EmaraTax registration in the UAE is now a legal requirement for every business — and the FTA is already applying the AED 10,000 penalty for failing to comply. It has nothing to do with how much tax you owe, whether your business is profitable, or whether you operate in a free zone. If your business exists in the UAE and you have not registered on the Federal Tax Authority’s EmaraTax portal, you already face a AED 10,000 administrative fine.

This is not a new rule. Corporate Tax registration has been mandatory since 2023. What has changed in 2026 is enforcement. The FTA revised its entire administrative penalty framework under Cabinet Decision No. 129 of 2025 — and deliberately left the registration penalty unchanged at AED 10,000 as a signal that being in the system is non-negotiable.

This guide covers everything you need to know: who must register and by when, what documents you need, how to complete the registration without rejection, what your obligations are after you receive your Tax Registration Number, and what happens if you have already missed the deadline. It is written by the tax team at Risians Accounting & Tax Consultancy — an FTA-registered firm handling Corporate Tax registrations and filings for businesses across Dubai and the UAE.

Quick Answer

EmaraTax (eservices.tax.gov.ae) is the UAE Federal Tax Authority’s unified digital tax portal. It handles Corporate Tax, VAT, and Excise Tax — registration, return filing, payments, refunds, and voluntary disclosures — all under one login.

Registration is mandatory for every UAE business entity. There are no exemptions for free zones, no carve-outs for low-revenue businesses, and no grace period remaining for most entities in 2026. The penalty for non-registration is AED 10,000.

What Is EmaraTax and Why Does It Matter?

EmaraTax is the Federal Tax Authority’s central digital platform, launched to replace the older FTA e-Services portal. It expanded the scope of the old system to cover all federal taxes under one unified login, and it is the only official channel through which businesses interact with the FTA for tax registration, filing, and payment.

The platform covers three taxes:

• Corporate Tax — effective for financial years starting on or after 1 June 2023, at a standard rate of 9% on taxable income above AED 375,000.
• Value Added Tax (VAT) — in place since January 2018, at 5% on most goods and services.
• Excise Tax — applicable to tobacco, carbonated drinks, energy drinks, and select goods at rates between 50% and 100%.

You access EmaraTax via UAE Pass (the primary method in 2026) or by registering with your email, mobile number, and Emirates ID or passport. If your business previously had a VAT account with the FTA, your login credentials carried over automatically — your VAT profile was migrated to EmaraTax when the platform launched.

Beyond registration, EmaraTax is where you file tax returns, make payments, submit refund requests, file voluntary disclosures, respond to FTA queries, and access your full audit history. It is, in practical terms, your business’s permanent tax record with the UAE government.

This matters because banks, government entities, and auditors increasingly reference your EmaraTax profile. A business without a valid TRN is viewed as non-compliant regardless of its actual tax obligations — and that perception has commercial consequences beyond the penalty itself.

Who Must Register on EmaraTax in 2026

The registration requirement is based on entity type — not whether you owe any tax. This distinction is the source of most compliance gaps. Business owners assume that because they fall below the 9% tax threshold, or because they operate in a free zone at 0%, they have no registration obligation. This is wrong. The threshold determines your rate. Registration is unconditional.

Mainland Companies

Every LLC, PJSC, branch of a foreign company, sole establishment, civil company, and other mainland-incorporated entity must be registered on EmaraTax. If your business was in existence when the Corporate Tax registration windows opened, you should already have a Tax Registration Number.

UAE branches of a domestic parent company do not register separately — they are treated as an extension of the head office, and the parent entity’s TRN covers them. However, the parent entity must itself be registered. Branches of foreign companies operating in the UAE are treated differently and must register as separate taxable persons.

If you are a mainland company and do not have a TRN, you are already in breach. The penalty clock started from the moment your registration deadline passed.

Free Zone Companies

Free zone entities are subject to the same registration obligation as mainland companies. This applies universally — including entities that qualify for the 0% Corporate Tax rate as Qualifying Free Zone Persons (QFZPs).

The 0% rate is not an exemption from registration. It is an exemption from the 9% tax rate — which only applies once you are registered, have filed a compliant Corporate Tax return, and have met all the conditions for QFZP status. A free zone company that has not registered cannot claim the 0% rate, and is liable for both the registration penalty and, potentially, tax at the standard rate.

