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Registration and deregistration

Applies
FY2024 onwards
Reviewed
Rule
UAE-CT-REG-2024.1
By

Who must register for UAE Corporate Tax?

Every Taxable Person, unless the Minister exempts the circumstances. Deregistration needs all tax paid and every return filed, up to the date of cessation.

Per Federal Decree-Law No. 47 of 2022, Articles 51 and 52, Tax Registration and Deregistration

A Taxable Person must register for Corporate Tax with the Authority in the form, manner and timeline the Authority prescribes and obtain a Tax Registration Number, except in circumstances prescribed by the Minister. A Person with a Tax Registration Number must file a Tax Deregistration application on cessation of its Business or Business Activity, and shall not be deregistered until all Corporate Tax and Administrative Penalties due are paid and all Tax Returns due are filed, including the return for the Tax Period up to and including the date of cessation.

The gate into and out of the regime. Registration is an obligation on the Taxable Person and a power of the Authority, which can register a Person retrospectively from the date they became a Taxable Person. Deregistration is conditional on the account being clear.

In, out, and what the Authority can do without an application

51 — registration

  • (1) Any Taxable Person shall register with the Authority and obtain a Tax Registration Number, in the form, manner and timeline the Authority prescribes, except in circumstances prescribed by the Minister
  • (2) For an exemption, or for Article 53(6), the Authority may require certain Exempt Persons and Unincorporated Partnerships to register and obtain a Tax Registration Number
  • (3) The Authority may, at its discretion and on the information available to it, register a Person effective from the date the Person became a Taxable Person

Retrospective registration is not a favour

Article 51(3) registers from the date the Person became a Taxable Person, which carries every obligation from that date — returns, payment and records included.

52 — deregistration, and what blocks it

  • (1) A Person with a Tax Registration Number shall apply to deregister where there is a cessation of its Business or Business Activity, whether by dissolution, liquidation, or otherwise
  • (2) It shall not be deregistered unless it has paid all Corporate Tax and Administrative Penalties due and filed all Tax Returns due — including the return for the Tax Period up to and including the date of cessation
  • (3) Where the application is approved, the Authority deregisters with effect from the date of cessation or such other date as it determines
  • (4) Where a Person does not comply, the Authority may deregister it from the later of the last day of the Tax Period in which the Clause 2 conditions became apparent to the Authority, or the date the Person ceases to exist

The final return is the obligation people miss

It falls due when the business is already gone, and until it is filed the Person stays registered. Ceasing to trade is not leaving the system.

The deadlines — FTA Decision No. 3 of 2024 (registration) and No. 6 of 2023 (deregistration)

  • Juridical person incorporated, established or recognised in the State, including a Free Zone Person: three months from incorporation (entities existing on 1 March 2024 had licence-month deadlines through 2024)
  • Foreign-incorporated person effectively managed and controlled in the State: three months from the end of its Financial Year
  • Non-Resident with a Permanent Establishment: six months from the Permanent Establishment coming into existence; with a nexus: three months from the nexus arising
  • Resident natural person whose Turnover in a calendar year exceeds the threshold: 31 March of the following year; non-resident natural person: three months from becoming subject to tax
  • Deregistration: within three months of the cessation, dissolution or liquidation

Exceptions and additions

  • Ministerial Decision No. 43 of 2023: a Government Entity, a Government Controlled Entity, a qualifying Extractive or Non-Extractive Natural Resource Business, and a Non-Resident deriving only State Sourced Income with no Permanent Establishment do not register
  • Article 51(2) and FTA Decision No. 15 of 2026: a Qualifying Public Benefit Entity, Qualifying Investment Fund, pension or social security fund, wholly owned subsidiary of certain Exempt Persons, or Person the Cabinet exempts registers on the same timelines — and all but the Qualifying Public Benefit Entity then apply for exemption within 90 business days after the Tax Period

The penalties — Cabinet Decision No. 75 of 2023, as amended

  • Late registration: AED 10,000
  • Late deregistration application: AED 1,000, and the same again monthly, up to AED 10,000

Order of testing

  1. 1

    Inputs requiring your determination

    Any input a person must decide and has not decided stops the computation. Only the questions the chosen branch turns on are asked.

  2. 2

    A Taxable Person

    Article 51(1) applies to a Taxable Person. Where the Person is not one, Article 51(2) may still let the Authority require registration.

  3. 3

    Circumstances prescribed by the Minister

    The exception to registering. The circumstances are in a Ministerial Decision, not the Decree-Law, and are not encoded — so this rests on the reader's determination.

  4. 4

    Registration of a Taxable Person

    Where the Person is a Taxable Person and no prescribed exception applies, registration is required.

