Key Takeaways
- Your beneficial owner register and shareholder register go to the registrar within 60 days of getting the licence. After any change you have 15 days to update them (Cabinet Decision 109 of 2023).
- Every new company registers for Corporate Tax within 3 months of incorporation. Free zone companies are no exception (FTA Decision 3 of 2024).
- Once your taxable supplies and imports pass AED 375,000, you have 30 days to register for VAT (VAT Executive Regulation, Article 7).
- Your first financial year can last anywhere from 6 to 18 months after entry in the register. Its last day decides when the Corporate Tax return is due, 9 months later.
- An LLC sends its partner register to the authority each January and elects an auditor every year. Nothing reminds you of either one.
The first deadlines on a new company compliance checklist in the UAE arrive faster than most founders expect. Within the first three months you may have to file the beneficial owner registers and register for Corporate Tax. If sales grow quickly, VAT registration can come due in the same window.
This page lists each deadline in the order it comes up, from the day the licence is issued to your first Corporate Tax return. For each one you'll see which authority is involved and what a late filing costs (as of October 2026). Most dates count from licence day, so it helps to write your own date next to each row.
The first-year compliance calendar at a glance
Registrations come first. Everything after that follows your financial year. One caveat: the English versions of the Federal Tax Authority (FTA) and Ministry of Finance decisions are not official translations.
| When | Obligation | Source | Applies to |
|---|---|---|---|
| Within 60 days of licensing | Beneficial owner register and register of partners or shareholders sent to the registrar | Cabinet Decision 109 of 2023, Articles 8 and 11 | Companies outside the financial free zones |
| Within 15 days of a change | Both registers updated after a change of owner or control | Cabinet Decision 109 of 2023, Articles 8 and 10 | Same companies |
| Within 15 working days of a change | Notice of a change of name, address, capital, shareholders or legal form | Commercial Companies Law, Article 15 (2021 text) | Companies under that law |
| Within 3 months of incorporation | Corporate Tax registration | FTA Decision 3 of 2024 | Every new company, free zone included |
| Within 30 days of becoming liable | VAT registration, once taxable supplies and imports pass AED 375,000 | VAT Executive Regulation, Article 7 | Any company above the threshold |
| Before each residence permit is issued or renewed | Employer buys health insurance for private-sector staff; the basic package is listed at AED 320 a year | MOHRE health insurance scheme | Private-sector employers in all emirates |
| 6 to 18 months after entry in the register | First financial year closes | Commercial Companies Law, Article 28 (2021 text) | Companies under that law |
| Every January | Partner register sent to the authority | Commercial Companies Law, Article 74 (2021 text) | LLCs |
| Every year | Auditor elected by the general assembly | Articles 27 and 102 (2021 text) | LLCs |
| 9 months after the tax period ends | Corporate Tax return and payment | Federal Decree-Law 47 of 2022, Articles 48 and 53 | Every registered company |
| Once the FTA conditions are met | Tax residency certificate becomes available | FTA service page | Companies that need treaty proof |
In the table, MOHRE is the Ministry of Human Resources and Emiratisation and an LLC is a limited liability company. The company law articles come from the 2021 text. Federal Decree-Law 20 of 2025, issued in October 2025, amended 15 articles of that law, and none of the ones quoted here is among them.
Month 0 to 3
Start with the registers, which are due within 60 days. A beneficial owner is the real person at the top who owns or controls the company, even through other companies. In law that's anyone holding or controlling 25% or more of the capital or votes. Every licensed company outside the financial free zones keeps a record of its beneficial owners and a register of its partners or shareholders. Both go to the authority that runs the trade name register. On the mainland that's the licensing department. In a free zone it's the zone authority. Fines and the anti-money laundering (AML) duties are covered in the UBO register guide.
Corporate Tax registration is next. You apply on EmaraTax, the FTA's online portal, and log in with UAE Pass, the national digital ID. The 3 months run from the date of incorporation. A free zone company that expects to pay 0% still has to register. Decide on your financial year end before you start. Changing the tax period later means applying to the FTA (Federal Decree-Law 47 of 2022, Article 58).
Hiring usually starts in these months too. The establishment card (the immigration record that lets your company sponsor visas), the work permit quota and the first residence visas all go through the authority that issued your licence. A PRO, the person who deals with government paperwork, normally submits them. Some businesses must also sign up to goAML, the government's system for reporting suspicious transactions, once their regulated activity starts. That covers real estate agents, dealers in precious metals and company service providers. Their supervisor can confirm the current deadline.
