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Corporate Tax Health Check

Corporate Tax Health Check: Finding the Gaps Before the FTA Does

Most corporate tax problems we get called in to fix were visible a year earlier. The registration was late. The tax period on EmaraTax did not match the trade licence. Related-party balances sat in the ledger with no agreement behind them. A health check is the cheap version of finding that out.

  • Registration status and tax period verified against your licence
  • Free zone position tested, not assumed
  • Book-to-tax adjustments listed with the amounts
  • A written report you can hand to a bank, auditor or investor
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Dubai-based corporate tax support for UAE mainland, free zone and group structures.

Last reviewed against current FTA guidance.

Reviewing a UAE company file during a corporate tax health check in Dubai

Quick Answer

A corporate tax health check is a fixed-scope review of where a UAE business actually stands: whether it is registered, whether the tax period on EmaraTax matches the licence, whether the books support a defensible taxable income figure, and whether any free zone or relief position claimed is genuinely available. It ends in a written report with the gaps ranked by cost, not a verbal opinion.

AED 10,000Late registration penalty still in force
9 monthsFrom year end to file and pay
14%/yrLate payment charge since 14 April 2026
1 reportWritten, ranked, with amounts
01: Corporate Tax Consultant Dubai

What Gets Checked

The review runs in one direction: from the trade licence to the return. Licence activity and issue date decide the registration deadline. The financial year decides the tax period. The tax period decides the filing date. Break that chain anywhere and everything downstream is wrong, which is why the first document we ask for is the licence, not the ledger.

Then the accounts, where we are looking for the adjustments a computation needs and the evidence sitting behind them.

  • Trade licence, activity and issue date against the registration deadline
  • Tax registration number, tax period and financial year on EmaraTax
  • Trial balance quality and whether it actually closes
  • Related-party balances, loans and management charges
  • Entertainment, fines and other non-deductible items
  • Exempt income sitting unflagged in the profit line
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Trade licence and trial balance compared during a UAE corporate tax review
Trade licence and trial balance compared during a UAE corporate tax review
02: Corporate Tax Consultant Dubai

The Free Zone Question

Free zone companies get their own section, because this is where the largest amounts hide. A free zone licence gives you nothing on its own. The 0% rate applies to qualifying income of a Qualifying Free Zone Person, and every one of those conditions has to be evidenced: qualifying activity, adequate substance in the zone, arm's length pricing on related-party dealings, audited financial statements, and non-qualifying revenue inside the de minimis limit.

Fail one condition and the entity pays 9% on everything for that period and the four that follow. That is not a rounding error.

  • Whether the activity appears on the qualifying list at all
  • Where the income-generating people and assets actually sit
  • Non-qualifying revenue measured against the de minimis threshold
  • Whether audited statements exist, which QFZP status requires
  • Mainland customers and how that revenue has been treated
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Free zone office reviewed for qualifying free zone person conditions
Free zone office reviewed for qualifying free zone person conditions
03: Corporate Tax Consultant Dubai

What Comes Back

The output is a short written report, not a meeting. Every finding carries three things: what is wrong, what it costs if left alone, and what fixing it involves. Findings are ranked by exposure, so a finance manager can take the top three to the board without reading twelve pages first.

Where a number can be estimated, it is estimated. "Potential exposure" with no figure attached helps nobody.

  • Findings ranked by financial exposure
  • Penalty amounts quantified where a deadline has passed
  • A fix list with an owner and a sequence
  • The documents you should start collecting now
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Written corporate tax health check report on a Dubai office desk
Written corporate tax health check report on a Dubai office desk
04: Corporate Tax Consultant Dubai

When To Run One

The obvious trigger is the first return. A business that has never filed a corporate tax return has no idea whether its books can support one, and month eight of nine is a poor time to find out.

The other triggers are external. Someone is about to look at your file.

  • Before your first corporate tax return
  • After a change of accountant or accounting system
  • Before a bank facility, investment round or sale
  • After an FTA letter of any kind
  • When a group is about to add or remove an entity
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Finance team deciding when to commission a corporate tax review
Finance team deciding when to commission a corporate tax review
05: Corporate Tax Consultant Dubai

What It Is Not

A health check is not an audit and does not replace one. We are not signing an opinion on the financial statements and we are not verifying every transaction. We read the file the way the FTA would read it and tell you what stands out.

It is also not a tax planning exercise. Structuring conversations come after the current position is understood, never before.

  • No audit opinion is issued
  • Sample-based, not transaction by transaction
  • Conclusions depend on the documents provided
  • Restructuring advice is a separate engagement
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Distinguishing a corporate tax review from a statutory audit in the UAE
Distinguishing a corporate tax review from a statutory audit in the UAE
06: Corporate Tax Consultant Dubai

How Exiloz Runs It

You send the licence, the last set of financial statements, the trial balance and the EmaraTax registration details. We come back with a document request list inside a working day, and the report follows once the file is complete. Most single-entity reviews close within two weeks.

Groups take longer. Intercompany balances have to agree in both directions before anything can be concluded.

  • Fixed scope and fixed fee agreed before we start
  • One document request list, not a drip feed
  • A call to walk through the findings
  • Remediation quoted separately so you can choose
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Exiloz corporate tax specialist preparing a health check engagement in Dubai
Exiloz corporate tax specialist preparing a health check engagement in Dubai

Related Exiloz Services & Guides

Corporate Tax Consultant Dubai Corporate Tax Consultant Dubai Corporate Tax Registration Corporate Tax Registration Corporate Tax Filing Service Corporate Tax Filing Service Free Zone Corporate Tax Free Zone Corporate Tax Taxable Income Calculation Taxable Income Calculation Guide: Corporate Tax Deadline 2026 Guide: Corporate Tax Deadline 2026 Contact Exiloz Contact Exiloz

What is a corporate tax health check?

A fixed-scope review of your UAE corporate tax position: registration, tax period, book-to-tax adjustments, free zone status and disclosure obligations. It produces a written report with findings ranked by financial exposure.

How long does it take?

A single entity with complete records usually takes about two weeks from the point the document list is satisfied. Groups take longer, because intercompany balances have to reconcile first.

Do I need one if I already have an auditor?

An audit opinion covers the financial statements. It does not tell you whether your registration is late, whether your tax period is right, or whether a free zone 0% claim will survive review. Those are different questions.

Will it tell me how much tax I owe?

It tells you what the computation has to deal with and estimates the exposure where a figure can be supported. A binding number comes from the computation itself, which is separate work.

What documents do you need to start?

The trade licence, the most recent financial statements, the trial balance, and your EmaraTax registration details. Everything else is requested once we have seen those.

Can you fix what you find?

Yes, quoted separately. Keeping the review and the remediation apart means the review has no reason to inflate what it finds.

Is this useful for a free zone company?

It is usually most useful there. The conditions for the 0% rate are cumulative, and one failed condition removes the rate for that period and the four that follow.

We never registered. Is it too late?

No. Late registration carries an AED 10,000 penalty and the position worsens the longer it runs, but registering late always beats not registering. The review tells you what else has accrued alongside it.

Does the report stay confidential?

Yes. It is prepared for you. We do not file it anywhere, and you decide whether it goes to your bank, auditor or investor.

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.

Find Out Where You Actually Stand

One fixed-fee review, one written report, findings ranked by what they cost. Send the licence and the last financial statements to start.

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Exiloz Management & Tax Consultant LLC