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UAE corporate tax and accounting

Lexoford Services L.L.C-FZ coordinates bookkeeping, corporate-tax registration and VAT registration for UAE companies. Licence 2651822.01. This page is general information from FTA and Ministry of Finance texts. It is not tax advice.

Lexoford Services is not a law firm and does not claim to be an FTA-approved tax agent on this page.

What the service covers

Registration orientation

Identify whether a corporate-tax registration and a VAT registration are both in point, using the FTA pages below. Registration is not the same step as calculating tax due.

Books

Keep the records that support the figures in a return. The FTA news item says those records let the FTA check revenue, taxable income, and Small Business Relief.

Return coordination

Prepare the agreed return for filing on EmaraTax. The FTA says a person may file directly or use an approved tax agent listed on the FTA website.

Written scope

Bookkeeping and filing work is quoted in writing. It is not a number on the homepage.

Formation service fees start at AED 3,999. Premium includes CT and VAT in that published scope. A yearly filing retainer is quoted separately.

Rate, registration and filing

Checked 2026-10-14. The English decree and Cabinet PDFs on tax.gov.ae are marked unofficial translations. The FTA service and news pages are the English text on tax.gov.ae.

0 percent and 9 percent

Article 3 of Federal Decree-Law No. 47 of 2022: 0 percent up to the Cabinet amount, and 9 percent above it. Cabinet Decision No. 116 of 2022, Article 2 and Article 3, set that amount at AED 375,000 of taxable income in the tax period. Splitting a business so that more than AED 375,000 is taxed at 0 percent can be treated as an arrangement to obtain a corporate-tax benefit.

Qualifying Free Zone Person

Article 3(2): 0 percent on qualifying income, and 9 percent on taxable income that is not qualifying income. Conditions are in Article 18 and Cabinet decisions. This page does not restate them.

Who registers

Article 51: a taxable person registers and obtains a tax registration number, except where the Minister prescribes otherwise. The FTA service page says this service is free of charge, estimates 25 minutes to submit and 20 business days for the FTA to complete a completed application, and points juridical persons to Federal Tax Authority Decision No. 3 of 2024 for the timeline. A natural person registers when business revenue exceeds AED 1 million in a calendar year. Salary, private investment income and real-estate investment income are excluded from that revenue. A UAE branch of a domestic company is not a separate registrant.

Documents on the FTA service card

Certificate of incorporation, memorandum or partnership agreement if available; commercial registration or licensing-authority document; valid trade licence, including branches if applicable; Emirates ID and passport of any owner above 25 percent and of authorised signatories; proof of authority to sign. PDF, up to 15 MB each.

Registration steps the FTA lists

EmaraTax account

Register and activate an account. The channel is open 24 hours.

Taxable person

Create a taxable-person profile and open that account.

Register

Use the Corporate Tax action menu and choose Register.

Submit

Complete the application and submit it. The page states an administrative penalty of AED 10,000 for late registration, and describes a waiver initiative if the first return is filed within 7 months from the end of the first tax period.

Article 53 requires a tax return no later than nine months after the end of the tax period, unless the Authority directs another date. The FTA news item of 2026-09-26, page updated 2026-09-28, applies that rule to persons eligible for Small Business Relief, and sets 30 September 2026 as the filing and payment date for tax periods that ended on 31 December 2025. Article 54 allows the Authority to ask for the financial statements used to determine taxable income. The Minister may require audited or certified statements for categories of taxable persons. This page does not list those categories.

Sources: Federal Decree-Law No. 47 of 2022 (English PDF on tax.gov.ae); Cabinet Decision No. 116 of 2022 (English PDF); FTA — Corporate tax registration; FTA — return and payment; FTA — VAT registration. Checked 2026-10-14.

What this page does not state

  • No revenue figure for Small Business Relief. The eligibility check named in the Business tier is a Lexoford service item. The Cabinet threshold was not re-read for this page.
  • No date-by-date registration calendar from Decision No. 3 of 2024. The service page cites it and does not print the table.
  • No Qualifying Free Zone Person test, and no description of who is inside the 15 percent top-up in Article 3(3).
  • No claim that Lexoford Services is an approved tax agent, an FTA partner, or a law firm.
  • No yearly accounting price. It is not on the homepage or in pricing-config.json.

