5.4Renewing a free zone licence (with IFZA financial statements)

When to renew

On or before the renewal date on your licence

Financial statements

Required at every renewal since 30 September 2025, for every IFZA company and branch

Simplified

Turnover of AED 3 million or less and no more than nine employees at any point in the year: IFZA's template

Audited

Everyone else: statements audited by a registered UAE auditor

If late

Possible fines, suspension or cancellation. Any fines are paid with the renewal fee.

Who this guide is for

This guide is for business owners with a company or a branch licensed by IFZA, the International Free Zone Authority in Dubai. The financial statements rule applies to all IFZA licensees, whether an FZCO or a branch.

Other free zones set their own renewal requirements, which this guide does not cover: check with your free zone authority. Renewing a mainland licence is in guide 5.5Coming soon.

The renewal, step by step

1. Check the expiry date on your licence. A trade licence is generally valid for one year.
2. Send IFZA the renewal application, with your licence package and the details of the company's members.
3. Provide the documents listed below, including your financial statements. IFZA shares an electronic form for the statements during the renewal.
4. Pay the quotation IFZA sends you and share proof of payment.
5. Receive the renewed licence at the company's registered email address.

Your Establishment Card has its own annual renewal (see If you renew late). All your renewal dates in one place are in guide 5.6Coming soon.

Documents to prepare

• The latest passport copies of the company's members.
• Third-party approval, if any of your activities is regulated and needs one.
• For a shareholder that is a company: a certificate of good standing, or the equivalent, where required.
• Your financial statements, simplified or audited (next sections).

If something has changed since your last renewal, such as your address, activity or signatory, see guide 5.7Coming soon.

Financial statements at renewal

Since when. From 30 September 2025, IFZA asks for financial statements as part of every licence renewal, each year. If you renewed before that date, you were not asked for them, but they are required at your next renewal.

Which year. The statements cover your most recently completed financial year at the renewal date. Your financial year is the one set in your company's Articles of Association (Section 75).

Signing and sending. The statements are signed electronically by an authorised signatory, meaning the Manager, a Director or a Shareholder, and submitted through the electronic form shared during the renewal.

Simplified or audited

You can submit simplified statements only if both tests are met. If either one is not, you need audited statements.

Turnover means your gross income in the financial year, from all your activities, calculated on market-related principles similar to those used for Corporate Tax. It is income before costs, not profit.

An employee is anyone who works for the company under an executed employment contract and under its supervision and contributes to its business, whether or not the company sponsors their visa. The test is the number at any point in the year, so one busy month can count.

IFZA's template is the only accepted format for simplified statements. It asks for these figures for the current and the previous year:

• Financial position: total assets (current and non-current), total liabilities (current and non-current) and shareholders' equity.
• Financial performance: total revenue, total expenses, gross profit or loss, net profit or loss, and cash and bank balances.

It also asks for the average number of people employed during the year.

It ends with a signed declaration that the figures are accurate and match the company's official records, that false information may have legal consequences, and that the registrar or licensing authority may ask for audited statements at any time.

Already audited for the FTA? If you have an audited report prepared for the Federal Tax Authority for your most recently completed financial year, you can submit it for the renewal.

Which accounting basis

IFZA says the statements follow the accounting standards of the UAE Corporate Tax law, and sets out these bands:

• Turnover of AED 3 million or less: cash basis, meaning income and costs are recorded when the money is received or paid.
• Turnover above AED 3 million and below AED 50 million: IFRS for SMEs.
• Turnover above AED 50 million: full IFRS.

The Corporate Tax rules behind these bands are set by Ministerial Decision No. 114 of 2023. IFRS is the default. A business with revenue of AED 50 million or less may use IFRS for SMEs. A business with revenue of AED 3 million or less may use the cash basis.

These bands only set the accounting standard. Whether you submit simplified or audited statements to IFZA is decided by IFZA's own test in the section "Simplified or audited" above: both turnover of AED 3 million or less and nine employees or fewer at any point in the financial year.

Even on a cash basis, the simplified template asks for assets, liabilities and equity, for this year and last year. Keep the records that give you those figures. What records the law requires is in guide 4.8Coming soon, and a monthly routine to keep them up to date is in guide 5.1Coming soon.

How this fits with Corporate Tax

The IFZA requirement and Corporate Tax are separate. Under Ministerial Decision No. 84 of 2025, for tax periods starting on or after 1 January 2025, Corporate Tax requires audited financial statements from a taxable person (other than a Tax Group) with revenue above AED 50 million in the tax period, and from every Qualifying Free Zone Person, whatever its size. Tax Groups have their own audited-statements rule.

• A company with, say, ten employees and AED 1 million of turnover needs audited statements for IFZA even if Corporate Tax does not require them.
• A Qualifying Free Zone Person needs audited statements for Corporate Tax, whatever its turnover. The free zone tax regime is covered in guide 4.4Coming soon.
• The AED 3 million limit for Small Business Relief is a different test. For IFZA, only the turnover of the financial year you are reporting counts, together with the employee test. For Small Business Relief, revenue must be AED 3 million or less in the tax period and in every earlier tax period, there is no employee test, and Qualifying Free Zone Persons cannot use it. It is covered in guide 4.3.

If you renew late

Under IFZA's Terms and Conditions, you must renew on or before the renewal date. If you do not:

• You may face fines or penalties, suspension and even cancellation of the licence.
• Any fines due must be paid together with the licence fee before the licence is renewed.
• Visas depend on the licence. If it is not kept in force, visas issued under it may be cancelled, visa holders may not be able to renew or get another visa, and they may face fines.
• The Establishment Card must also be renewed every year. If it is not renewed by its renewal date, fines may apply and you cannot apply for further visas.

IFZA says there is a grace period but that it may differ by authority, and it does not publish its length or a fixed amount for late fines in the sources we checked. Ask IFZA before your date passes. An expired licence can also affect your bank account and your access to government portals.

Not renewing does not close your company: closing means cancelling the licence and, for an FZCO, formally liquidating it. If you want to stop trading, see guide 7.1Coming soon, or guide 7.2Coming soon to close a free zone company.

Plan your next renewal

• Note your licence expiry date and your financial year end. Your statements cover the last completed financial year.
• Check both tests early: turnover for the year, and your highest number of employees at any point.
• If you need an audit, contact a registered auditor well before your renewal date.
• If you file simplified statements, prepare this year's and last year's figures, and download IFZA's template from the sources below.

LicenceKeeper by Falajo, for keeping track of your licence renewal dates, is coming soon.

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.