Missed the UAE Corporate Income Tax Deadline? Penalties and Next Steps
- 10.10.2026
- Posted by: Uwe Hohmann
- Categories: Tax, Dubai
The UAE CIT (Corporate Income Tax) deadline for most businesses passed on 30.09.2026. Every taxable person whose financial year ended on 31.12.2025 had to submit a CIT filing and pay the tax due by that date. If your filing or payment is still outstanding, penalties are already running, and the cost of waiting grows every month.
Who the 30.09.2026 Deadline Applied To
The FTA (Federal Tax Authority) confirmed in two announcements in September that filings and payments are due within nine months of the end of each tax period. For a financial year that ended on 31.12.2025, that meant 30.09.2026.
The obligation is wider than many owners assume. Businesses that qualify for SBR (Small Business Relief) still have to submit a simplified filing on time. Exempt persons that are required to register must submit an annual declaration within the same nine months. A company with no tax to pay can therefore still be late, and still be penalised.
What Late Filing Costs
CIT penalties are set out in Cabinet Decision No. 75 of 2023, as amended by Cabinet Decision No. 10 of 2024. A filing that is not submitted on time attracts AED 500 for each month, or part of a month, for the first twelve months. From the thirteenth month, the charge rises to AED 1,000 per month.
The penalty is applied from the day after the deadline and then on the same date each month. In practice, a filing that was due on 30.09.2026 has carried AED 500 since 01.10.2026. A second AED 500 is added on 01.11.2026, and so on. Leave a filing outstanding for a full year and the late filing penalty alone reaches AED 6,000, before the higher monthly rate begins. Filing in October instead of November is the simplest saving available.
What Late Payment Costs
Unpaid tax is penalised separately. The same decision sets a monthly penalty at a rate of 14% per annum on the unsettled amount, charged for each month or part of a month from the day after the due date. As an illustration, a business with AED 50,000 of unpaid CIT would see roughly AED 583 added for each month the balance stays open.
The two penalties run side by side. A business that has neither filed nor paid is charged for both, which is why dealing with one of them still helps. If cash is tight, submit the filing now so that the late filing penalty stops growing, and pay as much of the balance as you can, because the payment penalty is calculated on what remains unsettled.
Different Year-End? Your Deadline Is Still Ahead
The nine-month rule applies to every financial year, not only the calendar year. A company with a year-end of 31.03.2026 has until 31.12.2026, and a year-end of 30.06.2026 gives a deadline of 31.03.2027.
If your business in the UAE runs on a different financial year, September is a useful warning. Filings take longer than expected when the bookkeeping is not up to date, and the penalty starts the day after the deadline.
What This Means for Your Business
The priority is to submit an accurate filing, pay what is due, and make sure your records would stand up to a review.
After that, it is worth looking at why the deadline was missed, whether that was late bookkeeping, unclear responsibility, or uncertainty about whether a filing was needed at all.
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