Return filed 5 months late
5 × AED 500 = AED 2,500. Annoying, survivable — and entirely avoidable with a calendar reminder.
Within the first 12 months, every month (or part of a month) costs AED 500. Confirm the counting rules on EmaraTax.
Know the numbers
Every corporate-tax penalty in the UAE is published, predictable — and avoidable. Here's the full penalty table with the exact figures, how the monthly penalties escalate, what the 14% late-payment charge does to a bill, and a practical playbook for never paying any of them.
The full table
Three penalties do almost all the damage. Learn the table and you've learned 90% of what matters.
| Offence | Penalty |
|---|---|
| Late registration | AED 10,000 — for registering after the deadline (new companies: 3 months from incorporation) |
| Late filing | AED 500 per month for the first 12 months late, then AED 1,000 per month from month 13 |
| Late payment | 14% per annum on the unpaid tax (Cabinet Decision 129/2025, applicable from 14 April 2026) |
The pattern: registration is a one-time cliff (AED 10,000), filing is a monthly bleed that doubles after a year, and payment accrues like interest at 14%. All three can apply to the same company at the same time — late on registration, late on the return, and late on the payment is a very expensive triple.
We prepare workings, schedules and compliance-ready records. For regulated representation before the FTA we work with registered UAE tax partners.
How it escalates
Two worked examples. The numbers are illustrative but the arithmetic is the point.
5 × AED 500 = AED 2,500. Annoying, survivable — and entirely avoidable with a calendar reminder.
12 × AED 500 + 2 × AED 1,000 = AED 8,000. The rate doubles from month 13 — delay compounds.
50,000 × 14% × 6/12 = AED 3,500 — on top of the tax itself, and on top of any late-filing penalty.
How bad can it get?
All three penalties can hit the same company at once. Here's what that looks like.
Take a mainland LLC that never registered, then files its first return 4 months late with AED 30,000 of tax still unpaid 4 months after the deadline:
| Penalty | Computation | Amount (AED) |
|---|---|---|
| Late registration | Flat penalty | 10,000 |
| Late filing (4 months) | 4 × 500 | 2,000 |
| Late payment (4 months on 30,000) | 30,000 × 14% × 4/12 | 1,400 |
| Total penalties — before the tax itself | 13,400 | |
AED 13,400 in penalties on a AED 30,000 tax bill — nearly 45% extra, before counting the stress and the professional fees to untangle it. Every component was avoidable: registration takes one sitting on EmaraTax, the filing needed a calendar reminder and clean books, and the payment just needed to travel with the return. Penalties don't punish bad businesses; they punish disorganised ones.
The avoidance playbook
One more habit worth building: a single shared compliance calendar — registration dates, filing deadlines, payment dates, licence renewals — reviewed for ten minutes at each month-end close. Most penalties aren't caused by ignorance of the law; they're caused by nobody owning the date. Assign one person, one calendar, one monthly check.
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Filing without paying leaves the 14% late-payment penalty running on the unpaid amount. The return and the payment are a pair.
Paying an estimate without filing the return leaves the AED 500/month late-filing penalty running. The FTA needs the return, not just the money.
The most common route to a penalty: SBR elected, QFZP 0%, or a loss year — and no return filed. The filing obligation doesn't depend on the bill.
Notices go to your registered EmaraTax email — which, for too many companies, is an inbox nobody checks. The penalty doesn't wait for you to read the email.
A few months at AED 500/month plus 14% on the balance adds up fast — and after month 12, the monthly rate doubles to AED 1,000. Small delays are cheap; long ones aren't.
Penalty figures reflect the published FTA position including Cabinet Decision 129/2025. If your facts are unusual — or you're already late — confirm the current position on EmaraTax or with a registered tax partner before you act.
FAQs
AED 10,000. New companies must register within 3 months of incorporation; missing that window is the single most expensive registration mistake. If you’re already late, register immediately — the position doesn’t improve with waiting.
AED 500 per month for the first 12 months you’re late, then AED 1,000 per month from month 13. So 5 months late is AED 2,500; 14 months late is AED 8,000. It applies whether you owed tax or not.
Yes. The late-filing penalty applies regardless of the tax due — SBR elections, loss years and QFZP 0% years all still require timely returns. Zero on the return doesn’t mean zero consequences for filing it late.
Unpaid corporate tax accrues a 14% per annum penalty under Cabinet Decision 129/2025, applicable from 14 April 2026. It runs on the unpaid balance — so filing on time but paying months later still costs you. Always file and pay together.
The FTA has reconsideration and waiver processes for penalties in certain circumstances, but they’re discretionary and fact-specific — not something to count on. The reliable strategy is to not incur them: register early, file on time, pay with the return.
Register this week — every week of delay is a week the AED 10,000 exposure sits there, and any missed filings start accruing monthly penalties too. Then check whether voluntary disclosure is appropriate for your situation, and get your books current so the catch-up filings are accurate.
Keep reading
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