  5. 5

    Cessation of the Business

    Article 52(1) triggers the deregistration application on cessation, however arising.

  6. 6

    Obligations to be met before deregistration

    Article 52(2). All Corporate Tax and Administrative Penalties paid, and all returns filed including the final one. The result names what is outstanding.

Examples

Illustrative scenarios — ours, not the authority’s — each computed live by this rule. Change any fact and the outcome is the rule’s, not a hand-written answer.

A new taxable company registering

A newly incorporated UAE company that is a Taxable Person and within no prescribed exception.

Computed

Registration is required as computed: Article 51(1) requires a Taxable Person to register for Corporate Tax with the Authority and obtain a Tax Registration Number, and you have indicated no prescribed exception applies. FTA Decision No. 3 of 2024 sets the deadline: for a juridical person incorporated in the State (including a Free Zone Person), three months from incorporation; for a foreign-incorporated person effectively managed and controlled in the State, three months from the end of its Financial Year; for a Non-Resident, six months from the Permanent Establishment coming into existence or three months from the nexus arising; for a resident natural person, 31 March of the year after Turnover exceeds the threshold. Missing it carries an Administrative Penalty of AED 10,000 (Cabinet Decision No. 75 of 2023, as amended). The Authority can also act without an application: Article 51(3) lets it register a Person effective from the date they became a Taxable Person, which carries every obligation from that date, and Article 52(4) lets it deregister a non-complying Person from a date it determines.

Decided by the registration of a taxable person

Within a prescribed exception

A Taxable Person the Minister has placed outside the registration requirement.

Computed

Article 51(1) requires every Taxable Person to register except in circumstances prescribed by the Minister, and you have indicated the Person is within one of those in Ministerial Decision No. 43 of 2023. The exceptions for Government and natural-resource entities do not survive the Person becoming a Taxable Person in respect of a Business (Article 2(2) of that Decision), and a Non-Resident with a nexus in the State must register. The Authority can also act without an application: Article 51(3) lets it register a Person effective from the date they became a Taxable Person, which carries every obligation from that date, and Article 52(4) lets it deregister a non-complying Person from a date it determines.

Decided by the circumstances prescribed by the minister

Liquidation with the final return outstanding

A company that ceased trading and has paid everything due, but has not yet filed the return for the period to the date of cessation.

Computed

A deregistration application is due, and deregistration cannot follow yet as computed: Article 52(1) requires the application on cessation, but Article 52(2) provides that a Taxable Person shall not be deregistered until all Corporate Tax and Administrative Penalties due are paid and all Tax Returns due are filed — and not all Tax Returns due have been filed, including the return to the date of cessation. A Business that has stopped trading has not left the system. FTA Decision No. 6 of 2023 requires the application within three months of the cessation, dissolution or liquidation; a late application carries an Administrative Penalty of AED 1,000, and the same again monthly, up to AED 10,000 (Cabinet Decision No. 75 of 2023). The Authority can also act without an application: Article 51(3) lets it register a Person effective from the date they became a Taxable Person, which carries every obligation from that date, and Article 52(4) lets it deregister a non-complying Person from a date it determines.

Decided by the obligations to be met before deregistration

Liquidation with everything settled

The same company once the final return is filed and all tax and penalties are paid.

Computed

A deregistration application is due and the Article 52(2) conditions are met as computed: all Corporate Tax and Administrative Penalties due are paid and all Tax Returns due are filed, including the return for the period to the date of cessation. Article 52(3) provides that where the application is approved the Authority deregisters the Person with effect from the date of cessation or such other date as it determines. FTA Decision No. 6 of 2023 requires the application within three months of the cessation, dissolution or liquidation; a late application carries an Administrative Penalty of AED 1,000, and the same again monthly, up to AED 10,000 (Cabinet Decision No. 75 of 2023).

Decided by the obligations to be met before deregistration

Dormant but not ceased

A company that has paused trading without a cessation of its Business or Business Activity.

Computed

No deregistration application is due as computed: Article 52(1) requires one where there is a cessation of the Business or Business Activity, and you have indicated there has been none. The Authority can also act without an application: Article 51(3) lets it register a Person effective from the date they became a Taxable Person, which carries every obligation from that date, and Article 52(4) lets it deregister a non-complying Person from a date it determines.

Decided by the cessation of the business

Try it

Supply the facts and this rule computes the outcome in your browser, live. Leave a determination undecided and it blocks the result — it is never read as a no.

Not computed yet

1 input still need your determination:

  • Is the question about registering for Corporate Tax, or about deregistering?

Computed in your browser from the figures you supply. Nothing is sent anywhere, and the result is a computation against a rule — reference, not tax advice.

Sources

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Reference, not tax advice.

Pankaj Agarwal — Tax Technology Leader