The Gulf Time Newspaper One of the finest business newspapers in the UAE brought to you by our professional writers and editors.
ABU DHABI / WAM
The Federal Tax Authority (FTA) has intensified its awareness efforts to raise awareness of the need for natural persons who are subject to corporate tax to submit their corporate tax registration applications, before the end of March 2025, to avoid violating tax legislation and incurring administrative penalties.
As part of its efforts, the FTA launched a new SMS campaign on mobile phones, in collaboration with the UAE’s two main telecommunications companies — e& and Du—through which a message was sent to members of the UAE community.
FTA announcement reiterated that if a natural person conducts a business or business activity in the UAE during a calendar year, or subsequent years, and its total revenue in that calendar year exceeds AED1 million, that natural person is taxable. In such cases, the eligible taxpayer must register and comply with all corporate tax obligations no later than March 31 of the calendar year following the year in which the AED1 million revenue limit was exceeded.
The FTA clarified that a ‘natural person’ means a living human being of any age, whether resident in the UAE or elsewhere, and a natural person is subject to corporate tax to the extent that he/she carries on a business or business activity in the UAE. This applies whether the individual is a sole proprietorship or one of a group of individual partners in joint ventures, carrying on a business or business activity in the UAE.
Khalid Ali Al Bustani, Director-General of the FTA, said, “The SMS campaign is part of a comprehensive plan that we started implementing several months ago – in collaboration with the departments of economic development and the relevant authorities across the country. These reminders serve to educate, encourage, and assist natural persons who are subject to corporate tax and have not yet registered to do so, within the legal period ending 31st March 2025. In doing so, taxpayers will avoid late registration-related administrative fines.
“As part of the cooperation and coordination between FTA and its strategic partners in the government and private sectors, we aim to increase the level of tax compliance and ensure the successful implementation of tax legislation.”
He added, “The Authority’s awareness campaign hopes to expedite the submission of registration applications and can be seen across traditional media and social media platforms; all designed to communicate and reach the maximum number of stakeholders via the form of communication they use most or feel most comfortable receiving information.”
The Director-General also noted that during the months of January, February and March 2025, more than 405,000 awareness messages were sent to those already registered with the FTA, this includes 197,000 emails and more than 208,000 SMS messages, as well as several press releases across UAE media.
In addition, the FTA’s website and its social media platforms, are continually updating and informing stakeholders of the importance, procedures and facilitations available for Corporate Tax Registration, in the UAE.
The FTA’s announcement further noted that the first potential tax period for a natural person carrying on a business or business activity is for the calendar year 2024. For example, if a natural person conducted any business or business activity in the UAE during the calendar year 2024, and its revenue exceeded AED1 million by the 31st July 2024, the concerned natural person will have to apply for registration for corporate tax purposes no later than the 31st March 2025. Subsequently, they would then have to file a corporate tax return no later than 30th September 2025. If an eligible natural person fails to submit his or her tax registration application within the specified period, an administrative fine of AED10,000 will be imposed.
A VAT or Excise Tax registrant can directly access their account through EmaraTax, which offers digital tax services on a 24/7 basis, and allows registrants to complete the corporate tax registration application and obtain a registration number for corporate tax purposes.
New users can access the EmaraTax platform using the link https://eservices.tax.gov.ae/ and create an account by registering with an email and phone number. Once the user profile has been created, the taxpayer can select the option to register for corporate tax and proceed to complete the registration application. The FTA has also provided the service of submitting applications for registration of the Corporate Tax through several Government Service Delivery Centres (Tas’heel Centres), which are located throughout the UAE.
Additionally, the FTA has made it possible for taxpayers to access the Corporate Tax Law, executive decisions, guidelines, general clarifications, and other relevant awareness publications, including the Guidance Manual on the Registration of Natural Persons (CTGRNP1) for Corporate Tax, on the FTA website.