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Year-End Corporate Tax & Transfer Pricing Essentials

Year-End Corporate Tax & Transfer Pricing Essentials

With UAE Corporate Tax and Transfer Pricing now fully operational and businesses entering the second year of implementation, year-end reviews should be approached through a structured checklist to ensure no registrations, elections, reliefs, or documentation requirements are missed.
December 31, 2025
Federal Decree-Laws No. 16 and No. 17 of 2025

Federal Decree-Laws No. 16 and No. 17 of 2025

Key Amendments to the UAE VAT, Excise Tax, and Tax Procedures Law The UAE Ministry of Finance has announced substantial updates to the VAT Law, Excise Tax Law, and the Tax Procedures Law through Federal Decree-Law No. 16 and No. 17 of 2025. These amendments reshape compliance obligations, refund entitlement periods, audit powers, and procedural requirements for all taxpayers. A key feature of the new framework…
December 6, 2025
FTA Decision No.7 of 2025

FTA Decision No.7 of 2025

FTA Decision No.7 of 2025 Requirements for Preparing and Maintaining Audited Special Purpose Financial Statements for a Tax Group The UAE Ministry of Finance, under Ministerial Decision No. 84 of 2025, now requires all Tax Groups to prepare audited special-purpose aggregated financial statements for Corporate Tax purposes. The Federal Tax Authority (FTA) has released detailed guidance on how these statements must be prepared and…
August 12, 2025
Ministerial Decision No. 173 of 2025: Depreciation Adjustments for Investment Properties Held at Fair Value

Ministerial Decision No. 173 of 2025: Depreciation Adjustments for Investment Properties Held at Fair Value

The UAE Ministry of Finance has issued Ministerial Decision No. 173 of 2025, introducing a mechanism for taxpayers to claim notional tax depreciation on Investment Properties measured at fair value, even though no accounting depreciation is recorded in the books. Key Highlights Who can benefit? Taxable persons preparing accrual-based financial statements and electing to recognise gains and losses on a realisation basis under the UAE…
August 4, 2025
Adoption of OECD Commentary and Guidance Documents for UAE DMTT

Adoption of OECD Commentary and Guidance Documents for UAE DMTT

On 28 March 2025, the UAE Ministry of Finance issued Ministerial Decision No. 88 of 2025 (the “Decision”) to formally adopt the following Commentary and Agreed Administrative Guidance for the purposes of Cabinet Decision No. 142 of 2024 on the Imposition of Top-Up Tax on Multinational Enterprises (MNEs). This aligns the UAE’s Domestic Minimum Top-up Tax (‘DMTT’) framework with the OECD’s Model Rules, effective for financial years…
May 7, 2025
UAE VAT Year-End Compliance: Key Actions, Updates, and Best Practices for Businesses

UAE VAT Year-End Compliance: Key Actions, Updates, and Best Practices for Businesses

The end of the fiscal year in the UAE marks a critical period for businesses to ensure VAT compliance and mitigate risks associated with tax reporting and error correction. As VAT regulations evolve, companies must not only focus on the routine tasks of input tax adjustments, reconciliations, and filing but also stay up to date on key legislative changes that may impact…
January 13, 2025
Materiality Thresholds for Related Party Transaction Disclosure

Materiality Thresholds for Related Party Transaction Disclosure

The Federal Tax Authority (FTA) issued a Corporate Tax Guide on Tax Returns, providing key Transfer Pricing guidance, particularly for the disclosure requirements of high-value transactions with related parties and connected persons in the Related Party and Connected Persons Schedules of the tax return (also known as the TP Disclosure Form). Discover more in this report.
November 22, 2024
Grace period to update and rectify tax records

Grace period to update and rectify tax records

The Federal Tax Authority (FTA) has introduced a grace period for UAE tax registrants to update their tax records without facing administrative penalties. This is a significant relief measure aimed at encouraging compliance and ensuring the accuracy of tax records. Grace Period Window Registrants can amend their tax records with the FTA between 1 January 2024 and 31 March 2025 without incurring any administrative…
November 8, 2024
Economic Substance Regulations (ESR) Update

Economic Substance Regulations (ESR) Update

The ESR Regulations is now only applicable till December 31, 2022, vide Cabinet Resolution No. (98) of 2024. All administrative penalties levied from on or after January 01, 2023, will be refunded. This decision was widely anticipated considering the requirement to maintain adequate substance in a free zone/designated zone, as applicable, for free zone entities/branches considering to avail the beneficial 0% corporate tax rate…
October 16, 2024
FTA Now Accepting Corporate Tax Clarifications on EmaraTax

FTA Now Accepting Corporate Tax Clarifications on EmaraTax

The Federal Tax Authority’s (FTA) EmaraTax Portal has recently expanded its services to include the filing of private clarifications on all corporate tax matters. Earlier, the FTA was only accepting private clarification requests that were in relation to Corporate Tax registrations and the portal specifically mentioned that the clarification filed for any other corporate tax matter would not be addressed.…
September 12, 2024
Bahrain Introduces 15% Minimum Tax on Multinational Enterprises (MNEs)

