What the FTA confirmed
On 3 August 2026 the UAE Federal Tax Authority (FTA) issued a press release with a clear message for small businesses: eligibility for Small Business Relief (SBR) is not an exemption from reporting — it is a relief that still requires the full compliance workflow. Taxable persons who qualify for SBR must register for corporate tax, file a simplified tax return for each tax period, and keep records that support the accuracy of the information in the return, including their entitlement to the relief.
Who qualifies for SBR
SBR is a regime under which a resident business is treated as having earned no taxable income for corporate tax purposes if its revenue has not exceeded AED 3 million for the relevant tax period and for every previous tax period. The threshold is measured against revenue, not profit. It is not tested only against the current year: once revenue has ever exceeded AED 3 million, SBR is no longer available in subsequent periods — even if revenue in a new year falls back below the threshold. That is exactly why the FTA underlines the need to retain records across all periods, not only the one being filed.
Obligations that survive even with SBR
The FTA release lists them plainly. Even with SBR available, the business must:
- register for corporate tax;
- submit a simplified corporate tax return for each tax period;
- maintain records that back the return and prove SBR eligibility — transactions during the period, acquisitions and disposals of assets, liabilities, and shares or ownership interests held at the end of the period.
The FTA also emphasises separately: SBR does not remove the obligation to file a return. What SBR does simplify is the form itself — the return asks for less information. Filing, meeting the deadline, and having a return on record remain mandatory.
Electing SBR — inside the return, not a separate form
A key procedural point that the FTA states without ambiguity this time: SBR must be actively elected — and the election is made inside the corporate tax return itself. There is no separate window to claim the relief outside the return. If a taxpayer simply “assumes” SBR will apply, the return will end up being filed on a standard basis and tax will be computed at the standard rate. The practical takeaway: before hitting submit on EmaraTax, verify that the SBR election is actually marked and that revenue evidence for the current and previous periods is in the file.
The 30 September 2026 deadline — and where it comes from
The general UAE corporate tax rule is that a return must be filed and any tax paid within 9 months of the end of the tax period (usually the financial year). For a taxpayer whose financial year ended on 31 December 2025 — which is the majority of UAE companies whose fiscal year mirrors the calendar year — the 9-month window closes on 30 September 2026. The same date applies to those planning to apply SBR: the simplified form does not push the deadline.
From today, 16 August 2026, that leaves roughly six weeks. FTA Director General His Excellency Abdulaziz Mohammed Al Mulla, in the accompanying statement, specifically urged taxpayers not to leave document preparation to the last minute: early readiness helps avoid late-filing penalties and other non-compliance sanctions.
Where and how to file
Filing is done via EmaraTax — the FTA’s digital tax services platform, available 24 hours a day, seven days a week. The taxpayer can file directly from the taxpayer portal or engage an FTA-approved tax agent — the list is on the FTA website. Corporate tax registration, return submission and payment all happen within the same platform.
A short checklist to run this week
- Confirm CT registration. If it is not in place, register on EmaraTax; without an active registration, a return cannot be filed.
- Confirm the end of your tax period. For a calendar-year fiscal year 2025, the deadline is 30 September 2026. For a non-standard financial year, count 9 months from year-end.
- Gather revenue figures for the current and every previous tax period. The SBR threshold is not “this year” — it is “ever”. If revenue exceeded AED 3 million in any single period in the past, the relief is not available.
- Prepare the records package — transactions, asset acquisitions and disposals, liabilities, shareholdings and ownership interests at period end. This is the core the FTA can ask for on review.
- Actually elect SBR inside the return. Otherwise the return files on a standard basis and tax is computed at the standard rate. A broader walkthrough of the 9% rate and how it applies is in our guide “UAE corporate tax: 9% above AED 375,000”.
- Do not wait until 29 September. The FTA is explicit about late-submission penalties and other non-compliance sanctions; the best-known is the AED 10,000 penalty for failure to file — see our piece “AED 10,000 UAE corporate tax penalty: how to have it waived through the first return”.
How this fits with the SBR extension to 2029
For context: on 7 August 2026 the UAE Ministry of Finance issued Ministerial Decision No. 131, extending Small Business Relief until 2029 — meaning the regime will continue in subsequent tax periods as well. The current FTA reminder is not about future entitlement — it is about the procedure for the just-closed 2025 year: even if a business is confident it qualifies for SBR, the return must be filed, the relief must be elected in the form, and the records must be kept.
