Contents

1. 01What the UAE Corporate Tax Numbers Say in Late 2026
2. 02How Many Businesses Are Registered for UAE Corporate Tax?
3. 03Corporate Tax Registrants Are Not the Same as Companies
4. 04UAE Corporate Tax Rate in 2026, in the FTA's Wording
5. 05UAE Corporate Tax Deadlines and Penalties in 2026
6. 06What Changed in UAE Corporate Tax in 2026
7. 07How Many Businesses Used the Late-Registration Penalty Waiver?
8. 08What the FTA Has Not Published
9. 09Outdated or Incomplete UAE Corporate Tax Claims, Checked
10. 10Methodology, Sources and Update Log
11. 11Frequently Asked Questions

01Introduction

What the UAE Corporate Tax Numbers Say in Late 2026

02Registrants

How Many Businesses Are Registered for UAE Corporate Tax?

The FTA reports registrant counts when its board of directors meets. Each release gives the date it was reported but no as-of date. The table therefore shows the date reported, and the three counts shouldn't be read as a strictly comparable series. The October 2025 figure is a floor, since it says "more than". The February figure is rounded to "approximately".

Reported Source: as linked in the table. The 640,000 figure appeared in a WAM report on 5 October 2025 citing FTA data, and a Gulf News report carries the same figure. We found no registrant total newer than 30 April 2026.

640,000+

about 710,000

743,000

5 Oct 202513 Feb 202630 Apr 2026

Growth between the three counts

Calculated by GenZone Source: our sums from the FTA figures above. Because the October count is “more than 640,000”, the true increase from it is smaller than the figure shown, so the first and third rows are upper bounds. The February count is rounded.

Interpretation Registrants kept rising through the period. Spread over time, the first interval averages up to roughly 16,000 a month and the second roughly 13,000 a month. That hints at a slower pace, but with an October floor and a rounded February count we can't say so for certain. Between February and April, Corporate Tax registrants rose by about 4.6% and VAT registrants by 2.4%.

Separately, the FTA's 2025 annual report release of 29 June 2026 says more than 245,000 Corporate Tax registration applications were completed in 2025. That counts applications, not registrants, so it isn't comparable with the table.

03Definitions

Corporate Tax Registrants Are Not the Same as Companies

It's tempting to set 743,000 beside the Ministry of Economy and Tourism's count of more than 1.4 million UAE companies at the end of 2025 and draw a conclusion. We'd avoid it. The Ministry counts companies, and the FTA counts persons on its Corporate Tax register. They don't measure the same thing, and neither release gives enough detail to reconcile them.

A registrant count can include:

Reported Source: as linked in the table. Checked 23 October 2026.

Interpretation The count tells you how many persons have entered the FTA's system. It doesn't tell you how many pay tax, how many are free zone companies or how many filed on time. A registrant is simply a person on the FTA's Corporate Tax register, and the FTA's releases don't define the term further.

04Rates

UAE Corporate Tax Rate in 2026, in the FTA's Wording

The headline rates haven't changed. What trips people up is who gets which rate. The table below follows the FTA's own guides and flags the other regimes that sit beside the standard rates.

Reported Source: as linked in each row. Checked 23 October 2026.

The rates worked through

Calculated by GenZone Source: our arithmetic from the FTA rates above. The QFZP case assumes every QFZP condition is met for the period and ignores other adjustments. It is an illustration, not a tax computation.

"0% in Dubai" is a misreading

Corporate Tax is a federal tax, so Dubai doesn't have its own rate. A company in Dubai pays 9% on taxable income above AED 375,000, like a company anywhere else in the UAE. The 0% rate covers the first AED 375,000 of taxable income for any taxable person, and a Qualifying Free Zone Person's Qualifying Income. Neither is a discount for having a Dubai address. Our guide to the UAE Corporate Tax 0% and 9% rates walks through how the two rates work.