Month 3 to 12
VAT is the one deadline without a fixed date. Your 30 days start when taxable supplies and imports over the last 12 months pass AED 375,000. They also start if you expect to cross that line within the next 30 days. Somebody needs to add up the total every month. Register late and you owe VAT on every taxable sale since the day you became liable. The EmaraTax steps are in the VAT registration guide.
Your first financial year ends somewhere between 6 and 18 months after entry in the Commercial Register. Whatever date you pick also sets your first Corporate Tax deadline. An LLC needs an auditor appointed before the first accounts are finished. Thinking of applying for a tax residency certificate? Check the FTA's conditions first, because eligibility depends partly on how long the company has existed.
Annual items
Every January an LLC sends its register of partners, with their details and any changes, to the Competent Authority and the Registrar (Article 74). Each year the general assembly, meaning the meeting of the owners, elects the auditor (Article 102). The Corporate Tax return and payment are due 9 months after the tax period ends. For a year that closed on 31 December 2025, the deadline was 30 September 2026 (Federal Decree-Law 47 of 2022, Article 53).
Your licence renewal date is printed on the licence itself. The authority that issued it decides the fee and the documents you need. VAT returns follow the period on your registration certificate. Take the quarter that ended on 30 September 2026: its return was due by 28 October 2026, 28 days after the period closed.
What changes with a free zone licence
The federal duties are the same. Free zone companies register for Corporate Tax, keep beneficial owner registers and deal with VAT just like mainland ones. The differences are in annual accounts, audit and licence renewal, which follow each zone's own regulations. Your zone can tell you which statements it wants and by when.
There's one extra condition for a Qualifying Free Zone Person (QFZP), a free zone company that meets the conditions for the 0% rate. It has to prepare audited financial statements (Ministerial Decision 229 of 2025). The QFZP guide explains why a company expecting 0% still has to register.
The Dubai International Financial Centre (DIFC) and Abu Dhabi Global Market (ADGM) are different again. They have their own registrars and their own rule books. The federal beneficial owner timetable in the table only applies to companies outside these financial free zones. If your licence is from one of them, read that zone's rule book.
Penalties as the authorities publish them
Each tax has its own penalty rules. For Corporate Tax they're in Cabinet Decision 75 of 2023, as amended by Cabinet Decision 10 of 2024. For VAT, a new table has applied since 14 April 2026 (Cabinet Decision 40 of 2017 as amended by Cabinet Decision 129 of 2025). Beneficial owner fines are in Cabinet Resolution 132 of 2023, which gives a warning for a first breach and fines from the second one on. The table lists the amounts.
| Breach | Penalty | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Late Corporate Tax registration | AED 10,000 | Cabinet Decision 75 of 2023, as amended |
| Late Corporate Tax return | AED 500 a month or part for 12 months, then AED 1,000 a month | Cabinet Decision 75 of 2023, as amended |
| Late payment of Corporate Tax | 14% a year on the unpaid tax, charged monthly | Cabinet Decision 75 of 2023, as amended |
| Records not kept | AED 10,000, or AED 20,000 if repeated within 24 months | Cabinet Decision 75 of 2023, as amended |
| Late VAT registration | AED 10,000 | Cabinet Decision 40 of 2017, as amended by Cabinet Decision 129 of 2025 |
| Late VAT return | AED 1,000, or AED 2,000 on repetition within 24 months | Cabinet Decision 40 of 2017, as amended by Cabinet Decision 129 of 2025 |
| No beneficial owner register set up | AED 50,000 on a second breach, AED 100,000 on a third | Cabinet Resolution 132 of 2023 |
| Beneficial owner register not updated | AED 15,000 on a second breach, AED 30,000 on a third | Cabinet Resolution 132 of 2023 |
After a third beneficial owner breach, the registrar can also suspend your commercial licence until you pay the fine and fix the problem. The resolution still refers to the 2018 AML law, which has since been repealed, and the Cabinet could change the fines. Your licensing authority can confirm whether this schedule is still current.
Who can take each item over
If you're the only owner and the structure is simple, you can usually handle the registers yourself. The deadlines people miss most are the 15-day change notices and the January partner register, because nobody sends a reminder. An LLC without an auditor before its first accounts also has nobody to sign off the year end. Already past a deadline? Submit it now. A late Corporate Tax registration costs a flat AED 10,000, but the penalty for a late return keeps growing every month.
- Corporate Tax registration and the first return: a corporate tax consultant can submit both and check whether you qualify for the QFZP rate.
- Monthly records and VAT returns: an accounting firm keeps the books and prepares the returns from them.
- Day-to-day records between returns: a bookkeeping service keeps the figures your return depends on.
- The yearly audit: an audit firm takes on the appointment and signs the statements.
- Registers, share changes and the articles of association: a lawyer drafts them and sends the change notices.
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