PSA for UAE businesses: if your year ended in December, your Corporate Tax return is due 30 Sept

Small Business Relief isn’t automatic. Revenue under AED 3m and you want it, you have to actually elect for it inside the return. Loads of people assume it just applies. It doesn’t. Also worth knowing: if you’re a QFZP you can’t claim it at all, even if your non-qualifying income is tiny. It’s one or the other.

You need real financial statements. Not a bank statement. Not a spreadsheet of invoices you threw together last night. If your books aren’t closed yet, six weeks goes faster than you think.

Late filing and late payment are separate penalties. So even if the cash isn’t there yet, get the return in. Filing on time while you sort the payment keeps your exposure lower than sitting on both.

Anyone on a March or June year end here? Curious whether the timing actually works better for you or if it just moves the panic to a different month.

(Yes, this is a firm account. We’re not pitching anything here, just posting the stuff we answer over and over every September.)