The conditions for QFZP status are also more stringent in 2026. A QFZP must:

• Maintain adequate substance in the free zone
• Derive qualifying income as defined under Ministerial Decision No. 139 of 2023
• Not have made an election to be subject to standard Corporate Tax
• Comply with transfer pricing requirements
• Have audited financial statements prepared by a UAE-registered audit firm

That last point is new for 2026: audited financial statements are now mandatory for all QFZPs regardless of revenue, and for any business with annual revenue exceeding AED 50 million. If you have QFZP status or are approaching the AED 50 million threshold, factor audit timelines into your compliance planning now.

Sole Traders, Freelancers, and Natural Persons

Individual business owners operating under a sole establishment licence, licensed freelancers, and other natural persons conducting business in the UAE must register once their total business revenue exceeds AED 1 million in a calendar year.

The following income types are explicitly excluded from the AED 1 million threshold calculation:

• Employment income and salaries
• Income from personal investments (dividends, interest, capital gains from personal portfolios)
• Income from residential real estate held personally

If your combined business revenue — from your sole establishment, freelance activities, or other business income — exceeded AED 1 million in 2024 or 2025, your registration deadline is 31 March 2026. If that date has passed and you are not registered, contact a registered tax agent immediately. The penalty applies from the day you missed the deadline, but mitigation options may be available.

One common misconception: some freelancers believe their free zone freelance permit exempts them from registration. It does not. The AED 1 million threshold applies regardless of whether you operate under a mainland or free zone licence.

New Businesses Incorporated in 2026

Any company or sole establishment incorporated after the original registration windows must register within three months of the date of incorporation — not three months from when the business starts trading, but from the incorporation date itself.

This catches many new businesses off guard. A company that incorporates in January 2026 but does not start operating until July 2026 still had a registration deadline of April 2026. Revenue is irrelevant. The obligation arises from the fact of incorporation.

Non-Resident Persons With UAE-Sourced Income

Non-resident persons — foreign companies or individuals without a permanent establishment in the UAE — who earn income that is subject to UAE Corporate Tax (for example, UAE-sourced income from certain activities) must also register. The registration process differs slightly: non-residents register as Non-Resident Persons and may have different filing deadlines and withholding tax obligations.

If your business has cross-border operations with UAE-sourced income and you are unsure whether a UAE registration obligation applies, professional advice is warranted before assuming it does not.

2026 Registration Deadlines at a Glance

Entity Type	Registration Deadline
Existing mainland companies (all types)	Passed — register immediately if not done
Free zone entities including QFZPs	Passed — register immediately if not done
Natural persons (sole traders / freelancers) exceeding AED 1M revenue	31 March 2026
New businesses incorporated in 2026	Within 3 months of incorporation date
Non-resident persons with UAE-sourced income	Within 3 months of becoming subject to tax

The AED 10,000 Penalty: What It Is and When It Applies

The administrative penalty for failing to register for Corporate Tax is AED 10,000, confirmed unchanged in Cabinet Decision No. 129 of 2025, which took effect on 14 April 2026. This is a flat fine — it does not increase with the length of the delay, it does not scale with your revenue, and it does not depend on whether you owe any tax.

It is an administrative penalty, not a tax penalty. The distinction matters. You are not being fined because you have a tax liability. You are being fined because you were not in the FTA’s system when the law required you to be. A business earning AED 50,000 a year that has never made a profit is just as liable as a business earning AED 50 million.

The 2026 penalty revision reduced or simplified most other FTA penalties significantly. The registration penalty was the notable exception — it was left unchanged. The FTA’s position is consistent and public: registration is the foundation of the entire tax system, and there are no circumstances under which not being registered is acceptable.

Can the Penalty Be Waived or Reduced?

Yes, in specific circumstances. The FTA has confirmed that businesses which missed the initial registration deadline but file their first Corporate Tax return within seven months of the end of their first fiscal year may have the registration penalty waived. This is not automatic — it requires a correctly filed return and is assessed on a case-by-case basis.

If you are in this situation — unregistered, with a fiscal year that has already ended — the sequence matters: register first, then file the return within the seven-month window. Speaking to a tax agent before attempting this is advisable, because errors in the registration or the return can close the waiver window.

Outside of this specific scenario, the FTA also has a general discretionary power to waive or reduce penalties in exceptional circumstances, but this is not a reliable route and should not be treated as one.

