Deadline calculator
Your financial year end in; every filing date out. Most UAE compliance failures are calendar failures, not technical ones.
The rules behind the dates
- Corporate Tax: the return is due — and the tax is payable — within nine months of the end of the tax period. There is no instalment regime, so the whole liability falls due on that date.
- VAT: returns and payment are due by the 28th day of the month following the end of each tax period. Your period is assigned on registration and is not a choice.
- Excise tax: returns and payment are due monthly, by the 15th of the following month, whether or not excise goods moved.
- Records: retained for seven years after the end of the tax period.
The non-tax events that interact with these — the stock count, the financial statements, the audit and the licence renewal — are set out in the compliance calendar.
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 Deadline Calculator — frequently asked questions
Within nine months of the end of your tax period, with the tax payable by the same date. A financial year ending 31 December means a 30 September deadline the following year; a 31 March year end means 31 December. There is no payment-on-account regime, so the entire liability falls due with the return and needs planning for through the year.
By the 28th day of the month following the end of each tax period — quarterly for most businesses, monthly for those above the FTA's threshold. Your assigned period appears on your registration certificate and is not a matter of choice. Late filing and late payment attract administrative penalties that escalate with delay.
Seven years following the end of the relevant tax period under the Corporate Tax regime, with comparable retention requirements under VAT law and longer periods for certain real property records. Digital retention is acceptable provided the records are complete, legible and retrievable — which in practice means a cloud accounting platform with source documents attached, not a folder of unindexed scans.
Want the real number, not the estimate?
A calculator works from the figures you type in. We work from your actual records, your licence and your contracts — and tell you what to do about the answer.
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