Compliance Retainer
Corporate Tax Compliance, Handled Across the Year
Corporate tax is an annual return sitting on top of twelve months of decisions. Businesses that only think about it in month eight spend that month reconstructing what happened in month two. A retainer moves the work to when the information is still fresh.
- Deadlines tracked so nothing arrives as a surprise
- Quarterly review while the records can still be fixed
- A tax provision figure for your management accounts
- The annual return prepared without a scramble
Dubai-based corporate tax support for UAE mainland, free zone and group structures.
Last reviewed against current FTA guidance.
Quick Answer
A corporate tax compliance retainer covers the recurring obligations across the year rather than the return alone: deadline tracking, quarterly review of the book-to-tax position, related-party and free zone monitoring, a provision figure for management reporting, and preparation and filing of the annual return with its supporting schedules.
The Problem With Annual-Only
Nine months after year end, somebody asks why a large management fee was paid to a related company with no agreement, and nobody who was involved still works there. The information decays. The invoices are somewhere. The reasoning is gone.
Catching that in the quarter it happened takes ten minutes. Catching it fifteen months later takes a week and produces a worse answer.
- Related-party transactions documented when they occur
- Non-qualifying revenue tracked as it arises
- Adjustments identified while the invoices are findable
- Elections considered before the deadline to make them
- No annual archaeology project
What the Quarterly Review Covers
It is deliberately short. We look at the trial balance movement, the related-party accounts, anything unusual in the expense lines, and for free zone clients the running revenue split against the de minimis limit.
The output is a page. Where something needs fixing, it says so and says by when.
- Trial balance reviewed for tax-sensitive movements
- Related-party and connected-person transactions logged
- Non-deductible items flagged as they appear
- Free zone revenue split tracked against de minimis
- A one-page note each quarter, with actions
A Provision Figure You Can Use
Management accounts that ignore corporate tax overstate profit, and boards make decisions on them. Dividends get declared against a number that has not been reduced by the tax that will be payable on it.
Part of the retainer is producing a supportable provision each quarter, so the management accounts mean something and the payment in month nine is not a shock to the cash flow.
- A provision figure each quarter, with workings
- Cash flow planning for the annual payment date
- Dividend decisions taken on a post-tax number
- Budget and forecast figures that hold up
- No surprise liability at year end
The Annual Return, Without the Scramble
By year end most of the work is already done. The adjustments are logged, the agreements exist, the revenue analysis has been running all year. What remains is the computation itself, the schedules and the filing.
That is the difference between a return prepared in three weeks and one assembled in three months.
- Computation built from a year of logged adjustments
- Schedules and disclosures prepared alongside
- Audit coordination where an audit is required
- Filed on EmaraTax after written approval
- Working papers archived with the return
Who It Suits
Not everyone needs this. A dormant company with one bank account does not. A single-entity business with clean books and no related parties probably does not either.
It earns its keep where there is complexity: a group, a free zone claim, related-party flows, or a finance function without in-house tax knowledge.
- Groups with intercompany transactions
- Free zone companies claiming the 0% rate
- Businesses with owner or director transactions
- Finance teams with no in-house tax specialist
- Anyone who has already missed a deadline once
How the Retainer Works
Scope and fee are agreed for the year and billed monthly. The quarterly reviews and the annual return are included. Work outside the scope, such as a transfer pricing study or a voluntary disclosure, is quoted separately before it starts.
You always know what is included, which is the point of agreeing it in advance.
- Annual scope, monthly billing
- Quarterly reviews and the annual return included
- Deadline calendar maintained for you
- Out-of-scope work quoted before it begins
- One named contact who knows the file
What does a corporate tax retainer include?
Deadline tracking, quarterly review of the tax-sensitive position, a provision figure for management accounts, and preparation and filing of the annual return with its schedules.
Is it worth it for a small company?
Often not. A single entity with clean books and no related-party transactions can be served perfectly well by an annual engagement. The retainer earns its keep where there is a group, a free zone claim, or owner transactions to document.
Does it include the audit?
No. An audit is a separate engagement performed by an audit firm. We coordinate with your auditor so the timetable works, but we do not sign the opinion.
What is a tax provision and why does it matter?
It is the estimated corporate tax charge for the period, recognised in your management accounts. Without it, reported profit is overstated and dividend decisions get taken on a number that ignores the tax.
How often do we hear from you?
Quarterly as standard, with a one-page note and any actions. More often around year end, and whenever something changes that affects the position.
What is not included?
One-off technical work: transfer pricing studies, voluntary disclosures, audit representation, group formation analysis. Each is quoted separately before it starts.
Can you take over mid-year?
Yes. We usually start with a short review of the position to date so the first quarterly note has something solid behind it.
Do you handle VAT as well?
Yes, on the same basis. Most clients who want corporate tax handled year-round want the VAT returns on the same calendar.
How is the fee set?
Agreed annually against the scope and billed monthly, so it is predictable. Complexity, not headcount, drives the number.
The rest of what we do
Licence, visas, bank account, books and the first tax return: handled by the same team, so the structure has to survive its first year.
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Mainland vs Free Zone
Pick the jurisdiction before the licence. The decision that survives year one.
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PRO & Document Clearing
Establishment card, immigration file, visas, medicals and attestation.
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VAT Registration
Threshold checks, grouping and registration handled against the FTA's current rules.
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VAT Return Filing
VAT201 prepared, reconciled and filed, with the position documented.
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Corporate Tax Registration
Every taxable person must register, including free zone companies applying 0%.
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Corporate Tax Filing
Returns, elections and the qualifying income analysis behind them.
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Accounting & Bookkeeping
Books kept audit-ready from month one, not reconstructed at year end.
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Audit Preparation
Schedules, reconciliations and the evidence your auditor will ask for.
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Move the Work to When It Is Easy
Quarterly reviews, a usable provision figure and an annual return that is already half-built by year end. Fixed annual scope, billed monthly.