The VAT Registration Penalty

A separate but parallel AED 10,000 penalty applies to businesses that should have registered for VAT but did not. VAT registration is mandatory once your taxable supplies exceed AED 375,000 annually (mandatory threshold) and voluntary above AED 187,500. If your business crossed the mandatory threshold and is not VAT registered, the same flat fine applies — entirely separately from the Corporate Tax registration penalty.

You can receive both penalties. A business that is neither Corporate Tax registered nor VAT registered when it should be faces AED 20,000 in administrative fines before any tax owed is calculated.

FTA Penalty Reference — Updated 2026

Violation	Penalty (AED)
Failure to register for Corporate Tax	10,000 — unchanged under Cabinet Decision No. 129 of 2025
Failure to register for VAT when mandatory threshold exceeded	10,000
Late filing of Corporate Tax return	500/month (months 1–12); 1,000/month thereafter
Failure to pay Corporate Tax on time	2% of unpaid tax immediately; escalating monthly charges thereafter
Failure to maintain required financial records	5,000 (reduced from 20,000 under 2026 rules)
Incorrect tax return — first offence	500 (waived if voluntarily corrected before FTA deadline)
Failure to notify FTA of changes to registration details	1,000 (first breach); 5,000 (repeated failures)
Failure to submit transfer pricing disclosure form	100,000 (first offence); 250,000 (repeat)

Source: Cabinet Decision No. 129 of 2025, effective 14 April 2026 | FTA official portal tax.gov.ae

Documents Required for EmaraTax Registration

Prepare every document before you open the portal. Incomplete submissions are the primary cause of rejection and delays. The FTA’s document verification process has become more rigorous in 2026 — applications with inconsistencies between uploaded documents and the data entered in the form are automatically flagged and rejected without review.

All documents must be in PDF format and under 15 MB per file. Scanned copies are acceptable but must be fully legible — officer names, dates, licence numbers, and signatures must be clearly readable. Blurry, cut-off, or low-resolution scans are rejected.

Document	Required By
Certificate of Incorporation or Memorandum of Association	All companies
Commercial Registration Certificate / Trade Licence	All businesses including branches
Emirates ID of all owners holding more than 25% ownership	All resident owners
Passport copies of all owners and authorised signatories	All businesses
Power of Attorney or proof of signatory authorisation	Where signatory is not an owner
Free Zone licence or certificate (if applicable)	Free zone entities only
Financial statements or proof of revenue	Natural persons — sole traders and freelancers
Group structure chart (if part of a corporate group)	Businesses with related-party ownership

The Most Common Rejection Reason

Entering your Trade Licence renewal date as your Date of Incorporation.

These are two different dates. Your Date of Incorporation is when your company was first legally established — it appears on your Certificate of Incorporation or original Memorandum of Association, not on your Trade Licence.

Your Trade Licence is renewed annually. Its current date is not your incorporation date. Entering the renewal date causes an automatic data mismatch with FTA records and triggers rejection. This single error accounts for more failed applications than any other mistake.

Document Tips That Reduce Rejection Risk

• Emirates ID must be valid at time of submission. An expired Emirates ID will be rejected even if the owner is a long-standing UAE resident.
• Passport copies must show the photo page and be legible. If a passport was recently renewed, use the new version — FTA records may reflect the new passport number from other government systems.
• Trade Licence must be current. An expired Trade Licence will cause your application to fail. Renew before applying if your licence is within 30 days of expiry.
• For free zone entities, include both the free zone licence and any certificate of incorporation the free zone authority issued. Some free zones issue both; others only one. Include all available incorporation documents.
• For sole traders, financial statements or bank statements showing revenue are acceptable. They do not need to be audited at this stage — the FTA accepts management accounts for registration purposes.

How to Complete Your EmaraTax Registration: Step by Step

Registration on EmaraTax is done entirely online. There are no physical FTA offices where you queue or submit paper documents. The entire process — from creating an account to receiving your TRN — happens through the portal at eservices.tax.gov.ae.

Step 1 — Use the Official Portal Only

Go directly to eservices.tax.gov.ae. This is the only legitimate FTA registration portal. A number of third-party websites offer to submit registrations on your behalf or claim to have a direct link to the FTA system — these are not official, and submitting your documents through them exposes your business information to unknown parties. All legitimate tax agents and accounting firms access the same official portal on their clients’ behalf.