What Lexoford Services does not guarantee.

Published Lexoford prices

The only Lexoford prices on the homepage and in pricing-config.json are the company-formation service fees below. This page does not add a separate fee.

0–1 visa: Starter AED 3,999. 2–3 visas: Business AED 4,999. 5 visas: Premium AED 7,999. Each additional visa adds AED 1,000 service fee beyond the visas your tier includes. Customer pays = government/free-zone fees at cost + Lexoford service fee.

StarterAED 3,999 · service feeLicence + 1 visa (service fee only)
Business · RecommendedAED 4,999 · service feeLicence + 3 visas + Small Business Relief (SBR) eligibility check
PremiumAED 7,999 · service feeLicence + 5 visas + CT + VAT; ERP included - Lexoford coordinates; visa approval is not guaranteed

Government and free-zone fees are extra, paid at cost. Estimate your itemised total.

Frequently asked questions

What is the standard UAE corporate tax rate?

Federal Decree-Law No. 47 of 2022, Article 3, imposes 0 percent on the portion of taxable income that does not exceed an amount set by a Cabinet decision, and 9 percent on taxable income above that amount. Cabinet Decision No. 116 of 2022 sets that amount at AED 375,000 for the tax period. The English PDFs on tax.gov.ae are marked as unofficial translations. Checked 2026-10-14.

Does a free-zone licence mean 0 percent corporate tax?

No. Article 3(2) of the same law imposes 0 percent on the qualifying income of a Qualifying Free Zone Person, and 9 percent on taxable income that is not qualifying income. The conditions sit in Article 18 and in Cabinet decisions. This page does not restate those conditions. A free-zone licence is not itself the 0 percent rate.

Who must register for corporate tax, and what does the FTA charge?

Article 51 says a taxable person shall register for corporate tax with the Authority, in the form and within the timeline the Authority prescribes, and obtain a tax registration number, except in circumstances the Minister prescribes. The FTA corporate-tax registration service page, updated 2026-08-19, says the service is free of charge. It estimates 25 minutes to submit an application and 20 business days for the FTA to complete a completed application. It says juridical persons subject to corporate tax register under Federal Tax Authority Decision No. 3 of 2024. The same page states an administrative penalty of AED 10,000 for late registration. This page does not reprint the date table in that decision.

When is a corporate tax return due?

Article 53 says a taxable person must file a tax return no later than nine months from the end of the relevant tax period, or by another date the Authority directs. The FTA news item updated 2026-09-28 repeats that nine-month rule, including for persons eligible for Small Business Relief, and states that persons whose tax period ended on 31 December 2025 must file and pay by 30 September 2026. That calendar date is for that period. It is not a deadline for every company.

When must a business register for VAT?

The FTA VAT registration page, updated 2026-04-06, says a business must register if taxable supplies and imports exceed AED 375,000 over the previous 12 months, or are expected to exceed that threshold in the next 30 days. That mandatory threshold does not apply to foreign businesses. A business may apply to register voluntarily where taxable supplies and imports, or taxable expenses, exceed AED 187,500 on the same previous-12-months or next-30-days test.

Do the formation service fees include tax filing every year?

No. AED 3,999 / 4,999 / 7,999 are company-formation service fees. The published Premium scope is licence plus 5 visas plus CT plus VAT, with ERP included. Lexoford coordinates, and visa approval is not guaranteed. Ongoing bookkeeping and filing retainers are not a price on the homepage or in pricing-config.json. They are quoted separately in writing. This page is not tax advice. Lexoford Services is not a law firm.

Is Lexoford Services an approved FTA tax agent?

This page does not claim that. The FTA news item says taxable persons may file on EmaraTax or seek assistance from approved tax agents listed on the FTA website. Lexoford Services coordinates books and filings inside an agreed written scope. The only Authorized Professional Partner credential Lexoford Services publishes is IFZA, Partner ID 11215-7490. Lexoford Services is also a SHAMS Authorized Partner and an Expo City Dubai Free Zone Channel Partner.

Discuss books and tax registration

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Office 607, 6th Floor, RAG Tower Business Center, Al Barsha 1, Dubai, UAE. Meetings by appointment. Licence No. 2651822.01.