Get the QFZP File Ready

Build the file behind the return

Working-paper support starts with the records that make the tax treatment true. The file should connect the trial balance to the revenue map, activity classification, direct-cost schedule, shared-cost allocation and final Corporate Tax calculation. The FTA's Free Zone Persons guide expects a QFZP to separate the components in its financial statements and allocate expenses in a reasonable manner consistent with the arm's-length principle.

If you are deciding whether the file is ready for review, open the revenue ledger and follow one material line to its contract, invoice, activity and tax treatment. Then follow the related cost to the ledger and allocation schedule. We would build that trail before drafting the return, because a form can be completed while the evidence behind its 0% position remains unexplained. That trail gives management something concrete to approve and gives the auditor a stable starting point if the file enters assurance review.

• Map customers, activities and revenue streams.
• Assign direct costs to the activity they support.
• Document each material shared-cost allocation.
• Reconcile the final schedules to the statements.

Tax support stops at the auditor's line

Ministerial Decision No. 84 of 2025 requires a Qualifying Free Zone Person to prepare and maintain audited financial statements. The tax support file can organise the signed statements, final trial balance, evidence index, revenue bridge and open-items list for review. It does not issue an audit opinion. Where a separate agreed-upon procedures report is required, the independent external auditor performs that engagement and reports the factual findings.

Make the handoff explicit. The preparer should give the auditor a defined population, source documents, cross-references and the questions still open. The auditor should not have to guess which customer records support resale status or which import documents show entry through a Designated Zone. The object that proves a good handoff is the indexed file, not a promise that the work is complete.

The FTA guide does not specify a universal evidence pack for every QFZP business. That is not a reason to use a generic folder. A logistics operator may need movement records, a service company may need contracts and work records, and a group may need related-party analysis. Name the document that supports each conclusion, then mark the items that still need management or auditor attention.

• Prepare schedules and evidence indexes for review.
• Identify open classifications before handoff.
• Give the auditor source records and control totals.
• Keep assurance conclusions with the independent auditor.

Start with source records, then calculate

The practical sequence is simple. Gather the licence, trial balance, general ledger, financial statements, customer and supplier contracts, related-party schedule and any branch or premises records. Map revenue before assigning the tax rate. Allocate direct costs first, then shared costs. Record the reason for each key. Reconcile the result to the statements. Only then should the return preparer finalise the Corporate Tax calculation and submission file.

The evidence index should identify the document, period, ledger reference and conclusion it supports. If an item is missing, say what is missing and who must obtain it. That list is useful to management and to the auditor. It also protects the handoff from becoming a second round of discovery after the return calculation has already been presented as final. Marking an open item is better than implying that an unprovided document was reviewed.

• Gather source records and confirm the Tax Period.
• Classify revenue before applying tax treatment.
• Allocate costs with a written reason.
• Close or approve open items before submission.

A support file must reproduce the control total

The FTA guide's Company J example gives a useful control. Total Revenue of AED 3,000,000 less direct expenses of AED 2,000,000 and allocated expenses of AED 300,000 leaves AED 700,000 profit. The working papers then show AED 450,000 attributable to the Domestic Permanent Establishment and AED 250,000 to the Free Zone parent. A preparer who cannot reproduce those totals has not finished the reconciliation.

The tax result follows the same bridge: AED 450,000 multiplied by 9% equals AED 40,500 for the Domestic Permanent Establishment, while the guide applies 0% to the AED 250,000 Qualifying Income component. The guide demonstrates the calculation, but it does not prescribe one evidence pack for every business. That is the genuine boundary. The source records must fit the activity, customer and place of performance.

• Agree total Revenue to the financial statements.
• Agree total expenses before component allocation.
• Show the profit bridge for each component.
• Keep the tax calculation tied to those totals.

Start the auditor pack early

FTA Decision No. 6 of 2026 applies to a QFZP carrying on distribution of goods or materials in or from a Designated Zone for Tax Periods starting on or after 1 January 2026. It requires an agreed-upon procedures report from an independent external auditor. The evidence includes customer licences, signed reseller confirmations, sales agreements, invoices, import declarations, customs documents, shipping records, inventory logs and goods-movement records.

The report must be submitted no later than 30 days after the Corporate Tax return deadline, unless the Authority sets another date. Do not treat that period as time to collect the whole file. Our recommendation is to build the customer and import evidence index before the auditor starts, because the independent auditor needs a defined population and the QFZP must retain the documents behind the findings. Exiloz can organise the source pack, but it does not perform the audit or agreed-upon procedures engagement.

• Identify whether distribution occurs in or from a Designated Zone.
• Collect reseller and import evidence by Tax Period.
• Give the independent auditor a defined population.
• Track the 30-day report window after the return deadline.