Step 2 — Create Your Account or Log In

UAE Pass is the primary login method in 2026 and is strongly preferred by the FTA. If you do not have UAE Pass, you can register for EmaraTax directly using your email address, mobile number, and Emirates ID or passport number.

If your business already has a VAT account with the FTA, your existing login credentials will work on EmaraTax — the platform migrated all existing VAT accounts automatically. You do not need to create a new account. Log in with your existing credentials and you will see your VAT registration already present in your dashboard.

Step 3 — Navigate to Corporate Tax Registration

Once logged in, you will see your dashboard with tiles for each tax type. Select the Corporate Tax tile to begin the registration process. You will be presented with a structured multi-section form covering entity details, ownership structure, financial year, and business activities.

Do not start the form until all your documents are prepared and ready to upload. EmaraTax sessions can time out, and a partially completed application that times out may create a duplicate record that requires FTA support to resolve.

Step 4 — Enter Entity Details

This section requires your company’s legal name exactly as it appears on your Certificate of Incorporation, your trade licence number, your business activity codes (from your trade licence), and your complete ownership structure including the percentage held by each owner.

Everything you enter must match your official documents precisely. The FTA’s system cross-checks submitted data against government records. Common mismatches include slightly different spellings of company names (e.g. ‘LLC’ vs ‘L.L.C’), trade licence numbers entered without the correct prefix, and ownership percentages that do not add up to 100%.

Step 5 — Select Your Entity Classification

This is the highest-stakes step in the registration process. You must specify:

• Resident Person or Non-Resident Person — as defined under UAE Corporate Tax law
• For free zone entities: whether you are seeking Qualifying Free Zone Person (QFZP) status — this determines whether your income is taxed at 0% or 9%
• Your financial year start and end dates — these determine your filing deadlines and cannot be easily changed after registration

Getting the entity classification wrong has direct downstream consequences. If a free zone company incorrectly registers as a mainland entity, or fails to elect QFZP status when it is eligible, it may be taxed at 9% on income that should have been tax-free. Correcting a misclassification requires a formal amendment process and, in some cases, a voluntary disclosure with associated penalties.

Step 6 — Upload Your Documents

Upload each required document in PDF format under 15 MB. The portal will indicate which documents are mandatory and which are optional for your entity type. Even for documents marked optional, upload them if you have them — sparse applications are more likely to attract FTA queries.

Check every uploaded file before proceeding. Confirm that the document is the right file, that it is legible, and that the information visible in the document matches what you entered in the form.

Step 7 — Review and Submit

Before submitting, use the review screen to check every section. Pay particular attention to your incorporation date, financial year dates, ownership percentages, and entity classification. These are the fields most commonly submitted incorrectly.

After submission, you receive a reference number immediately. Save this — it is your evidence that the application was submitted and the reference number the FTA will use if you need to follow up. The FTA typically processes complete applications within 20 working days, after which your Tax Registration Number (TRN) is issued by email.

VAT TRN ≠ Corporate Tax TRN

If you are already registered for VAT and have a VAT Tax Registration Number, that number does not cover Corporate Tax.

Corporate Tax is a separate registration with a separate TRN. You submit the Corporate Tax registration application through the same EmaraTax portal using the same login — but it is a distinct application that produces a distinct TRN.

After completing Corporate Tax registration, you will have two TRNs in your EmaraTax account: one for VAT and one for Corporate Tax. Both are needed for different compliance obligations.

After Registration: Your Ongoing Compliance Obligations

Receiving your TRN is the point at which most businesses exhale — and the point at which the compliance work actually begins. Registration is a one-time task. What follows is an annual cycle of filing obligations, record-keeping requirements, and notification duties.

Corporate Tax Return Filing

You must file a Corporate Tax return within nine months of the end of your financial year. The filing deadline is fixed — the FTA does not grant extensions in ordinary circumstances. For a business with a 31 December 2025 financial year-end, the filing deadline is 30 September 2026.

The late filing penalty starts at AED 500 per month for the first 12 months and increases to AED 1,000 per month after that. There is no upper cap specified — the penalty accrues for every month you remain unfiled.

The Corporate Tax return requires a full set of financial statements prepared in accordance with IFRS (or IFRS for SMEs for smaller businesses). Businesses that have not maintained proper accounting records throughout the year will find it difficult or impossible to file an accurate return on time. If your books are not in order, start that process now — don’t wait until the filing deadline approaches. Our corporate tax services cover return preparation and filing from start to finish.

