Corporate Tax Registration of Juridical Persons

2. Overview of the Corporate Tax Registration requirements: –

Persons required to register for Corporate Tax
Taxable Person
Resident juridical person including persons effectively managed and controlled from UAE.	✔
Non-resident juridical person with a Permanent Establishment in the UAE (i.e., UAE branches/permanent establishments of a foreign company)	✔
Natural person deriving income from Businesses or Business Activities exceeding AED 1,000,000 threshold during a Gregorian calendar year.	✔
Non-resident juridical person has a nexus in the UAE arising from earning income from any Immovable Property in the UAE.	✔
Exempt Person
Government Entity	Are not required to register unless they conduct a Business or Business Activity under a Licence issued by a Licensing Authority.
Government Controlled Entity	Are not required to register unless they conduct a Business or Business Activity which is not their Mandated Activity.
Extractive Business	Are not required to register unless they conduct a Business which is within the scope of Corporate Tax.
Non-Extractive Natural Resource	Are not required to register unless they conduct a Business which is within the scope of Corporate Tax.
Qualifying Public Benefit Entity	✔ (registration to be enabled from 1 October 2023 onwards)
Qualifying Investment Fund	✔ (registration to be enabled from 1 June 2024 onwards)
Pension and Social Security Fund	✔ (registration to be enabled from 1 June 2024 onwards)
Juridical Persons wholly Owned and Controlled by certain other Exempt Persons	✔ (registration to be enabled from 1 June 2024 onwards)

3. Persons already registered for VAT and Excise Tax- A Person who is already registered for Value Added Tax (VAT) or Excise Tax will still be required to register for Corporate Tax if they are within the scope of the Corporate Tax regime. Once registered, they will be issued with a separate Tax Registration Number (TRN). The Corporate Tax TRN will be similar to their existing TRN for VAT and / or Excise Tax, but the last digit will be different from their VAT and / or Excise TRN.

4. Persons not registered for VAT and Excise Tax- Taxable Persons who are not subject to VAT or Excise Tax but are within the scope of the Corporate Tax will be required to register for Corporate Tax purposes.

5. Registration of Corporate Tax- An application to register for Corporate Tax can be made on the EmaraTax portal. A Person who wishes to register for Corporate Tax must submit a registration application along with the relevant supporting documentation to the FTA. The FTA will review each application and approve or reject it. Once an application is approved, the FTA will issue the Person with a TRN.

6. Tax Registration application processing time– The FTA shall review the registration application form and respond within 20 business days from the date on which the completed registration application is received. Where additional information has been requested by the FTA, the FTA shall respond to the applicant within 20 business days of receiving the additional information. If the additional information is not submitted within the timeframe specified by the FTA, the application shall be rejected and a new application will need to be submitted.

7. Documentation requirements for Corporate Tax Registration:-

• Copy of Trade Licence / Business Licence details
• Copy of Passport and Emirates Id of the shareholder who directly owns at least 25% of the shares of the juridical or Exempt Person.
• Copy of Passport and Emirates Id of authorised signatory
• Copy of the power of attorney or Memorandum of Association as Proof of authorization of the authorized signatory.

Note: – In addition to the documents outlined above, the FTA can request other information it believes are necessary to approve or reject the application.

8. Obligations on registration– Once a Person has registered for Corporate Tax, they will be subject to a number of administrative Corporate Tax obligations which includes: –

• Filing a Corporate Tax Return and paying any Corporate Tax due within 9 months of the end of their Tax Period.
• Retaining all records and documents for a period of 7 years following the end of relevant Tax Period.
• Informing the FTA of any changes in registration details within 20 business days so as to avoid administrative penalties.

9. Corporate Tax registration for Exempt Income- A Taxable Person that only receives Exempt Income (like dividend from UAE resident company or dividends and other profit distributions received from a Participating Interest in a foreign juridical person) would still be considered as a Taxable Person and is required to register for Corporate Tax and meet its Corporate Tax obligations.

10. Branches of UAE Resident Companies- A UAE branch of a Resident Person shall be treated as one and the same Taxable Person. UAE branch of a domestic juridical person is regarded as an extension of its head office and, therefore, is not considered a separate juridical person. As a result, a branch of a UAE company will not be able to register for Corporate Tax individually. The head office must register for Corporate Tax on behalf of all of the UAE branches. This is also applicable for Free Zone branches of mainland UAE juridical persons and also for mainland branches of Free Zones Person.

11. Resident juridical persons eligible for Small Business Relief (SBR)- Taxable Person electing for SBR must register for Corporate Tax before they can make the election for SBR

12. FTA power to register a Person for Corporate Tax- If the FTA believes that the taxable Person should be registered for Corporate Tax but has failed to do so, the FTA at its discretion and based on information available has the power to register such taxable person for Corporate Tax.

13. Corporate Tax Deregistration– A juridical person must make an application to the FTA to deregister for Corporate Tax in case of dissolution or liquidation of Business or Business Activity. For deregistration, a Taxable Person must meet all of their tax compliance obligations such as filing all of the relevant Tax Returns and paying all Corporate Tax liabilities and administrative penalties due. A juridical person is required to file a Tax deregistration application within 3 months of the date the entity ceases to exist, cessation of the Business, dissolution, liquidation takes place.