On December 9, 2022, the UAE published the Corporate Tax (CT) Law, which will be effective from the financial years starting on or after June 1, 2023.
https://mof.gov.ae/wp-content/uploads/2022/12/Federal-Decree-Law-No.-47-of-2022-EN.pdf
https://mof.gov.ae/corporate-tax-faq/
https://mof.gov.ae/corporate-tax-faq-ar/
Corporate Tax is a form of direct tax levied on the net income of corporations and other businesses. Corporate Tax is sometimes also referred to as “Corporate Income Tax” or “Business Profits Tax” in other jurisdictions.
Broadly, Corporate Tax applies to the following “Taxable Persons”:
● UAE companies and other juridical persons that are incorporated or effectively managed and controlled in the UAE;
● Natural persons (individuals) who conduct a Business or Business Activity in the UAE as specified in a Cabinet Decision to be issued in due course; and
● Non-resident juridical persons (foreign legal entities) that have a Permanent Establishment in the UAE (which is explained under Section 8).
Juridical persons established in a UAE Free Zone are also within the scope of Corporate Tax as “Taxable Persons” and will need to comply with the requirements set out in the Corporate Tax Law. However, a Free Zone Person that meets the conditions to be considered a Qualifying Free Zone Person can benefit from a Corporate Tax rate of 0% on their Qualifying Income (the conditions are included in Section 14).
Non-resident persons that do not have a Permanent Establishment in the UAE or that earn UAE sourced income that is not related to their Permanent Establishment may be subject to Withholding Tax (at the rate of 0%). Withholding tax is a form of Corporate Tax collected at source by the payer on behalf of the recipient of the income. Withholding taxes exist in many tax systems and typically apply to the cross-border payment of dividends, interest, royalties and other types of income.
During this month, FTA will also be running a series of online orientation sessions for EmaraTax users. There will be two sessions per day:
• 10 – 11 am providing you an opportunity to raise specific questions about using EmaraTax;
• 3 – 4 pm focusing on specific aspects of EmaraTax, in particular password reset, returns submission and payments.
This You Tube recording has already been released and will soon also be available in Arabic.
