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UAE Corporate Tax Audit Services That Hold Up Under FTA Review

Filed your return and unsure it would survive a closer look? Our corporate tax consultants in Dubai review the numbers, the workings and the evidence sitting behind them, then stand with you if the Federal Tax Authority starts asking questions.

Corporate Tax Audit in the UAE: What It Covers and Who Needs It

Tests whether your corporate tax return agrees with your accounting records.

Checks the adjustments, exemptions and reliefs claimed on the return.

Confirms free zone qualifying income conditions are properly evidenced.

Reviews related party dealings and the pricing support behind them.

Builds your response file before the Authority requests one.

Gives finance teams a documented position instead of an assumption.

Return-to-Ledger Verification

We trace each figure on your corporate tax return back to the trial balance, source documents and working papers that produced it.

Tax Position Testing

Every adjustment, exemption and relief claimed is examined against the Corporate Tax Law and the evidence currently held on your file.

Free Zone Status Review

Qualifying free zone claims get close attention, since activity type, de minimis limits and substance decide whether the zero rate applies.

FTA Audit Representation

When the Authority opens a review, we assemble records, draft responses and deal with the technical questions on your behalf.

Why Reviewing Your Own Tax File Beats Waiting for a Notice

Mistakes Cost Less When You Find Them First

Correcting a misclassified expense or a wrongly claimed relief is a straightforward exercise. Correcting it after the FTA has raised an assessment is not. The gap between those two situations is usually money.

A Clear View Before You Disclose Anything

A voluntary disclosure only helps if you know exactly what you're disclosing. Our review sizes the issue first, so the decision to correct becomes an informed one rather than a reflex.

Evidence Behind Every Free Zone Claim

Zero-rated qualifying income rests on conditions that must be demonstrated, not assumed. We check that your activity records, substance and revenue analysis genuinely support the position taken on the return.

Intra-Group Dealings That Survive Questions

Loans, management fees and cost recharges between connected companies attract attention quickly. Testing both the pricing and the paperwork keeps those arrangements defensible when the Authority eventually asks about them.

Numbers Your Bank and Investors Can Trust

Lenders, buyers and shareholders now ask how tax positions were reached. A reviewed file answers with working papers instead of assurances, which shortens due diligence and removes an awkward negotiating point.

A Faster, Calmer Response When Asked

Response windows in a tax audit are short. Businesses holding reconciled records and documented reasoning reply within days, rather than searching through years of files under real pressure.

What Our Corporate Tax Audit Service Actually Delivers

We don’t simply re-read your return. The work goes underneath it into the ledger, the reconciliations, the contracts and the reasoning that led to each number. You receive a written assessment of where the position is strong, where it’s thin, and precisely what to fix first.

Corporate Tax Return Review

We re-perform the computation behind your filed return, checking accounting profit, exempt income, disallowed items and loss utilisation against the law and the schedules you currently hold.

Books and Records Assessment

Every figure needs a source. We test whether your ledgers, reconciliations and retained documents can actually produce the evidence the Authority is entitled to request at short notice.

Related Party and Pricing Review

Connected person transactions are examined against the arm’s length principle, along with a practical view of what documentation your size and structure realistically require you to hold.

Free Zone Qualifying Income Analysis

For free zone entities, we work through qualifying and excluded activities, de minimis calculations and substance evidence to confirm whether the zero rate genuinely applies to your income.

Financial Statement and Tax Alignment

Where audited financial statements are required for corporate tax purposes, we confirm the statements, the return and the tax computation all tell one consistent, reconcilable story.

Live Audit Support and Corrections

If a query or audit is already open, we prepare the response file, manage information requests, and advise on voluntary disclosure where correction is the sensible route.

Have Questions?

Our Auditors are Here to Help You

We would love to hear your thoughts. Kindly reach out to us by filling the form and we shall get back to you. Get accurate accounting support contact us now.

The Value That Shows Up Long After the Report Is Signed

A tax review pays for itself twice. The first return comes from problems caught early. The second, quieter return comes from what you’re left holding afterwards a documented file, a repeatable method, and a finance function that can answer tax questions without a three-week scramble.

A Documented Trail You Can Reuse

The working papers produced during the review don’t expire with the report. They become the template for next year’s computation, the starting point for any FTA correspondence, and the evidence pack your auditors, bankers and prospective investors ask for. Most clients find the second-year review takes noticeably less time and effort.

Better Decisions Before the Year Closes

Once you understand which items drive your taxable profit, planning stops being guesswork. Group charges, financing structures, asset purchases and free zone activity mix can all be reviewed while there’s still time to act rather than discovered nine months later when the return is being prepared under deadline pressure.

