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Corporate Business Advisors · Dubai, UAE · Since 2018
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Tax & Compliance

Compliance is a calendar, not a certificate.

A UAE entity is never “compliant” the way it is “licensed” — once, with a document to show for it. It is compliant the way a plane is airworthy: continuously, against dates that carry penalties when they pass unnoticed. These are those dates.

2018Advising founders and groups entering the UAE since
1,500+Companies set up, banked and kept compliant
25+Authorities, free zones and banks we work with
1 advisorNamed on your file from the first call onward
Read these first

Three deadlines do most of the damage.

01

UBO changes — fifteen days

Any change in beneficial ownership must be filed within fifteen days, all entities, no materiality threshold. Penalties start at AED 50,000, and this is the deadline nobody diarises because it has no fixed date.

02

Small Business Relief ends with 2026

The election for revenue below AED 3 million applies only to tax periods ending on or before 31 December 2026. Businesses relying on it need a plan for the first period after, not a surprise.

03

e-Invoicing is phased, and phase one is soon

Larger taxpayers must be live on structured e-invoicing through an accredited provider from 1 January 2027, with provider appointments due earlier. The phase-in reaches everyone.

The calendar

Every date, and what each one actually requires.

Maintained as regulations move. Dates that depend on your financial year end are marked — if yours does not end in December, several of these shift with it.

Deadline
Obligation
Applies to
31 Jul 2026
e-Invoicing — appoint an Accredited Service Provider Businesses with annual revenue of AED 50 million or more must have an ASP in place.
Revenue ≥ AED 50m
30 Sep 2026
Corporate tax return and payment Due nine months after the end of the tax period — 30 September for calendar-year entities.
All taxable persons
31 Dec 2026
Small Business Relief ends The election for revenue below AED 3 million applies only to tax periods ending on or before this date.
Revenue < AED 3m
31 Dec 2026
Historic VAT credit claims expire Refundable VAT credits arising in 2018–2020 must be claimed before this date.
VAT registrants
1 Jan 2027
e-Invoicing mandatory — phase one Large taxpayers must issue and receive structured e-invoices through an accredited provider.
Revenue ≥ AED 50m
31 Mar 2027
e-Invoicing — ASP appointment, phase two Smaller businesses and government entities must appoint their provider.
Revenue < AED 50m
1 Jul 2027
e-Invoicing mandatory — phase two Remaining businesses must be live on the e-invoicing framework.
Revenue < AED 50m
Ongoing
VAT return filing and payment Quarterly filers by the 28th following quarter end; monthly filers by the 28th following month end.
VAT registrants
Ongoing
UBO register update Any change in beneficial ownership must be filed within fifteen days. Penalties start at AED 50,000.
All entities
Ongoing
goAML registration and STR filing Designated non-financial businesses and professions must register and report suspicious transactions without delay.
DNFBPs
Ongoing
Economic Substance Regulations Cabinet Decision 98 of 2024 removed ESR notifications and reports for financial years ending after 31 December 2022. Earlier years and existing penalties remain live.
Formerly all licensees

Reviewed September 2026. Sourced from Ministry of Finance and Federal Tax Authority publications. This is general information, not advice on your entity.

Dates are maintained against published regulations and cabinet decisions and reviewed before publication. They are general information, not advice on your entity — the version worth acting on is the one mapped to your own financial year end, which is what the consultation below is for.

Talk to an advisor

Not sure where to start? Forty minutes, no cost, no licence quoted.

Your activity, your customers, your visas — and a written view of the structure that fits, with the case against it. The person you speak to is the person who keeps your file.

Take it with you

The dated PDF, mapped to the year ahead.

One email, containing the calendar as a PDF you can circulate to your accountant and your board. No sequence follows it, and if your financial year does not end in December, reply to the email and we will tell you which dates move.

Next step

Get the version that knows your year end.

Forty minutes on your entity, your financial year and your registrations, and you leave with the calendar that actually applies to you — with the accounting behind it if you want it run for you.