When is the UAE corporate tax return due?
Within 9 months of your tax period's end — 30 September for December year-ends, 31 December for March year-ends. Payment is due by the same date.
Corporate Tax Return Deadline
Corporate Tax Return Deadline in the UAE: The 9-Month Rule Explained
Every taxable person files one corporate tax return per tax period, due — together with payment — within nine months of the period's end. Nine months sounds generous until audit sign-off, adjustments and elections have to happen inside it.
- Your exact deadline computed from your financial year
- Filing calendar working back from audit sign-off
- Return and payment submitted with margin
- Elections and reliefs claimed inside the return
Dubai-based, FTA-aware corporate tax filing support for UAE businesses.
Quick Answer
The corporate tax return and payment are due within 9 months of the end of the tax period. December year-end companies file by 30 September of the following year; March year-ends by 31 December; June year-ends by 31 March. Late filing costs AED 500 per month for the first 12 months (AED 1,000 monthly after), and late payment adds an annual-rate charge on the unpaid tax.
9 monthsFrom year end to file and pay
30 SepDeadline for December year-ends
AED 500/moLate filing penalty, first 12 months
1 returnPer tax period — no provisional filings
Working Out Your Date
The deadline is mechanical: financial year end plus nine months. The subtleties are in the first period — incorporation dates can create a long or short opening period — and in the fact that payment shares the same deadline as the return. There are no quarterly instalments or provisional returns; the full liability lands at once.
- 31 December year-end → file and pay by 30 September
- 31 March year-end → file and pay by 31 December
- First periods may be longer or shorter than 12 months
- Payment is due with the return — plan the cash, not just the form
Why Nine Months Gets Tight
The return consumes everything upstream of it: closed books, audited or at least finalised financial statements, tax adjustments, transfer pricing schedules and relief elections. Businesses that start at month seven discover their auditors, their records and the FTA portal all have their own timelines. The comfortable version of this process starts within three months of year end.
- Audit sign-off often takes months on its own
- QFZP claimants need audited statements — no shortcuts
- Transfer pricing disclosures need data gathering
- Elections (SBR, groups, reliefs) are made in the return, not after
Missing It: The Cost Structure
Late filing penalties accrue monthly — AED 500 per month or part-month for the first twelve, AED 1,000 monthly thereafter — and unpaid tax accrues its own annual-rate late payment charge. A return filed eight months late with tax owing is a five-figure mistake before the underlying tax is even touched.
- AED 500/month late filing, first 12 months
- AED 1,000/month thereafter until filed
- Late payment charge accrues on unpaid tax from the due date
- Chronic lateness invites audit attention on the substance too
Corporate Tax Return Deadline UAE FAQs
Are there quarterly corporate tax payments in the UAE?
No — one annual return and one payment per tax period. That makes cash planning for the single payment date essential.
What is the late filing penalty?
AED 500 for each month (or part) of delay in the first 12 months, rising to AED 1,000 monthly afterwards — plus late payment charges on any unpaid tax.
Does my first period follow the calendar year?
Your first tax period follows your financial year as declared at registration; incorporation timing can make it longer or shorter than 12 months.
Can the deadline be extended?
There is no standard extension mechanism — the working assumption must be that the nine-month date is final.
Counting Months to Your First Deadline?
Tell us your year end and we will build the workback plan — books, audit, adjustments, elections — so the nine months never becomes a scramble.
