26 August 2026 · Timing
Who Owns the Tax Deadline?
The Federal Tax Authority says a VAT return and payment are generally due within 28 days after the Tax Period ends. A Corporate Tax Return and Corporate Tax due are generally due within nine months after the Tax Period ends. Your engagement letter should name who prepares, reviews and submits each item, while the business retains oversight of the filing.
Exiloz Management & Tax Consultant · Dubai-based FTA-focused advisory · VAT, corporate tax & accounting
VAT and Corporate Tax need separate owner dates
The Federal Tax Authority's Filing VAT Returns And Making Payments page says a registered business must file its VAT return and make the related payment within 28 days from the end of its Tax Period. The FTA's Corporate Tax reminder says the return and tax due are due within no more than nine months from the end of the relevant Tax Period. Those are legal windows, not a complete work plan.
VAT work repeats throughout the year. It needs a ledger close, tax-code review, reconciliation, return approval and payment owner. Corporate Tax work gathers around the year-end close and adds tax adjustments, schedules, review and EmaraTax submission. Put those jobs in separate lines, even if one provider performs both.
If your VAT deadline is approaching, start with the Tax Period end and the return owner. Do not start with a generic checklist. Ask which document pack the reviewer must receive, when the preparer stops accepting new entries, and who approves payment. The FTA date should be the final control, not the first time anyone looks at the calendar.
Turn each FTA window into named hand-offs
Work backwards from the date shown in the FTA account. Name the submitter first, then the reviewer, preparer, document requester and transaction cut-off. Give each hand-off an output. For example, the reviewer should receive a reconciled VAT pack, not a message saying that VAT is being handled. A named output exposes a missing task before it becomes a late filing.
A VAT pack should include sales and purchase reports, tax-code exceptions, bank and payment-gateway reconciliations, credit notes, import records where relevant and the proposed return. Keep the filed return and payment confirmation with it. The FTA filing page confirms the 28-day window, while the pack shows what was checked before submission.
For Corporate Tax, reserve time for the final trial balance, asset and liability schedules, accounting adjustments, supporting records and return review. The FTA's nine-month rule does not say who prepares those items. Your engagement must. If it only promises monthly bookkeeping, ask for a separate annual filing scope before the financial year closes.
| Workstream | FTA deadline | Required hand-off |
|---|---|---|
| VAT return | Within 28 days after Tax Period | Reconciled pack to reviewer |
| VAT payment | Within 28 days after Tax Period | Approved amount to payer |
| Corporate Tax return | Within nine months after Tax Period | Accounts and workings to reviewer |
| Corporate Tax payment | Within nine months after Tax Period | Approved liability to payer |
The 28-day window needs a finished pack earlier
The person preparing the VAT return should close the relevant sales and purchase ledger before reviewing tax codes. Then match bank and payment-gateway settlements, inspect credit notes, and list missing invoices or import evidence. The return should be a conclusion from those documents. An unreviewed ledger export is only a starting file, even if the portal accepts it.
Worked example, using illustrative ledger figures. The proposed return shows output VAT of AED 27,600 and input VAT of AED 18,200. The control sheet should show AED 27,600 - AED 18,200 = AED 9,400 payable before approval. These amounts are not a penalty or market quote. They show the arithmetic the reviewer should be able to reproduce from invoices, credit notes and the VAT report.
The FTA's VAT filing page states the 28-day deadline, but the provider still needs an earlier internal date for questions and corrections. We recommend fixing the document cut-off before the legal deadline, because a reviewer cannot resolve an unexplained tax code while the payment owner is already waiting for a final amount. The return owner should also have the FTA account notice and the business's payment approval record, because the deadline is measured against the Tax Period shown there.
The annual return needs its own workstream
Corporate Tax filing begins with accounts that another person can explain. Close the ledger, reconcile material balance-sheet accounts, prepare the asset and liability schedules, and identify adjustments that affect taxable income. A monthly bookkeeping report may supply the raw entries. It does not by itself show that the annual tax workings are ready for review.
The FTA's Corporate Tax announcement says a Taxable Person submits its return and pays Corporate Tax within no more than nine months after the Tax Period ends. The same announcement identifies transaction, asset and liability records as supporting documents and says relevant records are kept for at least seven years. Put the filing work and the later record access in the same annual scope.
Ask the provider to state whether it prepares adjustments, builds schedules, reviews the return and uses EmaraTax, or only closes the accounts. Exiloz is not a registered Tax Agent. It can support records and preparation under a defined engagement, but the wording must not suggest a credential or statutory audit service that it does not hold.
The common failure is an owner nobody named
The mistake we see most is treating a recurring bookkeeping invoice as proof that the tax deadline has an owner. The monthly ledger arrives, but nobody is assigned to request the missing invoice, approve the reconciliation, review the return or release payment. The gap usually appears on the due date, when each person can point to a different part of the scope.
Put the responsibility beside each action and name the object that closes it: a document request, reconciled report, review note, approval record, payment confirmation or submitted return. If the business does not answer a request, the agreement should show the escalation route. That is how an owner sees the consequence of a late response while there is still time to act.
The FTA publishes the legal windows in its VAT filing page and Corporate Tax announcement, but it does not state the private provider's cut-off, review service level or approval chain. That boundary is genuine. Write those operating dates into the engagement, then test them against the next VAT return and Corporate Tax work plan. Keep the signed calendar with the engagement, and update it when the FTA changes a due date or directs another date for that taxpayer.
Frequently Asked Questions
For putting tax filing dates into the accounting scope.
When is a UAE VAT return due?
The Federal Tax Authority says a registered business must file its VAT return and make the related payment within 28 days from the end of its Tax Period, unless the FTA directs another date. The accounting engagement should set an earlier internal review date so reconciliation is finished before submission.
When is a UAE Corporate Tax return due?
The Federal Tax Authority says a Taxable Person must submit its Corporate Tax Return and pay Corporate Tax due within nine months from the end of the relevant Tax Period. The provider should plan the closing accounts, tax adjustments, schedules, review and EmaraTax submission as separate work items.
Who is responsible if an outsourced filing is late?
The engagement letter should identify the preparer, reviewer, submitter and escalation contact. Outsourcing does not remove the business's tax obligation. The Federal Tax Authority is the filing authority, while the commercial agreement should explain how information requests, approvals and missed deadlines are handled.
Can Exiloz map our accounting tax calendar?
Exiloz can map VAT and Corporate Tax work to your close dates, list the records needed and assign preparation and review tasks. The Federal Tax Authority sets the legal filing timeframes, so the calendar is an internal control that helps the business meet those obligations.
Who Owns Your Dates?
Exiloz maps your close dates, tax work and review responsibilities into a written accounting calendar.