The Federal Tax Authority (FTA) confirmed an increase in the number of beneficiaries from the Corporate Tax Late Registration Penalty Waiver initiative applicable to Taxable Persons and certain categories of Exempt Persons required to register with the FTA who were late in submitting their Corporate Tax registration applications within the specified deadline.
The FTA clarified that in order to be exempt from the AED 10,000 “Late Registration Penalty” for Corporate Tax, Taxable Persons (or Exempt Persons required to register) must submit their Tax Return (or annual declaration) no later than seven months from the end of their first Tax Period (or the first Financial Year), instead of nine months.
The Late Registration Penalty Waiver initiative applies only to the first Tax Period of the Taxable Person (or Exempt Person required to register), regardless of whether the due date of the first Tax Return (or annual declaration) was before or after the new decision came into effect.
H.E. Khalid Ali Al Bustani, Director General of the Federal Tax Authority, emphasised the importance of the non-registered Corporate Tax Taxable Persons to submit their Corporate Tax registration applications to the FTA, followed by the submission of Tax Returns through the “EmaraTax” platform within the specified deadline, in order to benefit from the UAE Cabinet Decision on the waiver initiative to exempt Taxable Persons and certain categories of Exempt Persons required to register with the FTA, from Administrative Penalties resulting from failing to submit a Corporate Tax registration application.
His Excellency mentioned: “This important initiative comes as part of the comprehensive strategy to support business sectors and encourage voluntary compliance with tax laws and procedures to avoid Administrative Penalties, which contributes to promoting economic growth, ensuring tax transparency and fairness within a legislative environment that keeps pace with developments through sustainable improvement, while maintaining performance quality and managing the tax system with the highest levels of efficiency and accuracy.”
His Excellency Director General added: “It is clear that the initiative to waive the Late Registration Penalty is incentivising many registrants for Corporate Tax as we note an increase in the number of Corporate Tax registrations to 576,000 – up from 538,000 registrants before the launch of the waiver initiative, in April 2025. This resulted in an increase of 38,000 additional registrations, as thousands of Corporate Tax registrants have submitted their Tax Return and annual declaration within the specified deadline to benefit from the Late Registration Waiver.”
His Excellency Khalid Ali Al Bustani also stated: “These indicators are a clear reflection of the initiative’s success, which shows how the awareness on tax compliance and procedures is growing across all business sectors, in the UAE. The FTA is keen to continue engaging with the business community through various awareness channels, as well as to seek taxpayers’ views and discuss ways to overcome any challenges they may face. Furthermore, the Authority is intensifying its efforts, in cooperation with the relevant entities, to raise awareness about the importance of the initiative and the need for non-registered Corporate Tax Taxable Persons to act quickly and benefit from the waiver initiative by submitting their registration applications, tax returns, and annual declarations within a period not exceeding seven months from the end of their first Tax Period or Financial Year.”
