Why all companies need to register
People hear that profit up to AED 375,000 is taxed at 0% and conclude a small company sits outside the system. Only the first half is true, because the 0% band changes the bill and leaves the duty to register in place.
Who has to register
Any company licensed in the UAE is a taxable person from incorporation, on the mainland or in a free zone, trading or dormant. Branches of foreign companies register too, and so do individuals whose business turnover passes AED 1 million in a calendar year.
Free zone companies need to register for corporate tax on the same footing, and the 0% qualifying free zone rate is claimed through the return that registration opens. Exemptions cover a narrow group, such as government entities and certain public benefit bodies, and none of them reaches an ordinary trading company.
Registration versus the tax bill
Being under the AED 375,000 threshold changes what you owe, and you stay in the regime either way.
Step one, constant
Being in the regime
You hold a Tax Registration Number and file an annual return, whatever the figures.
Step two, variable
The amount of tax you pay
Profit below the threshold, or covered by a relief, lands at zero tax due, and the duty to register and file still stands.
What does registration commit you to?
- Registration with the FTA, inside your deadline
- An annual return every tax period, even at zero
- Records that stand behind a nil result
- Any relief elected, since Small Business Relief for UAE corporate tax is not automatic
Two companies with the same nil bill can have different registration deadlines. We confirm yours against your incorporation date and financial year, then register and file for you.
What registration sets up
Registration fixes the tax period, which follows the financial year in the company's articles. All later dates run from that period, so a company that wants a different year applies to the FTA to change it.
It also opens the record the FTA reads for years: the licence, the owners and the activity. We check those details against the licence before filing, because a correction later takes longer than getting the first entry right.
A dormant company is still a taxable person. It registers and files a nil return for each period until it is formally deregistered.
Penalties for missing corporate tax registration
Miss the registration period and a fixed penalty lands even though the tax is zero. How it works, and when it can be waived, is set out under the corporate tax late registration penalty.
AED 10,000 Fixed administrative penalty for late or missed UAE corporate tax registration, payable even when the tax due is zero
We treat registration as the first thing to get right, because it is the one duty that bites even when the tax does not.
We confirm your company's deadline, register within it, and make sure the return goes in on time whether the result is a bill or a nil.
Your deadline confirmed against your facts
Never a generic table.
Registration and the return handled together
A nil result is filed like any other return. More on our corporate tax and VAT service.