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Q: When is the Corporate Tax return due for a December year end?

30 September of the following year, nine months after the end of the tax period, with the tax payable by the same date. There is no separate payment-on-account regime, so the full liability falls due with the return and needs planning for through the year.

Most UAE compliance failures are calendar failures, not technical ones. Here is the recurring cycle, a worked example for a December year end, and the six events that catch businesses out.

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28th

VAT, monthly or quarterly

9 months

Corporate Tax return and payment

Annual

Statements, audit, licence, stock count

ESR

No longer an ongoing filing

Most UAE compliance failures are calendar failures rather than technical ones — a deadline that arrived while everyone was busy. This is the recurring cycle for an ordinary UAE company, with the events that catch people out set out at the end.

The recurring cycle

When	What	Applies to
Monthly	WPS salary file submitted through an approved institution	Employers with staff
Monthly	Bookkeeping close, bank and POS reconciliation	Everyone — the basis for everything else
Monthly / quarterly	Landlord sales statement under a turnover-rent lease	Mall tenants
By the 28th after period end	VAT return filed and paid	VAT-registered businesses
Annually	Stock count, attended and documented	Businesses holding inventory
Annually	Financial statements under IFRS or IFRS for SMEs	Effectively all companies
Annually	Statutory or free zone audit by a registered / approved auditor	Mainland companies, many free zones, all QFZPs
Annually	Turnover certificate for the lease year	Mall tenants with turnover rent
Annually	Trade licence renewal — often requires financial statements	Everyone
Within 9 months of period end	Corporate Tax return filed and paid	All taxable persons, including those owing nothing
With the CT return	Transfer pricing disclosure form, where conditions are met	Businesses with related-party transactions
On request	Master File and Local File provided to the FTA	Businesses above the prescribed thresholds

Worked example: calendar year end

For a company with a financial year ending 31 December:

JanuaryYear-end stock count completed and documented. Q4 VAT return due by 28 January.
February – MarchFinancial statements prepared; audit file assembled; auditor appointed and fieldwork scheduled.
AprilQ1 VAT return due by 28 April. Audit typically concluding.
May – AugustCorporate Tax computation prepared from the audited figures; related-party positions documented; Q2 VAT due by 28 July.
By 30 SeptemberCorporate Tax return filed and the liability paid. This is the hard deadline.
October onwardsQ3 VAT due by 28 October; licence renewal; planning for the next year.

The events that catch people out

Corporate Tax registration. Required whether or not tax is payable — including for businesses claiming Small Business Relief and free zone entities on the 0% rate.
Crossing the VAT threshold mid-year. The AED 375,000 test is rolling over twelve months. A good quarter can trigger it without anyone checking.
Payment, not just filing. The Corporate Tax liability is due on the same date as the return, with no instalment regime to soften it.
The de minimis position. A free zone entity's qualifying and non-qualifying revenue split needs watching monthly, not at year end — a breach costs QFZP status for that period and four more.
Deregistration. Ceasing taxable supplies or closing a company triggers deregistration obligations with their own deadlines.
The audit's dependency chain. No stock count means no clean audit, which means no financial statements, no licence renewal and no reliable basis for the Corporate Tax return.

Note on Economic Substance Regulations

Under Cabinet Decision No. 98 of 2024, ESR filing requirements were limited to financial years from 1 January 2019 to 31 December 2022 and cancelled for financial years beginning on or after 1 January 2023. Historic periods within that window can still require attention; ongoing annual ESR notifications and reports are no longer part of the recurring cycle.

Reviewed 18 August 2026 by Ahmed Nabil Selim. UAE tax rates, thresholds and deadlines change — confirm the position for your period before relying on it.

UAE Compliance Calendar — frequently asked questions

What are the main annual compliance deadlines for a UAE company?

The Corporate Tax return and payment within nine months of the financial year end; VAT returns by the 28th of the month following each tax period; financial statements and, where required, an audit ahead of licence renewal; the annual stock count for businesses holding inventory; and the trade licence renewal itself. Mall tenants add periodic sales statements and an annual turnover certificate under the lease.

When is the Corporate Tax return due for a December year end?

30 September of the following year — nine months after the end of the tax period — and the tax is payable by the same date. There is no separate payment-on-account regime, so the full liability falls due with the return and needs to be planned for through the year rather than found in September.

Do Economic Substance Regulations still apply in the UAE?

Not on an ongoing basis. Under Cabinet Decision No. 98 of 2024, ESR requirements were limited to financial years from 1 January 2019 to 31 December 2022 and cancelled for financial years beginning on or after 1 January 2023. Historic periods falling within that window can still require attention, but annual ESR notifications and reports are no longer part of the recurring compliance cycle.

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