FTA Penalty Waiver & Installment Requests UAE (2026): Rules and Conditions
Businesses can apply to the Federal Tax Authority to pay administrative penalties in installments, or to have penalties waived or refunded, under Cabinet Decision No. 105 of 2021, in force since 1 March 2022. Installment requests apply to unsettled penalties of at least AED 50,000, require the related tax to be fully paid, and are unavailable where the penalty is already under dispute at the TDRC or the courts. Waivers are granted only in defined circumstances supported by evidence.
Installments: the four conditions
- The request concerns unsettled administrative penalties
- The penalties total at least AED 50,000
- The tax relating to those penalties has been paid in full
- The penalties are not subject to dispute before the Tax Disputes Resolution Committee, the courts, or another objection body — with the reconsideration mechanism treated separately TDRC objections →
Only one application may be made for the same penalties, so the submission has to be right the first time.
Waivers: when penalties can be cancelled or refunded
Cabinet Decision No. 105 of 2021 sets out defined cases, evidenced, including circumstances such as: the death or serious illness of the business owner or the authorised signatory; restrictions or preventive measures imposed by government bodies that prevented settlement; failures in the FTA's own payment or communication systems; restriction of liberty of the owner or signatory; proof that tax dues were paid through another registrant's account; and insolvency or bankruptcy where tax dues were settled beforehand and the insolvency is not connected to tax evasion.
The common thread is an evidenced circumstance outside ordinary business control. General financial difficulty or oversight is not, by itself, a waiver ground.
Timelines
The FTA reviews the application and refers complete applications to the competent committee within around 40 working days of receipt. The committee then issues its decision within a further period of approximately 20 working days, with roughly 10 working days to communicate the outcome. In practice, plan for a decision within about two to three months.
Waiver versus dispute: choosing the right route
These are different instruments and the choice matters:
| Your position | Route | Deadline |
|---|---|---|
| The penalty is wrong | Reconsideration request /tax/guides/fta-reconsideration-request-uae → | 40 business days from notification |
| The penalty is correct but the circumstances were exceptional | Waiver application | Per Cabinet Decision No. 105 of 2021 |
| The penalty is correct and payable but large | Installment request | Penalties ≥ AED 50,000, tax paid |
| Late corporate tax registration specifically | File first return within 7 months of first period end | Automatic waiver |
The last row is the one most businesses should check first — it requires no application at all late registration penalty waiver →.
What a complete application includes
Taxpayer and TRN details, the penalty amounts and references, the specific ground relied on, and documentary evidence supporting that ground — medical records, official notices, system failure evidence, insolvency documentation, or proof of payment, depending on the case. Applications that assert a ground without evidencing it are the most common failure.
We assess which route your penalty actually qualifies for, then prepare the submission penalty advisory →.
We prepare penalty disputes from AED 499.
Fixed fees, every return reviewed by a qualified tax advisor, filed on EmaraTax before your deadline.