What a QFZP has to satisfy

A QFZP isn't a status you get with a license. Several instruments now sit behind it. The Corporate Tax Law sets the 0% rate on Qualifying Income and Cabinet Decision No. 100 of 2023 defines Qualifying Income. Ministerial Decision No. 229 of 2025 lists the Qualifying and Excluded Activities, repeals Ministerial Decision No. 265 of 2023 and applies from 1 June 2023 (KPMG summarizes the changes). Audited financial statements are required under Ministerial Decision No. 84 of 2025.

The FTA's Free Zone Persons guide (CTGFZP1) lists the conditions: being a Free Zone Person, adequate substance, Qualifying Income, no election to be taxed under the standard rules, arm's length dealing, transfer pricing documentation, audited financial statements and a limit on non-qualifying revenue. Under Ministerial Decision No. 229 that limit is the lower of 5% of total revenue and AED 5,000,000. A QFZP that fails a condition stops being a QFZP from the start of that tax period and for the 4 tax periods after it. Our QFZP eligibility test shows where a company may sit.

Distribution of goods in or from a Designated Zone is a Qualifying Activity only if the goods imported into the UAE come in through the Designated Zone and are supplied to a customer who resells, processes or alters them for sale, or to a public benefit entity (Ministerial Decision No. 229 of 2025). FTA Decision No. 6 of 2026, covered below, adds a reporting requirement for exactly this activity.

Small Business Relief now runs to 2029

Ministerial Decision No. 131 of 2026 was issued on 29 July 2026 and announced on 7 August. It replaces Clause 2 of Article 2 of Ministerial Decision No. 73 of 2023. The threshold applies to tax periods commencing on or after 1 June 2023 and continues to apply to subsequent tax periods that end on or before 31 December 2029. The decision takes effect the day after it is published (Ministry of Finance, full text). The decision doesn't restate the amount. The AED 3 million revenue threshold comes from Clause 1 of the same Article of the 2023 decision, and the WAM report says it continues. The relief isn't automatic: the business elects it in its Corporate Tax return. Plenty of guides still say it ends in 2026, which was correct until July.

Top-up Tax is a separate tax

The UAE's Domestic Minimum Top-up Tax (DMTT), which the FTA's recent guides call Top-up Tax, is a 15% minimum for large multinational groups. It applies to financial years starting on or after 1 January 2025, and to groups with consolidated revenue of EUR 750 million or more in at least 2 of the 4 preceding years (DLA Piper). It sits beside the 9% Corporate Tax. It doesn't change it for ordinary businesses.

05Deadlines

UAE Corporate Tax Deadlines and Penalties in 2026

The filing and payment deadline is 9 months after the end of the tax period. The FTA's release of 26 September 2026 applied that to taxable persons whose tax period ended on 31 December 2025, giving 30 September 2026, and said Small Business Relief claimants follow the same timeline. Exempt persons that must register have 9 months from their financial year end for their annual declaration. The tables below cover selected deadlines. They aren't a full compliance calendar.

Reported Calculated by GenZone Source: FTA release, 26 September 2026 for the 31 December 2025 example and the 9-month rule; FTA release, 14 May 2026 for the 7-month waiver rule. For that round the waiver window closed on Fri 31 Jul 2026.

Deadlines still ahead

The dates other than 30 November 2026 are illustrations of the general rules applied to other period ends. The waiver dates apply only where the period is the person's first tax period. Where a date falls on a weekend, Article 49(2) of the Tax Procedures Law moves a time limit to the next Business Day, so the table shows both dates. Federal public holidays aren't applied.

Reported Calculated by GenZone Source: the 9-month and 7-month rules from the FTA releases linked above; the 30 November 2026 date from Andersen, Deloitte, KPMG and Crowe; the weekend rule from Federal Decree-Law No. 28 of 2022, Article 49. The last row combines the filing deadline with the 30-day period described in the Decision No. 6 section below.

Penalties

Corporate Tax penalties sit in Cabinet Decision No. 75 of 2023. Cabinet Decision No. 129 of 2025 governs VAT and Excise Tax penalties from 14 April 2026, while Corporate Tax penalties continue under the 2023 decision (Habib Al Mulla). A penalty is different from a waiver. The only waiver announced in the sources we reviewed covers the late-registration penalty, and only on the conditions set out in the waiver section.

