4.1UAE Corporate Tax registration: who must register and by when (and your TRN)

Who registers

Every company subject to Corporate Tax, free zone companies included. An individual only above AED 1 million business turnover in a calendar year.

Company deadline

Incorporated, established or recognised in the UAE (free zones included) on or after 1 March 2024: within 3 months of that date.

Individual deadline

UAE resident: by 31 March of the year after the calendar year in which business turnover goes over AED 1 million.

Cost

Free, online on EmaraTax

Late registration

AED 10,000, waived if your first return is filed within 7 months of the end of your first tax period

Who must register

Companies. The Federal Tax Authority (FTA) requires every juridical person subject to Corporate Tax to register and obtain a Tax Registration Number for Corporate Tax (TRN). This applies whether or not you end up with tax to pay. The registration timeline in FTA Decision No. 3 of 2024 names free zone companies explicitly: a free zone licence does not take you out of registration. Whether you then pay any tax is a separate question, covered in guide 4.2Coming soon, guide 4.3 and guide 4.4Coming soon.

Branches. A UAE branch of a UAE company does not register or file separately; the company does.

Individuals, including sole establishments. A person running a business in the UAE in their own name registers only when the total turnover from their business activities goes over AED 1 million in a Gregorian calendar year. Salary, personal investment income and real estate investment income are not counted.

If you trade through a sole establishment, the FTA does not treat it as separate from you: you carry on the business in your own name, so you register as a natural person and can add the sole establishment and licence details to that application.

Once an individual is registered, the registration stays in place in later years, even if turnover falls back below AED 1 million. It ends only when you stop all your business activities and apply to deregister. Tax deregistration is covered in guide 7.4Coming soon.

Exempt persons. The FTA may also ask certain exempt persons to register.

Your deadline

If your company existed before March 2024 and has not registered yet, the deadline has passed: register now and read If you are late. Companies with more than one licence use the licence with the earliest issue date; an expired licence still counts by its original issue month.

Non-resident businesses have their own rules (permanent establishment or nexus in the UAE). They are outside this guide: see FTA Decision No. 3 of 2024 in the sources.

How to register

Registration is done online on EmaraTax, the FTA portal, and it is free. The FTA's document list and the screen-by-screen EmaraTax steps are in the SoloBooks article: Corporate Tax registration on EmaraTax: who, when and how (UAE) →

After you submit. When you submit, EmaraTax gives you a reference number. The FTA then approves the application, rejects it or asks for more information by email, and notifies you of its decision; you can follow the status on your EmaraTax dashboard. Once approved, you have your Tax Registration Number for Corporate Tax.

If you are late

The penalty for late Corporate Tax registration is AED 10,000.

As at our last check (see the date above), the FTA describes its Late Registration Penalty Waiver Initiative as follows: the penalty is not applied if you submit your first Corporate Tax return (or annual declaration, for exempt persons where applicable) within 7 months from the end of your first tax period. It covers people who registered late, people who have not applied yet, and people already charged the penalty, paid or not. A penalty already paid is credited back to your tax account once the condition is met.

In practice: if you are late, apply now. To get the waiver, your first return must be filed within 7 months of the end of your first tax period, earlier than the normal 9-month deadline, so put that 7-month date in your calendar. The return itself is covered in guide 4.5Coming soon, and all penalties in one place in guide 4.11Coming soon.

What to do with your TRN

1. Keep your Tax Registration Number for Corporate Tax with your company documents. If you are an individual already registered for VAT or Excise Tax, your Corporate Tax number is a separate one: it looks like your VAT or Excise Tax number, but the last digit is different.
2. Use it to file your Corporate Tax returns (guide 4.5Coming soon).
3. If you may qualify for Small Business Relief, note that it can only be claimed in a tax return, so you need your TRN first (guide 4.3).
4. Add your Corporate Tax dates to the Falajo Tax & Compliance Calendar: free, no sign-up, nothing stored.
5. If your licence details change later, see guide 5.7Coming soon for what to update.

New company? Guide 2.3 is the checklist for your first 90 days after the licence.

Written and checked by The Falajo Team. Spotted something out of date? [email protected]

General information, not tax or legal advice. Falajo is a software company, not a tax agent. Rules change: check the date above and the official source.