UAE Corporate Tax & VAT Accounting Services
9% CIT filings (first full cycle 2024), VAT 5% returns, bookkeeping and free zone substance documentation. We file it for you — no late submissions, no FTA penalties.
What Tax & Accounting includes in the UAE
What you receive
How it works
Helpful resources
Where to register and how we differ
Tax & Accounting in the UAE — frequently asked questions
The Federal Corporate Tax (CT), introduced by Federal Decree-Law No. 47 of 2022, is charged at 9% on taxable income above AED 375,000; income up to AED 375,000 is taxed at 0%. It's paid by juridical persons incorporated in the UAE and foreign companies with a permanent establishment in the country. Financial years starting on or after 1 June 2023 fall in scope. The FTA administers it; the return is due within 9 months of year-end.
Qualifying Free Zone Persons (QFZPs) pay 0% on qualifying income — from transactions with other free zone entities and qualifying international activity. The 9% rate applies to non-qualifying income, such as mainland-sourced revenue. Holding QFZP status takes adequate economic substance in the UAE and qualifying activities under Ministerial Decision No. 139 of 2023. We pass the substance tests on the documents.
VAT registration is mandatory once taxable supplies and imports over the previous 12 months pass AED 375,000, or are set to pass the threshold within the next 30 days. Voluntary registration is available above AED 187,500 in turnover. VAT is 5% on standard supplies; exports of goods and international services are zero-rated. Registration runs through EmaraTax. The late-filing penalty starts at AED 10,000.
Under the Economic Substance Regulations (ESR, Cabinet Resolution No. 57 of 2020), UAE companies in "relevant activities" — banking, insurance, fund management, lease-finance, headquarters, shipping, holding companies, IP, and distribution and service centres — must show real presence in the country. That means adequate UAE-based staff, management, and operating expenditure. ESR notifications are due within 6 months of the financial year-end; substance reports within 12 months.
The UAE joined CRS (the OECD's Automatic Exchange of Information) in 2017. UAE financial institutions pass account data on foreign tax residents to the Ministry of Finance, which exchanges it with 100+ jurisdictions. The 9% CT means many CRS partner states no longer treat the UAE as a zero-tax jurisdiction. Transparency is now part of the tax map.