Reported Source: Cabinet Decision No. 75 of 2023 and its amendments, as published on the Ministry of Finance site, checked 23 October 2026. That text includes Cabinet Decision No. 10 of 2024, with the registration penalty applicable from 1 March 2024.

06What changed

What Changed in UAE Corporate Tax in 2026

Reported Source: as linked in each row. Issue and publication dates for the two FTA decisions come from the FTA's legislation listing.

FTA Decision No. 6 of 2026: free zone distributors

The FTA issued Decision No. 6 of 2026 on 2 June 2026 and published it on 14 July (FTA legislation listing; decision text). It adds compliance procedures for QFZPs that distribute goods or materials in or from a Designated Zone, for tax periods commencing on or after 1 January 2026. It doesn't apply to other qualifying activities (PwC).

The affected QFZP has to obtain an agreed-upon procedures report from an independent auditor: either its statutory auditor or another independent auditor licensed in the UAE. The report follows ISRS 4400 and covers two findings: customers' reseller status and the import of goods through a Designated Zone. Sampling uses a prescribed 10% margin of error and must include the highest-value transactions. If the report isn't submitted, the conditions are treated as not met and the QFZP's 0% benefit is at risk (Deloitte; Dhruva Consultants).

Unverified The deadline for submitting the report is described in two ways. Deloitte and Dhruva Consultants put it at 30 days after the Corporate Tax return filing deadline. PwC summarizes it as 30 days after the return is filed. On the first reading, a calendar-year 2026 period with a Thu 30 Sep 2027 filing deadline gives Sat 30 Oct 2027 for the report. Check the wording in the decision.

TAXP010: free zones and Designated Zones

The FTA issued TAXP010, Free Zones and Designated Zones for Tax Purposes, on 2 October 2026, and lists it as a General Procedure (FTA guides listing). Jaxa Auditors, NR Doshi and Regfollower summarize it in the same terms. Each Tax has its own test, so a person has to assess its zone status separately for Corporate Tax, VAT and Excise Tax. For Corporate Tax, a Designated Zone must be both a VAT Designated Zone and a Corporate Tax Free Zone, and VAT status alone isn't enough. Designated Zone status doesn't itself give the 0% rate, and distribution qualifies only if carried out in or from a Corporate Tax Designated Zone.

Top-up Tax registration

FTA Decision No. 12 of 2026 was issued on 16 July 2026 and published on 4 August (FTA legislation listing; decision text). It applies to fiscal years starting on or after 1 January 2025. The general rule is to register within 7 months after the end of the entity's first in-scope fiscal year. If that fiscal year ends before 30 April 2026, the application is due on or before 30 November 2026, and KPMG notes that most groups with a 31 December year end fall under that date. Deregistration generally has to be applied for within 6 months of the entity ceasing to exist or leaving scope, with 31 December 2026 as the date for an entity that ceased to exist before 30 June 2026 (Andersen; Deloitte; KPMG). The FTA published Top-up Tax guides TTGREG1 and TTGEIE1 on 26 August 2026.

07Waiver

How Many Businesses Used the Late-Registration Penalty Waiver?

On 14 May 2026 the FTA said the number of beneficiaries had exceeded 68,600 taxable persons, covering 2025 and the elapsed part of 2026, and that it expected more than 91,000 in total (FTA release). More than 22,000 further taxable persons could still apply under the initiative.

68,600+

22,000+

91,000+

Benefited so farFurther eligibleExpected total

Calculated by GenZone The figures don't add up exactly: 68,600 plus 22,000 is 90,600, just under the 91,000 projection, because each is a floor. The 68,600 is about 75.4% of the expected total, and about 9.2% of the 743,000 registrants reported two weeks earlier. That second comparison is rough, since the figures come from different releases and the waiver covers some exempt persons.

