Federal Tax Authority Registration Services for Individuals and Businesses

First: VAT Registration

Value Added Tax is an indirect tax imposed on the consumption of goods and services at a rate of 5% in most transactions, with specific exempt and zero-rated categories defined in the Law and its Executive Regulation. Registration falls into three cases depending on the volume of taxable supplies and imports and the person’s residency status:

• Mandatory registration for residents: A resident business must register if the value of its taxable supplies and imports over the past twelve months has exceeded AED 375,000, or if it expects that value to be exceeded within the next thirty days. The application must be filed within thirty days of the date the threshold was crossed.
• Voluntary registration for residents: A business may apply for voluntary registration if its taxable supplies or expenses have exceeded AED 187,500 over twelve months, even if it has not reached the mandatory threshold.
• Non-residents: The mandatory threshold applicable to residents does not apply. A non-resident must register from the first taxable supply made in the UAE, unless another person in the UAE is responsible for accounting for the tax on that supply.

Our work in this area starts with matching the business’s activity on the trade licence against the economic activities recognised by the FTA. We then assist the taxpayer in completing the application on EmaraTax, prepare the official disclosure letter of taxable supplies, and upload the supporting documents before submission from the taxpayer’s or authorised signatory’s account. Classification of individual supplies as standard-rated, zero-rated, or exempt, and consideration of a Tax Group for related entities, are technical tax judgments reserved for a qualified tax specialist; we do not undertake them.

Second: Corporate Tax Registration

Corporate Tax is the federal tax on the business profits of persons subject to it under Federal Decree-Law No. (47) of 2022 as amended. It applies under the general regime at 0% on taxable income up to AED 375,000, and 9% on income above that threshold. Special regimes apply to certain categories, such as the Qualifying Free Zone Person, who is subject to 0% on qualifying income and 9% on non-qualifying income.

Those required to register are persons subject to Corporate Tax:

• Resident juridical persons in the mainland or in a free zone, including Qualifying Free Zone Persons who benefit from the 0% rate on qualifying income.
• Non-residents that have a Permanent Establishment or a nexus in the UAE.
• Natural persons whose annual turnover from business activities in the calendar year has exceeded AED 1,000,000, under Cabinet Decision No. (49) of 2023 – excluding salary, personal investment income, and real estate investment income from this calculation.

Persons outside the scope of the registration obligation include non-residents whose only UAE income is state-sourced income with no Permanent Establishment or nexus. These persons are not Exempt Persons in the legal sense; the obligation to register simply does not arise for them. Exempt Persons in the legal sense – such as Government Entities and Qualifying extractive and non-extractive Persons meeting the required conditions – are relieved from the registration obligation under Ministerial Decision No. (43) of 2023. However, certain exempt categories – such as Qualifying Public Benefit Entities, Qualifying Investment Funds, and pension and social security funds – are still required to register notwithstanding their exemption.

Key distinction: Registration is an obligation independent of the AED 375,000 threshold. Every resident juridical person subject to Corporate Tax must register and obtain a TRN, even if no tax is ultimately payable. The AED 375,000 is a rate threshold, not a registration threshold. A natural person is only required to register if annual turnover from business activities in the calendar year exceeds AED 1,000,000 (after the exclusions above).

Registration deadlines:

• Resident juridical persons incorporated on or after 1 March 2024: within three months of the date of incorporation.
• Resident juridical persons incorporated before that date: their deadlines were assigned by trade licence issuance month under FTA Decision No. (3) of 2024 and have all now passed.
• Non-residents with a Permanent Establishment: six or nine months from the date the Permanent Establishment came into existence, depending on whether it arose before or on/after 1 March 2024.
• Natural persons exceeding the AED 1,000,000 threshold: no later than 31 March of the following year.

Cabinet Decision No. (75) of 2023, as amended by Cabinet Decision No. (10) of 2024 – effective 1 March 2024 – imposes an administrative penalty of AED 10,000 for late registration. The FTA has, however, introduced an automatic waiver initiative for this penalty where the taxpayer files the first tax return (or annual declaration for exempt persons) within seven months of the end of the first tax period, with no separate application required. The initiative remains in effect as announced by the FTA.

Our work in this area covers assisting the taxpayer in completing ownership structure, shareholder, and director data on the form, uploading the trade licence and incorporation documents and their annexes to EmaraTax, with the filing itself made from the taxpayer’s or authorised signatory’s account under their permissions, and following up on the application until the TRN is issued. Where the case calls for a technical tax judgment we refer the matter to a Tax Agent registered with the FTA or a qualified tax specialist.