Bahrain Introduces 15% Minimum Tax on Multinational Enterprises (MNEs)

The Kingdom of Bahrain has recently introduced a minimum tax of 15% on Multinational Enterprises (MNEs). The legislation passed incorporates many terms and definitions from the OECD’s model rules on Pillar 2. MNEs with revenues of or exceeding EUR 750 million in their consolidated financial statements for at least two out of the four preceding years will be required to pay the 15% minimum…
September 2, 2024
Corporate Tax Update: Public Clarification on the First Tax Period of a Juridical Person

Corporate Tax Update: Public Clarification on the First Tax Period of a Juridical Person

The Federal Tax Authority (FTA) has recently issued a Corporate Tax (CT) Public Clarification on the First Tax Period of a juridical person. This clarification intends to clarify the First Tax Period (FTP) under Federal Decree Law No. 47 of 2022 on Taxation of Corporations and Business (‘UAE CT Law’) for the below categories of Taxable Persons (along with illustrative examples). Juridical…
August 13, 2024
Corporate Tax Alert: Public Clarification on the Definition of Related Parties

Corporate Tax Alert: Public Clarification on the Definition of Related Parties

The Federal Tax Authority (FTA) has recently issued a Public Clarification on the definition of ‘Related Parties’ where there is common ownership and/or control through a government entity. This clarification aims to provide a clear understanding as to what constitutes related parties, particularly in structures involving government ownership and control. It clarifies that the common ownership and/or control by the UAE federal…
July 24, 2024
Corporate Tax Update: Advance Pricing Agreement in the UAE

Corporate Tax Update: Advance Pricing Agreement in the UAE

The Federal Tax Authority has recently issued Decision No. 4 of 2024, dated June 12, 2024, and effective from July 1, 2024, specifying that the start date for receiving applications for advance pricing agreements and procedures related to the submission of applications and the issuance of agreements will be announced in the fourth quarter of 2024. What is an Advance…
July 22, 2024
Corporate Tax Update: Timelines for CT Registration

Corporate Tax Update: Timelines for CT Registration

Corporate Tax Alert: Public Clarification on Timelines for CT Registration10/06/2024 The Federal Tax Authority (FTA) has recently issued a Corporate Tax (CT) Public Clarification on corporate tax registration timelines that were earlier prescribed vide FTA Decision No. 3 of 2024 (“FTA Decision on timelines for CT registration”). This clarification intends to clarify the CT registration application timeline and provides illustrative…
June 10, 2024
Corporate Tax Alert: Timelines for registration

Corporate Tax Alert: Timelines for registration

The Federal Tax Authority (FTA) has recently issued a Decision which prescribes the timelines for various taxpayers for submission of registration application. The timelines prescribed are not for obtaining registration but for submission of registration applications. This Decision is effective from 1 March 2024 onwards. Failure to adhere to the prescribed timelines may warrant administrative penalties of AED 10,0002 The…
April 17, 2024
UAE MoF releases public consultation on Global Minimum Tax rules

UAE MoF releases public consultation on Global Minimum Tax rules

The UAE Ministry of Finance (MoF) has recently issued a digital public consultation paper on the implementation of Global Minimum Tax (GMT)/ Global Anti-Base Erosion (GloBE) rules in the UAE. Consultation Paper constitutes of the consultation questionnaire and guidance paper. The consultation paper is open for public comments till 10 April 2024. UAE Ministry of Finance is particularly keen to…
March 20, 2024
UAE signs tax treaties with Bahrain and Kuwait

UAE signs tax treaties with Bahrain and Kuwait

It has recently been announced by the Ministry of Finance that the United Arab Emirates (UAE) has signed double taxation avoidance agreements (DTAAs) with Kingdom of Bahrain and with the state of Kuwait. The UAE has signed a second agreement with Bahrain on boosting and protecting investments.
February 16, 2024
OECD considers UAE Free Zones to be “Not Harmful”

OECD considers UAE Free Zones to be “Not Harmful”

In brief Pursuant to the meeting of Forum on Harmful Tax Practices (FHTP) in October 2023, the new conclusions has been recently released by OECD wherein “Fee Zones” within the United Arab Emirates (UAE) have now been categorized as “Not Harmful” as a tax practice. Furthermore, the FHTP have not identified any issues in relation to effectiveness in practice of…
February 16, 2024
Emara Tax Portal now open to receive applications to form a Corporate Tax Group

Emara Tax Portal now open to receive applications to form a Corporate Tax Group

Emara Tax Portal now open to receive applications to form a Corporate Tax Group Recently, the Federal Tax Authority (FTA) has enabled the option in the Emara Tax Portal which allows the Eligible Persons to file an application for forming a corporate tax group under Article 40 of the Federal Decree Law No 47 of 2022 on the Taxation of…
February 15, 2024