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Straight answers

Questions UAE SMEs
actually ask.

The questions that open most first conversations, answered the way we answer them on calls. Where the honest answer is that it depends on your facts, we say so.

What is the UAE corporate tax rate?

0% on taxable income up to AED 375,000 and 9% above it. Qualifying free zone persons can keep 0% on qualifying income, subject to strict conditions.

Does my free zone company really pay 0% corporate tax?

Only while it remains a Qualifying Free Zone Person: adequate substance in the zone, income within the qualifying categories, non qualifying revenue inside the de minimis limit (the lower of AED 5m or 5% of revenue), audited accounts and transfer pricing compliance. Significant mainland revenue is the most common disqualifier.

When is my corporate tax return due?

Nine months after your financial year end. A 31 December year end files by 30 September of the following year, through EmaraTax.

What is Small Business Relief and do I qualify?

An election treating businesses with revenue up to AED 3 million as having no taxable income for the period. You still register and file, and you make the election inside each return. Ministerial Decision 131 of 2026 extended it to tax periods ending on or before 31 December 2029. It is not available to Qualifying Free Zone Persons, so if you hold QFZP status the two are mutually exclusive.

When must I register for VAT?

When taxable supplies pass AED 375,000 over any rolling 12 months, or are expected to in the next 30 days. Voluntary registration opens at AED 187,500.

What are the UAE e-invoicing deadlines?

Businesses with revenue of AED 50m and above appoint an accredited provider by 30 October 2026 and go live 1 January 2027. Below AED 50m: appoint by 31 March 2027, live 1 July 2027. Government entities: 31 March 2027 and 1 October 2027.

What does e-invoicing actually require from my systems?

Structured invoice data in the PINT AE format exchanged through an accredited provider: correct customer TRNs, UAE emirate codes, a transaction type flag most accounting packages do not store, and an AED amount on every line whatever the invoice currency. The provider is the easy part; the data cleanup is the project.

Do I need an audit?

Most free zones require audited financial statements at licence renewal, and corporate tax requires them above AED 50m revenue and for qualifying free zone persons. We prepare companies for audit; the audit itself must be performed by a firm registered in the Ministry of Economy register of practising auditors, which we are not.

Can you file my tax returns?

We prepare VAT and corporate tax returns and file them using your own EmaraTax credentials, with your review. We are not an FTA registered Tax Agent and do not represent clients before the FTA.

What does a fractional CFO actually do?

The work a full time CFO would do: forecasting, cash strategy, pricing, board reporting, bank conversations. Delivered a few days a month by senior people, at a fraction of the AED 45 to 70k monthly cost of the hire.

We already have an accountant. Where do you fit?

Usually above or beside them. Bookkeepers record; we build the reporting, forecasting and automation layer on top, or act as the senior review your bookkeeper does not have. We are equally happy handing a cleaned up function back to an in house team.

Which accounting systems do you work with?

Zoho Books, QuickBooks Online, Xero and Odoo daily; Oracle and SAP data on the engineering side; Power BI and Looker Studio on top. We build in your stack, on your licences, and everything we build stays yours.

How do we start?

A Strategy Meeting: you pick a day, we call you on it. Twenty minutes on your close, reporting, cash visibility and deadlines, and you leave with two or three concrete actions whether or not we ever work together.

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Finamatik · Sharjah Publishing City Free Zone

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