What a Free Zone Filing Quote Should Cover

A Quote Starts With The File

A free-zone tax filing quote should describe work, not just name a total. Ask whether it covers the trial balance review, QFZP classification, revenue mapping, evidence reconciliation, tax computation and return support. The government charge, if any, belongs on a separate line. That separation lets you compare two proposals without mistaking a narrow form-filling service for a review of the position.

The objects that change the work are visible in the file. A clean general ledger with one revenue stream is different from a ledger containing related-party charges, warehouse income, customer rebates and transactions outside the free zone. Missing contracts, unclear expense allocations and an unfinished audit report add review work because each amount needs an explanation before the return can be approved.

If you are deciding today, start with the Tax Period rather than the quoted fee. Article 53 of Federal Decree-Law No. 47 of 2022 gives a Taxable Person nine months from the end of the relevant Tax Period to file. For a company whose year ended on 31 December 2025, that calculation ends on 30 September 2026. The date determines how much review time remains.

The Company And The Accounts Set The Scope

A small QFZP with one activity, one bank account and a reconciled ledger may need a focused classification and filing review. A trading company with several customer types needs more: contracts, customer roles, import records, sales terms, related-party schedules and an expense allocation that can be followed back to the books. The licence is an input to that work, not a substitute for it.

A QFZP must prepare and maintain audited financial statements under Article 2 of Ministerial Decision No. 84 of 2025. Filing support can tie the audited accounts to the tax computation and identify gaps for the appointed auditor, but it does not perform the statutory audit. If the audit is unfinished, the filing scope should say who owns that work and what evidence must arrive before submission.

We would not accept a flat filing quote before seeing the trial balance and the revenue detail, because the condition of those two objects predicts the work better than the free-zone name. A low figure for a form with no evidence review can leave the company paying later for classification corrections, missing schedules or a second round of account reconstruction.

• Trial balance and general ledger
• Revenue streams and contracts
• QFZP evidence gaps
• Audit status and handoff

The Deliverable Must Be Named

A useful engagement describes the documents it will inspect: the free-zone licence, Corporate Tax registration record, trial balance, general ledger, revenue listing, customer contracts, invoices, lease or premises records and related-party agreements. If the company distributes goods from a Designated Zone, add customs declarations, bills of lading, inventory logs and goods-movement records to the starting list.

The output should be more than a submitted form. It should include a revenue classification note, a reconciliation from the accounts to the tax computation, an allocation explanation for shared costs, an exceptions list and a final approval record. The company should be able to open the file later and see why a transaction was treated as qualifying, other taxable income or outside the calculation.

Cabinet Decision No. 75 of 2023 sets administrative penalties for tax records and registration failures, but it does not state what an external consultant should charge. The Federal Tax Authority service card says Corporate Tax registration is free of charge, yet that government fact is not a market rate for accounting work. The evidence boundary is real: public sources set obligations, not a private support fee.

• Documents to be reviewed
• Reconciliation and classification note
• Exceptions and approval record
• Separate audit responsibility

Review The Evidence Before The Return

The practical sequence is short. Confirm the Tax Period and filing date, export the ledger, mark every revenue stream, then compare each classification with the current activity rules. After that, reconcile expenses to the same revenue map and attach the contract, invoice or customs object that makes each material conclusion understandable. Only then should the computation be prepared for management approval.

The mistake we see most is starting with the EmaraTax screen because the return looks like an administrative task. The difficult work is earlier. A customer contract may show who received the goods, a customs declaration may show where they entered, and a general-ledger code may show that two streams were mixed. The review should resolve those objects before anyone treats a zero-rate outcome as settled.

A company with a filing date inside ten days should freeze the evidence request immediately. Send the missing-document list to the person who owns the contract, bank trail or customs folder, record what is still absent, and let management decide whether the position can be supported. That is a better decision than buying a rushed submission whose scope never covered the missing proof.

• Confirm the Tax Period
• Map revenue to the current rules
• Reconcile shared costs
• Obtain management approval

Separate The Quote From The Penalty

The published government amounts belong in the exposure calculation, while the consultant scope belongs in the engagement letter. For example, if separate violations are established for late Corporate Tax registration and for failing to submit requested tax records in Arabic, the published amounts are AED 10,000 plus AED 5,000, which is AED 15,000. That is an illustration of arithmetic, not a prediction that both penalties will apply to one file.

The FTA service card also records that the registration service itself is free of charge. That does not make account review, QFZP analysis or audit coordination free. A quote should identify the number of entities, revenue streams, related-party positions, state of the books and evidence gaps that drive the work. Those are the facts that explain a price without inventing a market tariff.

Use the table as a check before you approve the engagement. If a proposal does not say whether it covers classification, reconciliation, management review and the handoff to the auditor, ask for that wording. Exiloz can provide consulting and filing support, but it is not an FTA-accredited e-invoicing Service Provider, is not a registered Tax Agent and does not perform statutory audits.