Business Tips

FTA Corporate Tax Penalty Waiver: What UAE SMEs Need to Know (2025 Update)

The FTA now offers penalty waivers for late UAE corporate tax registration. See who qualifies and how Qashio keeps SMEs compliant with organised, audit-ready expenses.

Written by

Aman Ahmad

Published

December 8, 2025

Length

mins read

Table of Contents

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The FTA has introduced a penalty waiver for late corporate tax registration.
That means many UAE businesses now have a second chance to avoid fines as long as they act fast.

This guide explains:

What the FTA waiver means
Who qualifies (5 simple examples)
How Qashio helps you stay compliant and organised

What is the Corporate Tax Penalty Waiver?

If your business was late registering for corporate tax, you may have received a penalty.
This waiver lets you remove or refund those penalties if you file on time from now on.

Who needs to act?

Type of business	What must be submitted	Deadline
Taxable entity	Corporate Tax Return	Within 7 months after the end of the first tax period
Exempt entity	Annual Declaration	Within 7 months after the end of the first tax period

Everything must be submitted through EmaraTax.

Even if you’re not registered yet, you can still benefit.
Just register + submit your documents within the deadline.

5 Scenarios Where Penalties Are Waived or Refunded

Scenario	What happened	What to do now	Outcome
Scenario 1	Registered late and a penalty was issued but not paid	Submit the required return or declaration within 7 months	Penalty waived
Scenario 2	Registered late and a penalty was issued but the return is still pending	Submit the required return or declaration within 7 months	Penalty waived
Scenario 3	Registered late and the penalty has already been paid	Submit the required return or declaration within 7 months	Penalty refunded to the tax account
Scenario 4	Registered late, penalty paid, and the return submitted on time	No further action needed	Penalty refunded automatically
Scenario 5	No corporate tax registration completed yet	Register and submit the required return or declaration within 7 months	Penalty waived

‍

Businesses that take action now avoid unnecessary fines

Why SMEs are Missing Tax Deadlines

Typical financial problems for SMEs:

One company card leads to OTP delays and lost visibility
Petty cash goes untracked
Receipts get lost
Expense reports pile up at month-end
Too much manual work for the finance team

When finance is slow, compliance is risky.

How Qashio Keeps You Ready for Every Deadline

Qashio helps you stay compliant without the chaos.

Create unlimited corporate cards in 15 seconds
Set spend limits so no one buys personal items
Collect receipts on WhatsApp, no chasing
See every expense in real time
Download tax-ready reports instantly
Integrate with Xero, Zoho, SAP, NetSuite & more

With Qashio:

Finance teams save time
Books close faster
You always know what’s going on

Qashio gives you control, visibility, and compliance in one platform.

This FTA waiver is a big win.
Missing deadlines used to mean guaranteed penalties.
Now, SMEs have a chance to fix it.

But you need the right systems in place, before the next deadline hits.

Get Qashio. Stay compliant and remove the stress from tax season.

Take control of your spending today.
Start using Qashio and stay ready for every deadline.

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