founder, who stays on the file rather than handing you down a chain. If we are the right fit, we carry on; if not, you leave with a much clearer view of where you stand.