UAE Tax Compliance Calendar 2026-27

• 03 August, 2026
• By Safvan, Managing Partner
• Tax Compliance

Last reviewed 3 August 2026 by the Exiloz tax team against the UAE legislation in force on that date. Tax law moves — confirm any figure against tax.gov.ae before you act on it.

Your CT deadline is nine months out, not 30 September

Here is the rule that catches out more UAE businesses than any other: your corporate tax return and payment are a single obligation due nine months after your financial year-end — so the deadline moves with your year-end and is not always 30 September. A 30 November 2025 year-end files and pays by 31 August 2026. A 31 December 2025 year-end has until 30 September 2026. A 31 March 2026 year-end has until 31 December 2026. This hub maps every corporate tax, VAT, e-invoicing, DMTT, WPS and UBO date for 2026-27 in one place, keyed to the year-end on your trade licence. The framework: Federal Decree-Law No. 47 of 2022 (corporate tax, Article 53 filing), Federal Decree-Law No. 8 of 2017 (VAT), and the revised penalty regime under Cabinet Decision No. 129 of 2025, effective 14 April 2026.

We had a Business Bay trading LLC come to us in July, convinced its corporate tax return was due 30 September like everyone else's. Its year-end was 30 November 2025. The real deadline was 31 August — already gone. That single wrong assumption cost a late-registration and late-filing exposure that dwarfed the actual tax. So before you diarise anything, check one thing: the financial year-end on your trade licence.

The rule that decides everything: nine months, not a fixed date

Under Article 48 and Article 53 of Federal Decree-Law No. 47 of 2022, the corporate tax return must be filed — and the tax paid — within nine months of the end of the relevant tax period. There are no extensions. The FTA does not send you a personalised reminder. Your first tax period is typically your first full financial year on or after 1 June 2023, so most businesses are now filing for a completed year. Map your year-end to the deadline below and put it in the calendar today.

The full H2 2026 compliance calendar

Corporate tax is only one line in your year. VAT runs on its own monthly or quarterly drumbeat, e-invoicing now has hard dates, and if you sit inside a large multinational group, Pillar Two registration is on the horizon. Here is the consolidated view for the back half of 2026.

VAT: the 28th is your recurring drumbeat

VAT returns are due by the 28th of the month following the end of your tax period. Most SMEs file quarterly; larger turnovers file monthly. So a quarter ending 30 September is due by 28 October, and payment must clear the FTA by the same date — a return filed on time but paid late still triggers a penalty. Registration is mandatory once taxable supplies cross AED 375,000 in a rolling 12 months, and you have 30 days from crossing it to register, not until year-end.

A worked example: when is a Dubai LLC actually due?

Take a Business Bay trading LLC with a 30 November 2025 year-end, AED 6,000,000 of revenue and AED 900,000 of taxable profit. Its corporate tax is (900,000 − 375,000) × 9% = AED 47,250, and both the return and that payment are due by 31 August 2026 — nine months out. It also files VAT quarterly, so its Q3 return lands on 28 October. If it assumed a 30 September CT deadline, it would in fact be a month early on VAT and a full month late on corporate tax. The calendar below is that one company's back half of the year.

Penalties: what a missed date actually costs

The numbers below are the well-established administrative penalties. From 14 April 2026, Cabinet Decision No. 129 of 2025 revised parts of this schedule — some fixed penalties came down — so confirm the current figure against tax.gov.ae before you rely on it. The point stands either way: the penalty for a missed date routinely exceeds the tax itself.

How to build your own compliance calendar

1. Find your financial year-end on the trade licence or MOA — every corporate tax date keys off it.
2. Add nine months to that date for the combined CT return-and-payment deadline. Diarise it, plus a reminder six weeks earlier.
3. Fix your VAT cadence: note whether you file monthly or quarterly, and mark the 28th after each period-end.
4. Check the AED 50m e-invoicing test: if revenue is at or above it, appoint an Accredited Service Provider by 30 October 2026.
5. Flag the group tests: Pillar Two / DMTT registration if your group tops EUR 750m, and the ~31 December window to reclaim old credit balances.
6. Set the recurring items: WPS salary runs, UBO changes within the notification window, and any excise returns, so nothing is left to memory.

Common mistakes we see

The dates just outside the 2026 window

A few nearby dates shape how you plan. The scrap-metal VAT reverse charge went live on 14 January 2026; the revised penalty regime under Cabinet Decision No. 129 of 2025 took effect on 14 April 2026; the e-invoicing voluntary pilot opened 1 July 2026; mandatory e-invoicing go-live is 1 January 2027; and the first DMTT return (for a December 2025 year-end) is expected around 30 June 2027. Build them into next year's calendar now so nothing lands as a surprise.

The governing rules

Corporate tax filing and payment sit in Federal Decree-Law No. 47 of 2022 (Articles 48 and 53); VAT in Federal Decree-Law No. 8 of 2017 and its Executive Regulation; administrative penalties in Cabinet Decision No. 49 of 2021 as revised by Cabinet Decision No. 129 of 2025 from 14 April 2026; and e-invoicing in Ministerial Decisions 243 and 244 of 2025. This hub links the spokes together — start with the corporate tax deadline guide for the CT detail, and our payroll and WPS team for the monthly salary obligations that never appear on a tax portal.

Frequently Asked Questions