How the waiver works

• What it removes. The AED 10,000 penalty for registering late. If it was unpaid, the FTA removes it. If it was paid, the amount is credited to the taxable person's EmaraTax account and can settle other liabilities or be refunded (FTA).
• Who qualifies. Taxable persons, and certain exempt persons required to register, who registered late. The FTA covers people charged the penalty (paid or unpaid) and people who register and file within the period, for their first tax period or financial year only.
• The condition. The return or annual declaration is filed within 7 months of the end of that first period, instead of 9. Payment still follows the 9-month timeline (Deloitte on Public Clarification CTP006).
• No application. The FTA says it is automatic, with no waiver request needed.

Reported Source: FTA release, 14 May 2026; Deloitte, 17 July 2025; Gulf News, 14 May 2026 for the 22,000 and 91,000 figures. Deloitte gives the waiver as effective from 14 April 2025.

Interpretation The number can't tell you how many businesses registered late. It counts those who qualified and benefited. It isn't a count of everyone penalised.

08Gaps

What the FTA Has Not Published

A registrant count is only as useful as the questions it can answer. These are the questions it can't, based on the FTA releases and guides we reviewed as at 23 October 2026. If the FTA has published one of them elsewhere, send it to us and we'll update this table.

Interpretation Source: our review of the FTA material linked in this guide. “Not published” means we didn't find it, not that it doesn't exist.

09Fact-check

Outdated or Incomplete UAE Corporate Tax Claims, Checked

These are claims worth checking before you rely on them. Each was compared with the source linked in the Evidence column.

Interpretation Source: as linked in the Evidence column. The verdict labels (Outdated, Incorrect, Incomplete, Oversimplified) are our own reading of the source against the claim.

10Method

Methodology, Sources and Update Log

Sources and method

We took registrant counts, deadlines, the waiver figures and the 2026 filing notice from the FTA and the Dubai Media Office, rates from the FTA's Corporate Tax guides, qualifying activities from the Ministry of Finance's and FTA's published decisions, Small Business Relief from the Ministry of Finance's decision text, and penalties from the Ministry of Finance's published schedule. Where we rely on an adviser's summary, the text names the adviser. We checked each source we could open on 23 October 2026. Registrant counts are shown by the date reported. Changes between counts, the waiver ratios and the dates marked as illustrations are our arithmetic, and the tables and the downloadable CSV are generated from one data set so a figure is the same wherever it appears.

Scope and limitations

This is a statistical and selected-rules report. It doesn't cover registration deadlines by license date, VAT, Excise Tax, transfer pricing or most of the detail of qualifying activities. Within that scope, these points are still open:

• Unverified We couldn't open the FTA's PDFs for FTA Decision No. 6 of 2026, FTA Decision No. 12 of 2026 and TAXP010, because the FTA site blocks automated access. We describe them from the FTA's listings and from adviser summaries that agree with each other, apart from the Decision No. 6 submission deadline described above.
• The FTA's Free Zone Persons guide that we cite is dated May 2024. One adviser refers to a later FTA guide dated December 2025, which we couldn't find on the FTA's site, so check for newer guidance.
• Cabinet Decision No. 129 of 2025 broadened the wording of the record-keeping violation for VAT and Excise Tax. We haven't confirmed whether it changes how that penalty applies to Corporate Tax.
• We applied Article 49(2) to weekends only. We haven't confirmed how the FTA applies it to a specific filing.

Update policy

We review this guide whenever the FTA reports a new registrant total or changes a rule listed here. If you spot an error or a newer official release, tell the GenZone team through contact us and we'll check it against the source.

Download the Data (CSV)

About the GenZone Research Team. GenZone is a consultancy that helps entrepreneurs establish and expand internationally through Dubai company formation and US LLC formation for non-residents. With a fully dedicated team and white-glove service, we guide founders and investors through every step, from business setup to residency and relocation opportunities. Through our blog posts, we share practical resources to help you navigate global expansion with confidence.

This article summarizes published rules and figures and is not tax, legal or financial advice. Rules, guidance and amounts change, and your position depends on facts this article doesn't know. Confirm any date, rate or amount with the Federal Tax Authority or the Ministry of Finance, and speak to a qualified UAE tax adviser about your own situation.