Financial Record Keeping

All registered businesses must maintain complete financial records covering income, expenses, assets, liabilities, and equity — prepared to IFRS standards and retained for a minimum of seven years from the end of the relevant tax period.

The 2026 penalty revision reduced the fine for failing to maintain records from AED 20,000 to AED 5,000 — but the reduction does not change the underlying obligation. Poor record-keeping also exposes businesses to significantly higher tax assessments in an FTA audit, since unsubstantiated deductions may be disallowed.

IFRS compliance is not optional and is not a standard that only large businesses need to meet. Every registered UAE business — including small LLCs and sole establishments — is required to prepare IFRS-compliant accounts.

Small Business Relief — 2026 Update

Small Business Relief allows eligible businesses to be treated as having zero taxable income for a tax period, eliminating their Corporate Tax liability for that year. It is available to businesses with revenue of AED 3 million or less for tax periods ending on or before 31 December 2026.

The permanent ineligibility rule is critical: once your revenue exceeds AED 3 million in any tax period — even by one dirham — you lose access to Small Business Relief permanently, even if your revenue falls back below AED 3 million in every subsequent year. This is not widely understood and has caught businesses off guard.

Electing Small Business Relief does not exempt you from filing a Corporate Tax return. You must still file and declare your election. The return is simply simpler than a full Corporate Tax calculation.

Transfer Pricing — Often Overlooked

If your business has transactions with related parties — parent companies, subsidiaries, affiliates, or connected persons — you have transfer pricing obligations under UAE Corporate Tax law. These include maintaining a master file and local file if your revenue exceeds AED 200 million, and filing a disclosure form with every Corporate Tax return regardless of revenue size.

The penalty for failing to submit the transfer pricing disclosure form is AED 100,000 for a first offence and AED 250,000 for repeat failures — by far the largest penalties in the UAE Corporate Tax framework. If your business structure involves any related-party transactions, this requires specific attention.

Updating Your Registration Details

Any material change to your business must be reflected in your EmaraTax profile within the FTA’s notification window. Changes that require updating include:

• Trade licence renewal (especially if the licence number or activities changed)
• Change in ownership — addition of new shareholders, transfer of shares, change in ownership percentages
• Change in business activity codes
• Change in financial year end date
• Change of registered address
• Cessation of business or deregistration

The 2026 penalty for failing to notify the FTA of changes is AED 1,000 for a first breach and AED 5,000 for repeated failures. These are lower than the registration penalty, but the obligation is continuous — every change triggers a new notification requirement.

Common EmaraTax Registration Mistakes — and How to Avoid Them

• Using the trade licence renewal date as the incorporation date

These are different dates. Your incorporation date is on your Certificate of Incorporation — it never changes. Your trade licence is renewed annually and its current date is irrelevant to your registration. Enter the wrong date and your application will be rejected.

• Assuming VAT registration covers Corporate Tax

It does not. These are separate taxes with separate TRNs and separate registration processes. A business that has been VAT registered since 2018 has no Corporate Tax TRN unless it applied for one separately through EmaraTax.

• Free zone companies not registering because they pay 0% tax

The 0% rate applies after registration, not instead of it. Every free zone entity must register. If you have QFZP status, you must also file an annual Corporate Tax return and maintain audited financial statements.

• Selecting the wrong entity type during registration

Mainland, free zone, branch, non-resident, and QFZP classifications each carry different tax rates, filing requirements, and audit obligations. Misclassification is difficult to correct after filing history begins and may require a voluntary disclosure.

• Uploading expired or unreadable documents

An expired Emirates ID or Trade Licence will cause an automatic rejection. Low-resolution scans, cut-off pages, and files over 15 MB are also common rejection causes. Check every document before uploading.

• Starting the application without all documents ready

EmaraTax sessions time out. A partially completed application that times out can create duplicate records requiring FTA intervention to resolve. Prepare all documents first, then complete the form in one session.

• Not setting up the correct financial year dates

Your financial year start and end dates set all your filing deadlines. Choosing an incorrect financial year — for example, starting from your trade licence date rather than a clean calendar or company year — affects every subsequent return. This is hard to change after registration.

• Failing to update EmaraTax after a trade licence renewal or ownership change

The notification obligation is continuous. Each change to your business triggers a new update requirement in EmaraTax. Missing these updates results in accumulating penalties that compound over time.

