Aqid ERPThe deadline, and where to file
The return is filed and the tax paid within nine months of the end of each tax period: for a company whose year ends on 31 December, by 30 September of the next year. This holds for businesses electing Small Business Relief too. The return is filed on EmaraTax, the FTA's portal, by the business or by a tax agent registered with the FTA, and the tax is paid there.
Registering late: AED 10,000
A business that does not register within the time the FTA sets pays AED 10,000 (Cabinet Decision No. 10 of 2024, from 1 March 2024). An FTA initiative waived it for a business's first tax period when the first return was filed within seven months of that period's end; for most companies with a calendar year, that window closed on 31 July 2025.
Filing late
A return filed after the deadline costs AED 500 for each month, or part of a month, during the first twelve months, and AED 1,000 a month from the thirteenth. The count starts the day after the deadline.
| Months 1 to 12 | AED 500 a month |
|---|---|
| From month 13 | AED 1,000 a month |
| Return 4 months late | AED 2,000 |
| Return 14 months late | AED 8,000 |
Paying late
Tax not paid by the deadline carries a monthly penalty worked out at 14% a year on the amount unpaid, from the day after the due date, for each month it stays unpaid. Filing on time and paying late still costs this, so the two are best done together.
How Aqid ERP helps
A UAE company in Aqid ERP gets an estimate of its corporate tax from the ledger as the year goes, and records each period's facts, the Small Business Relief election among them. The estimate starts from the same accounting profit the return does, so the figures are ready well before the nine months run out.