Short answer: Shutting a Meydan company down means finishing two separate closures — the Meydan licence, and the FTA. On the FTA side: file your Corporate Tax returns (a final return covers the period to cessation); keep filing until the FTA approves your deregistration; apply for Corporate Tax deregistration within 90 days of ceasing business; and, if VAT-registered, apply for VAT deregistration within 20 business days. Late deregistration is AED 1,000 a month, up to AED 10,000. The Meydan cancellation certificate does not close your tax file.
Cancelling a Meydan licence has become genuinely quick — you work through the portal, pay the fee, and submit. What that speed can hide is a second closure running in parallel at the Federal Tax Authority, on its own clock, with its own penalties. It's the closure behind those Corporate Tax reminder emails that keep landing after you've submitted the Meydan cancellation. This is what the FTA still needs from you, and by when.
Two closuresThe Meydan cancellation and the FTA are not the same thing
Start here, because everything else follows from it: the Meydan cancellation does not close your tax file. Submitting the cancellation and paying the fee closes the company at the free zone. It does not file your Corporate Tax returns, and it does not deregister you for Corporate Tax or VAT — those happen with the FTA, as a separate exercise.
The two systems run independently and don't update each other. So while your Meydan application moves toward a cancellation certificate, your FTA registrations stay open and keep expecting returns. That gap is precisely why the reminder emails continue after you've done the Meydan part — the tax obligation hasn't been touched.
CT filingThe Corporate Tax return deadline — and filing until you're deregistered
Corporate Tax returns fall due nine months after the tax period ends. A 31 December 2025 year-end therefore has its return due by 30 September 2026, and on closure you file a final return up to the date the company ceases trading.
The trap sits just past that. You have to keep filing every return that comes due until the FTA approves your deregistration — not merely until you cancel the Meydan licence or lodge the deregistration request.
Corporate Tax deregistration: 90 days from cessation
You must lodge your Corporate Tax deregistration application within three months (90 days) of the company ceasing business or being dissolved. Miss it and the penalty is AED 1,000 per month (or part month), capped at AED 10,000, under Cabinet Decision 75/2023 (as amended).
Applying is the beginning, not the end: the FTA reviews the request, confirms all returns are in and all dues cleared, and only then approves. In other words the application is pre-approved and then confirmed once your record is clean — so lodging early, with nothing outstanding, is what keeps it moving.
VAT deregistrationVAT deregistration: only 20 business days
The VAT deadline is the tight one. A VAT-registered company must apply for VAT deregistration within 20 business days of ceasing to make taxable supplies, and file a final VAT return that includes any deemed supply on assets still held. Late VAT deregistration attracts an administrative penalty of its own.
| Corporate Tax | VAT | |
|---|---|---|
| Deregister within | 3 months (90 days) of cessation | 20 business days of ceasing supplies |
| Final return? | Yes — to cessation date | Yes — incl. deemed supply |
| Keep filing until approved? | Yes | Yes |
| Late penalty | AED 1,000/month, max AED 10,000 | Administrative penalty [VERIFY] |
| Fastlane fee | From AED 399 | AED 499 |
Those two clocks — 90 days and 20 business days — run from cessation, and the VAT one is the one companies most often blow through while their attention is on the Corporate Tax deadline. Figures [VERIFY] and current at August 2026.
A Meydan certificate isn't a clean exit on its own
A company can hold a Meydan cancellation certificate and still owe returns to the FTA — and unfiled returns, unpaid tax and open penalties keep the tax registrations live and tied to the owners. Closed at the free zone but open at the FTA isn't closed. The clean sequence is simple: file everything due → apply to deregister inside the deadlines → keep filing until the FTA confirms → finished, so nothing outlives the Meydan cancellation.
We'll close the FTA side with your Meydan cancellation
Fastlane is an FTA-Registered Tax Agent and Meydan-approved auditor. We file your final Corporate Tax return, keep the returns filed until deregistration is approved, and complete Corporate Tax deregistration (from AED 399) and VAT deregistration (AED 499) — in step with your Meydan liquidation so the tax file closes with the licence. Send your trade licence and TRN to start.
+971 55 127 3479 · info@fastlanecareer.com
Related guides and services
- Corporate tax deregistration — final return and CT deregistration, from AED 399.
- VAT deregistration — final VAT return and deregistration, AED 499.
- How to cancel a Meydan licence online — the free-zone side of the closure.
- Meydan liquidation report — the report Meydan requires to cancel.
CT Deregistration
Final return and CT deregistration — from AED 399.
VAT Deregistration
Final VAT return and deregistration — AED 499.
Meydan Liquidation
The free-zone side of the closure.
Frequently asked questions
Not yet. The Meydan cancellation and your Federal Tax Authority position are two different closures. Paying the Meydan cancellation fee and submitting the application closes the company at the free zone; it does not file your Corporate Tax returns and does not deregister you for Corporate Tax or VAT. Those are handled directly with the FTA. Until they’re done, your registrations remain open — which is why the FTA keeps sending return reminders even after your Meydan application has gone in.
Nine months after the end of your tax period. So a company with a 31 December 2025 year-end has its Corporate Tax return due by 30 September 2026 — and on closure a final return is filed for the period up to the date the business ceases. That filing deadline stands on its own, and missing it triggers late-filing penalties that are separate from the deregistration penalties.
Yes. You must continue filing every return that falls due until the FTA approves your deregistration — submitting a deregistration request, or cancelling the Meydan licence, does not end the obligation. Deregistration is only granted once all returns are filed and all tax and penalties are settled, so a return due before that approval must still be filed. Companies that go quiet after the Meydan cancellation are the ones that later discover penalties on a company they assumed was finished.
Corporate Tax deregistration must be applied for within three months (90 days) of the company ceasing business or being dissolved. Late application means an administrative penalty of AED 1,000 per month (or part), up to a maximum of AED 10,000, under Cabinet Decision 75/2023 (as amended). After you apply, the FTA checks all returns are filed and all dues paid before approving — so the application is the start of the deregistration, confirmed once your record is clean.
Far less time: VAT-registered companies must apply for VAT deregistration within 20 business days of ceasing taxable supplies. A final VAT return is due, including any deemed supply on assets the company still holds. Late VAT deregistration carries an administrative penalty too. The short VAT window is easy to overshoot while you’re focused on the 90-day Corporate Tax deadline. [VERIFY the current VAT late-deregistration penalty with the FTA.]
No — the two run independently. Meydan issues the cancellation certificate to close the company at the free zone, but your Corporate Tax and VAT files are only closed when the FTA approves deregistration. A company can hold a Meydan cancellation certificate and still owe returns to the FTA. So treat the Meydan cancellation and the FTA deregistration as parallel tasks, and finish both.
Yes. As an FTA-Registered Tax Agent we file your final Corporate Tax return, keep the returns filed until deregistration is approved, and complete Corporate Tax deregistration (from AED 399) and VAT deregistration (AED 499) — alongside your Meydan liquidation so the tax file closes with the licence. Send us your Meydan trade licence and TRN.
Fastlane Tax Team
FTA-Registered Tax Agent · Meydan-Approved Auditor · Dubai
This article was prepared by the team at Fastlane Management Consultancy, a Dubai-based FTA-Registered Tax Agent and Meydan-approved auditor. We handle the FTA side of company closures — final Corporate Tax and VAT returns and deregistration — alongside Meydan and other free zone liquidations.