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Plenty of UAE businesses sit down to file Corporate Tax and hit the same wall: the return asks for figures — revenue, expenses, profit, assets — that only a proper set of financial statements can give. You can't reliably compute taxable income from a bank statement or a rough ledger. The financials come first; the tax return is built on top of them.
And those statements need to be on a recognised basis — IFRS (or IFRS for SMEs where applicable) — not an informal summary. Getting that right is the real first step of Corporate Tax filing.
The order of things
Financial statements first, tax return second
The sequence is fixed, and it matters:
- Prepare (or finalise) IFRS financial statements A proper income statement and balance sheet for the period, on an IFRS basis.
- Review and approve You review the draft financials and confirm they reflect the business.
- File the Corporate Tax return The return is prepared directly from the approved figures, so everything reconciles.
Skip the first step and the return has no reliable foundation — which is exactly where errors, mismatches, and FTA questions come from.
Your Corporate Tax return is only as sound as the financial statements behind it. Build the statements properly, and the filing follows cleanly.
Why IFRS
Why it has to be a proper IFRS basis
UAE Corporate Tax determines taxable income starting from accounting income prepared under acceptable accounting standards — in practice, IFRS, or IFRS for SMEs for smaller companies. That's why an informal profit-and-loss in a spreadsheet isn't enough: the figures need to be recognised, classified, and presented the way the standard requires, so they hold up if anyone reviews them.
Prepare or review — same outcome
If you have no accounts yet, we prepare the IFRS financial statements from your records. If a previous provider already gave you a draft, we review it, cross-check it, and finalise it. Either way you end up with a clean, IFRS-basis set ready for the tax return — and for a small company the fee is the same.
What we need from you
The documents that make it possible
To prepare or finalise your financials and file Corporate Tax, we typically need:
- Trade licence — confirming the entity, activity and period
- Memorandum of Association (MOA) — ownership and structure
- Accounting records / ledger — your bookkeeping or the spreadsheet behind the accounts
- Bank statements — to verify transactions against the records
- Sales and purchase invoices — supporting the entries
- Any existing draft financial statements — if a previous provider prepared them
Having these ready upfront is the single biggest factor in how quickly we can turn the financials around — gaps here are the usual cause of delay.
⚠️ "I have no transactions" doesn't remove the requirement
Even a low-activity or dormant company needs financial statements and a Corporate Tax return. A handful of transactions a year still has to be reflected in a proper set of accounts before the return can be filed.
The fee
What it costs
For a small company — modest transaction volume with records available — preparing or reviewing the IFRS financial statements and filing the Corporate Tax return starts from AED 1,500 + VAT. Where a free zone requires the financials to be uploaded on its portal, we can handle that submission too — at no additional cost, though we'll need access to the relevant portal.
✅ One scope, one outcome
Records reviewed, adjustments made where needed, IFRS financial statements finalised, and the Corporate Tax return filed from the same numbers — so your accounts and your return tell exactly the same story.
IFRS
Basis the return is built on
1st
Financials, then the CT return
AED 1,500
+ VAT, small company
Even nil
Dormant still needs both
Get your financials ready and your Corporate Tax filed
Send us your records — or your draft accounts — and we'll prepare or finalise your IFRS financial statements and file your Corporate Tax return from the same figures.
The services involved
IFRS · Prepare / Review
Accounting & Financial Statements
IFRS financial statements prepared from your records, or an inherited draft reviewed and finalised — ready for filing.
Learn more →
Annual return
Corporate Tax Filing
Your Corporate Tax return prepared from the finalised financial statements and filed on time with the FTA.
Learn more →
FAQ
Frequently asked questions
Do I need financial statements to file Corporate Tax?
Yes. The Corporate Tax return is computed from your accounting income, so you need a proper set of financial statements — on an IFRS basis — before you can file. A bank statement or informal spreadsheet isn't sufficient.
Why do the statements have to be on an IFRS basis?
UAE Corporate Tax starts from accounting income prepared under acceptable standards — IFRS, or IFRS for SMEs for smaller companies. Preparing them properly means the figures are recognised, classified and presented correctly, so they hold up to review.
What documents do you need from me?
Typically your trade licence, Memorandum of Association (MOA), accounting records/ledger, bank statements, and sales and purchase invoices — plus any existing draft financial statements if a previous provider prepared them.
I already have draft accounts. Do you still charge the same?
For a small company, yes — whether we prepare the statements from scratch or review and finalise an existing draft, the work to get to a clean IFRS set plus the CT return starts from AED 1,500 + VAT.
My company is dormant. Do I still need this?
Yes. Even a dormant or very low-activity company needs financial statements and a Corporate Tax return. The return still has to be filed, built on a proper set of accounts.
Can you submit the financials on my free zone portal?
Yes — where the financials need uploading on a free zone portal, we can complete the submission at no extra cost. We'll need access to the relevant portal to do so.
This article is for general information only and does not constitute tax or accounting advice. Requirements depend on your specific entity and records, and fees are indicative. For a tailored quote, contact Fastlane Consultancy.