UAE Tax Compliance in 2026: The Bigger Picture

EmaraTax sits at the centre of a compliance environment that has matured significantly since the UAE introduced Corporate Tax in 2023. The UAE tax system is no longer new — it is established, the FTA enforces it actively, and the FTA’s administrative capacity to identify non-compliant businesses grows every year.

Several developments in 2026 are relevant to any UAE business thinking about its compliance position:

• Revised penalty framework (April 2026): Cabinet Decision No. 129 of 2025 modernised the entire penalty structure, reducing most financial penalties but leaving the registration penalty unchanged. The practical message: most compliance errors are now more financially forgivable — but not being in the system remains as serious as it ever was.
• E-invoicing rollout: The FTA is introducing a mandatory e-invoicing system in phases through 2026 and 2027. Phase one covers large businesses; subsequent phases will extend to SMEs. All e-invoicing data flows through the same EmaraTax infrastructure. Businesses that are not correctly registered will face additional barriers as e-invoicing becomes mandatory.

What This Means for Your EmaraTax Registration

• Banking and commercial requirements: UAE banks increasingly require a valid Corporate Tax TRN as part of account opening and annual review processes. Government procurement frameworks and free zone authorities are also beginning to require proof of tax registration. Operating without a TRN is becoming a practical business barrier, not just a compliance risk.
• FTA audit activity: The FTA has increased its audit activity in the Corporate Tax space following the first full cycle of returns. Businesses with incomplete registrations, incorrect entity classifications, or missing records are disproportionately likely to receive audit enquiries.

For most businesses, the path forward is straightforward: register correctly, file on time, maintain proper records, and update your EmaraTax profile when anything changes. The complexity increases significantly for businesses with multiple entities, group structures, QFZP elections, related-party transactions, or cross-border income — in those cases, the interaction between registration, classification, and filing obligations requires careful planning.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is EmaraTax free to use?

Yes. The portal is free to access. You pay taxes, government fees, and any penalties through it — but there is no platform fee to register, file, or use EmaraTax services.

My business earns less than AED 375,000 profit. Do I still need to register?

Yes. The AED 375,000 threshold determines your Corporate Tax rate — 0% on taxable income below it, 9% above. It has no bearing on your registration obligation. Every taxable person must register regardless of their income level or profitability.

I already have a VAT TRN. Does that mean I’m registered for Corporate Tax?

No. VAT and Corporate Tax are completely separate registrations. Your existing VAT login works on EmaraTax, but you must submit a new Corporate Tax registration application through the portal. The two produce separate TRNs.

My free zone company is eligible for 0% Corporate Tax. Do I still need to register?

Yes. QFZP status does not exempt you from registration — it exempts you from the 9% tax rate, which only applies after you are registered and have filed. Failure to register still attracts the AED 10,000 penalty, and you cannot claim QFZP status without a TRN.

What happens if I missed the registration deadline?

Register immediately. The AED 10,000 penalty applies from the day you missed the deadline, but waiver may be possible if you file your first Corporate Tax return within seven months of your fiscal year end. The longer you wait, the fewer options you have.

Does EmaraTax registration cover all my UAE entities, or does each company register separately?

Each legal entity registers separately and receives its own TRN. A group of companies — for example, a holding company and three subsidiaries — requires four separate registrations. UAE branches of a domestic parent do not register separately, but branches of foreign companies do.

How long does EmaraTax registration take?

The FTA processes complete applications within approximately 20 working days. You receive your TRN by email. Incomplete applications, document mismatches, or entity classification questions can extend this to 30–60 days.

Can I register on behalf of my client as an accountant?

Yes. FTA-registered tax agents can submit EmaraTax registration applications on behalf of clients. You must upload a Power of Attorney authorising the agent to act on the client’s behalf as part of the application.

What is a Tax Registration Number (TRN) and what is it used for?

A TRN is the unique identifier the FTA assigns to your business after successful registration. It appears on all tax correspondence, and you quote it on Corporate Tax returns and VAT returns. Banks and other parties use it to verify your tax registration status. The FTA issues a separate TRN for Corporate Tax and for VAT — you will have one for each.

Can my business deregister from Corporate Tax?

Yes, in limited circumstances — primarily when the business ceases to be a taxable person (for example, when a natural person’s revenue drops and stays below AED 1 million). You must apply for deregistration through EmaraTax. If you deregister without meeting the eligibility conditions, the FTA will apply penalties.