File your Corporate Tax return yourself: step by step

Last checked 18 October 2026. General information, not tax advice. Screens and labels on EmaraTax can change: always follow what the portal shows and the official FTA guidance.

Before you start

1. Approve every pending entry in SoloBooks for the tax period (Review screen shows 0 pending).
2. Open Year-end summary and keep it open or printed.
3. Download your evidence pack (zip + CSV) and keep it at least 7 years.
4. Check your deadline: the return is due within 9 months of the end of the tax period. For your first tax period, filing within 7 months also gets the late-registration penalty (10,000 AED) waived under the FTA initiative.

Is Small Business Relief open to you?

• You are a UAE resident taxable person;
• revenue of this tax period and every previous one is 3,000,000 AED or less. Revenue means all your income for the period (for example including the sale of an asset), excluding VAT;
• the tax period ends on or before 31 December 2029 (Ministerial Decision 131 of 2026);
• you are not a Qualifying Free Zone Person and not a member of a multinational group.

With revenue of 3M AED or less you may also prepare your accounts on a cash basis (Ministerial Decision 114 of 2023). SoloBooks totals use the date on each approved document: if you use the cash basis, check that dates match when money was received or paid.

A natural person running a business (sole establishment) is subject to Corporate Tax only when turnover exceeds 1,000,000 AED in a calendar year; SoloBooks and its calculators are designed for companies.

Try the free eligibility calculator. If you are not eligible, the full return needs financial statements and adjustments that SoloBooks does not prepare; your summary is only a starting point.

On EmaraTax

1. Sign in to EmaraTax (UAE Pass or your EmaraTax credentials) and select your company (taxable person).
2. Go to the Corporate Tax section and open the Corporate Tax Return for the right tax period. Check the period dates match your summary.
3. Complete or confirm the general and contact information the portal shows.
4. When asked about Small Business Relief, elect it only if all conditions above are met.
5. Enter the revenue for the period: use “Revenue (excl. VAT)” from your year-end summary.
6. With the relief elected, the portal simplifies the return; answer the remaining questions shown on screen. Do not enter figures you cannot support with your evidence pack.
7. Review everything, accept the declaration and submit before your deadline.
8. Download the submission acknowledgement and store it with your evidence pack.

After filing

• Keep records and documents for at least 7 years.
• Watch the VAT gauge on your dashboard: above 375,000 AED of taxable supplies over 12 months, VAT registration is mandatory within 30 days.
• Late filing penalties: 500 AED per month for the first 12 months, 1,000 AED per month after.

Sources: FTA Corporate Tax, FTA penalty waiver, MoF / WAM: SBR 2029, Ministerial Decision 114 of 2023 (accounting standards, cash basis), Cabinet Decision 49 of 2023 (natural persons, 1M AED threshold).

The SoloBooks team