From First Conversation to Final Corporate Tax Audit Report

The process is deliberately structured so you always know the stage we’re at, what’s needed from you, and what comes next. Most delays in tax reviews are caused by unclear document requests so we scope precisely and ask once.

Scoping Discussion

We establish your structure, tax periods, free zone status and known concerns, then agree exactly which years and issues the review will cover.

Records and Data Request

You receive a single, specific document list. We collect ledgers, returns, computations, agreements and statements, and confirm what's missing before starting work.

Testing and Analysis

Positions are tested against the Corporate Tax Law and supporting evidence. Findings are ranked by exposure so you know what needs attention first.

Report and Corrective Action

You receive written findings with practical recommendations. Where corrections are required, we help implement them and support any resulting FTA communication.

The Records That Decide How a Corporate Tax Audit Ends

Tax audits are won or lost on documentation. Companies rarely fail because their reasoning was wrong they fail because they can’t produce the paperwork that proves it. Corporate tax records generally need to be retained for seven years, and the Authority can ask for any of them.

What Working With RBS Auditors on Your Tax File Feels Like

Tax reviews go wrong when the reviewer disappears into the file and returns with a list of problems and no direction. We work the other way: regular contact, clear reasoning at each stage, and recommendations you can hand to your finance team and act on immediately.

Senior People on Your File

The person reviewing your tax positions is the person you speak to. Questions get answered directly, without being passed down a chain first.

Reasoning You Can Read

Every conclusion comes with the provision it rests on and the evidence we relied upon, written in language your board will follow.

Representation When It Matters

Where formal dealings with the Federal Tax Authority are needed, we prepare the file and handle correspondence so your team isn't left guessing.

Support That Doesn't Stop

Questions surface weeks after a report is delivered. We stay reachable through the next filing cycle rather than closing the matter at handover.

FAQs

UAE Corporate Tax Audit Frequently Asked Questions

Is a corporate tax audit the same as our annual statutory audit?

No. A statutory audit gives an opinion on whether financial statements present fairly under IFRS. A corporate tax audit examines the tax position the computation, adjustments, reliefs and the evidence supporting them. A clean audit opinion doesn’t mean your tax return is correct, because the two exercises test entirely different things.

Does the FTA audit every registered company?

No. Selection is risk-based, drawing on filing patterns, inconsistencies between returns, industry profile, refund claims and third-party data. A business may go years without contact, then receive a notice. Since selection isn’t announced in advance, readiness is the only practical protection available.

How many past years can the Authority review?

As a general rule, the Federal Tax Authority may audit or assess within five years from the end of the relevant tax period. That window extends in defined situations where an audit has already been notified, and considerably further in cases involving tax evasion or failure to register. Retention obligations are set accordingly.

How long does your review take to complete?

It depends on group size, number of tax periods and the condition of your records. A single-entity review with organised books moves quickly. Multi-entity groups, several open years or incomplete records take longer. We give you an estimated timeline after scoping, and flag immediately if collected documents change it.

What if the review finds an error in a return we already filed?

We quantify the exposure first, then explain your options. Where correction is appropriate, a voluntary disclosure is usually the route and self-correcting generally puts you in a better position than waiting for the Authority to identify the same issue. We prepare the submission and supporting explanation.

We're a free zone company paying 0%. Is this still relevant?

Very much so. Qualifying Free Zone Person status isn’t automatic it depends on activity type, de minimis limits, substance and other conditions being met and evidenced each year. Losing that status affects the whole tax period, not just the offending income. Testing it annually is prudent, not excessive.

How is the fee for a corporate tax audit determined?

Pricing reflects the number of entities and tax periods involved, transaction volume, and how much preparatory work your records need. There’s no standard figure, and quoting one before seeing your structure would be guesswork. We review your position in an initial consultation and confirm scope and fee in writing beforehand.

Can you work alongside our existing accountant or auditor?

Yes, and it’s common. Your accountant handles day-to-day records; your auditor gives an opinion on the financials. We review the tax position independently of both. That separation is useful a second set of eyes tends to notice what familiarity has stopped flagging.

Our profit is below the taxable threshold. Do we need to do anything?

Filing obligations apply regardless of profit level. The 0% band on taxable income up to AED 375,000 affects what you pay, not whether you file or maintain records. Businesses below the threshold still submit returns within nine months of their tax period ending, and still need records that support the figures reported.

Do we need audited financial statements for corporate tax purposes?

Some businesses do. Under current rules, taxable persons with revenue above AED 50 million, along with Qualifying Free Zone Persons, are required to prepare and maintain audited financial statements, with separate requirements applying to tax groups. Because these rules have been revised, we confirm your specific position at the scoping stage.

Have Questions?

Our Auditors are Here to Help You

We would love to hear your thoughts. Kindly reach out to us by filling the form and we shall get back to you. Get accurate accounting support contact us now.