(MENAFN- Mid-East Info) H.E. Khalid Al Bustani: Strong turnout in filing tax returns and settling due liabilities within the legal timeframes reflects the growing tax awareness among business sectors

Abu Dhabi,October 2025: The Federal Tax Authority (FTA) has today issued a statement expressing its gratitude and appreciation to the large number of Corporate Taxpayers who have achieved high compliance rates – exceeding internationally targeted averages – regarding registration with the Authority and within the legal timeframes specified for each category.

With many taxpayers meeting their obligations in filing tax returns and annual declarations and paying due taxes within the prescribed periods, the FTA also noted that processing this large volume of returns reflects the success and efficiency of the legislative and procedural tax system, which aligns with international best practices and provides the latest digital compliance mechanisms, globally.

The statement also revealed that the response received suggests that sufficient information and guidance to enhance tax awareness, assist businesses, and enable them to comply voluntarily with ease and accuracy has been provided – across a number of awareness campaigns, by the Authority.

H.E. Khalid Ali Al Bustani, Director General of the Federal Tax Authority, announced that the number of Corporate Tax registrants has exceeded 640,000. His Excellency noted that this represents a strong response from registrants filing returns and remitting Corporate Tax ahead of the filing and payment deadline. The deadline being the end of September 2025 – for the tax period (financial year) ended 31 December 2024.

His Excellency emphasised that the past period witnessed a notable increase in compliance levels and responsiveness of taxpayers to tax legislation and procedures, driven by greater awareness and the spread of a tax culture. This comes as a result of the FTA's commitment to maintaining constant communication with stakeholders in the tax sector to understand their views and strengthen their contributions to the Authority's sustainable development plans.

His Excellency further highlighted the FTA's efforts to deepen its engagement with the wider community its institutions, individuals, and all strategic partners through continuous meetings held via joint advisory and coordination committees and groups that include representatives from relevant entities and the private sector in the UAE.

His Excellency said:“Statistics show that hundreds of thousands of Corporate Tax returns and annual declarations have been processed from registrants whose tax period or financial year ended on 31 December 2024. This high level of tax compliance has been achieved as a result of the growing tax awareness among business sectors, and due to the ease of steps provided by the Authority for filing returns and settling due taxes through the 'EmaraTax' platform, which delivers round-the-clock digital tax services distinguished by clarity and efficiency.”

“Thousands of requests were received daily during the past period and were processed efficiently. The Call Centre also provided the option of immediate support to taxpayers, during peak times,” he added.

“In line with the UAE leadership's wisdom in implementing directives to maintain a tax legislative environment that encourages voluntary compliance and adapts flexibly to changes, several initiatives were launched to support Corporate Taxpayers and facilitate compliance.

“Among them was the Cabinet Decision on the initiative to exempt Corporate Taxpayers and certain exempted persons required to register with the Authority from administrative penalties resulting from late registration applications, provided that they file their tax return (or annual declaration) within seven months of the end of their first tax period.”

His Excellency concluded:“As part of these facilitations, the FTA issued an official Decision, in September 2024, to extend the deadline for filing and paying Corporate Tax to 31 December 2024 for taxpayers who established, incorporated, or recognised on or after 1 June 2023, whose first tax period ended on or before 29 February 2024. Furthermore, a grace period was granted for registrants who delayed updating their tax records, from 1 January 2024 to 31 March 2025, allowing them to amend their tax records without administrative penalties for failing to notify the FTA of changes.”

His Excellency attributes the increased compliance rate and the success of the tax system in efficiently processing large numbers of returns and payments to the proactive steps and facilitations provided by the FTA.

All procedures related to Corporate Tax can be completed through the EmaraTax platform in just a few simple and clear steps, taking only a matter of minutes. The platform is continuously enhanced to further streamline Corporate Tax registration and the submission of tax returns with greater ease and efficiency particularly after these services witnessed a significant transformation through the implementation of the“Zero Bureaucracy” programme.

This has been applied both to the platform's internal operating mechanisms and to the extensive procedural facilitations that have had a clearly positive impact on the customer experience.

The FTA's team has achieved tangible results in simplifying processes and reducing the effort required from taxpayers when registering, filing returns, and settling Corporate Tax. These improvements have also generated a qualitative economic impact by eliminating burdens on the business sector, thereby supporting companies' strategic growth and enhancing operational efficiency.

His Excellency added that the increase in the rate of voluntary compliance is also attributable to the awareness efforts undertaken by the Authority, which included numerous direct communication campaigns with taxpayers through the Taxpayer Support Centre, Live Tax Connect, the FTA's call centre, and email correspondence, in addition to SMS notifications, media outreach, and social media platforms.

In addition, FTA specialists conducted thousands of phone calls with Corporate Taxpayers to remind them of their tax obligations within the prescribed deadlines, helping them to avoid late-payment penalties.

The FTA has implemented a comprehensive two-year awareness plan, still ongoing in 2025, to raise Corporate Tax awareness across all Emirates. It launched campaigns to provide continuous knowledge support, organising over 154 awareness sessions (in-person and virtual), attended by about 48,000 participants.

In order to further support taxpayers, the FTA's website also offers guides, videos, infographics, and explanatory material on Corporate Tax laws, decisions, and procedures, which are updated periodically to reflect current policy or directives.

About Federal Tax Authority:

The Federal Tax Authority was established by Federal Decree-Law No. 13 of 2016 to help diversify the national economy and increase non-oil revenues in the UAE through the management and collection of federal taxes based on international best practices and standards, as well as to provide all means of support to enable taxpayers to comply with the tax laws and procedures. Since its inception in 2017, the FTA has been committed to cooperate with the competent authorities to establish a comprehensive and balanced system to make the UAE one of the first countries in the world to implement a fully electronic tax system that encourages voluntary compliance, with simple procedures based on the highest standards of transparency and accuracy – beginning from registration, to the submission of tax returns, to the payment of due taxes through the Authority's website:

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