On this page
- How we can help
- A clear route from accounts to the tax return
- What the engagement can cover
- Records to prepare
- Plan the tax work around a reliable accounting close
- Make tax adjustments traceable to individual items
- Assess reliefs and elections before committing to a position
- Give management a return pack it can approve and retain
- A practical way forward
- Frequently asked questions
- Related guides and services
- Official sources & further reading
How we can help
- Confirm the legal person and Tax Period before estimating liability.
- Reconcile accounting profit to taxable income instead of applying a flat percentage to sales.
- Consider reliefs and related-party dealings before approving the return.
A clear route from accounts to the tax return
Corporate Tax work starts with the legal person, the financial year and the applicable tax regime. Taxable income is established from accounting profit or loss with the adjustments required by law; applying a percentage to revenue is not a reliable computation.
Saif Chartered Accountants can help assess registration, prepare tax reconciliations and returns, review available elections and reliefs, and document the filing position. Free-zone status, related-party transactions and group structures need specific attention.
What the engagement can cover
Review of registration details and tax periods; mapping of income and expenses; identification of non-deductible items; relief and exemption assessments; related-party and connected-person schedules; and return working papers.
The team can also help coordinate the accounting close, information requests and internal approvals. Management should understand the material judgements and approve the completed return before submission.
Records to prepare
Share incorporation and ownership documents, the trial balance and financial statements, general ledger, asset register, financing agreements, related-party balances and contracts, prior tax filings and any FTA correspondence.
Agree the deliverables, exclusions, filing responsibilities and deadlines in the engagement. Keep the signed-off computation, schedules and evidence together for future queries.
Plan the tax work around a reliable accounting close
A Corporate Tax timetable should begin before the return is entered into EmaraTax. Agree when the trial balance will be stable, which accounts need supporting schedules and who can explain significant transactions. A late change to revenue, financing or a related-party balance can affect several parts of the tax work, not just one figure.
The engagement can include a readiness assessment that separates accounting gaps from tax questions. Management then has a prioritised information request and a close plan. This is especially useful where bookkeeping, financial-statement preparation and tax filing are performed by different teams and each needs to know which version of the accounts is being used.
Make tax adjustments traceable to individual items
A useful adjustment register explains the accounting amount, proposed tax treatment, evidence and period affected. Instead of combining everything into a single add-back, distinguish the reason for each adjustment and whether it affects only the current period or needs tracking in a later one. Material judgements should be identifiable for management’s review.
For example, an unusual expense, asset transaction or financing arrangement should be connected to its contract and ledger entries. The proposed deliverable is a computation that can be followed from the financial statements through the adjustments to the return. If information is incomplete, identify the unresolved issue and decision owner before treating an assumption as a final position.
Assess reliefs and elections before committing to a position
A relief or election should be reviewed against the entity’s facts, the applicable period and the relevant conditions. A headline description of a benefit is not enough to establish eligibility. The scope can include comparing available approaches and identifying the evidence and ongoing actions needed to support the selected position.
The decision note should explain practical consequences, information dependencies and any question requiring specialist input. Group changes, free-zone activities, restructurings and losses may require additional work beyond a straightforward annual computation. Agree that scope explicitly, so a commercially important transaction is not assumed to have been reviewed merely because an annual return is being prepared.
Give management a return pack it can approve and retain
Before submission, the review pack can bring together the computation, significant adjustment notes, relevant disclosure schedules and outstanding confirmations. Management should understand the major positions and verify the factual representations on which they depend. Separate the approval of the return from the treasury arrangements needed to settle any amount due.
After filing, retain the submitted return, acknowledgment, approved calculation and supporting references as one coherent record. The handover should identify carried-forward items and actions for the next period, rather than leaving the following year’s team to reconstruct them. If an authority query arises, confirm who will coordinate the response and whether that support forms part of the engagement.
YOUR NEXT STEPS
A practical way forward
- 01
Step 1
Confirm the regime, registration status and information needed.
- 02
Step 2
Prepare the tax reconciliation and supporting schedules.
- 03
Step 3
Resolve review points, obtain approval and complete the agreed filing.
CLEAR ANSWERS
Frequently asked questions
What should I prepare for an initial consultation?
Your entity documents, trial balance, financial year dates and details of significant or related-party transactions.
Does appointing a consultant transfer my filing responsibility?
Agree who prepares, reviews and submits the return. The business should retain the approved computation and evidence.
Can Corporate Tax work begin before the financial statements are final?
Yes. An initial review can identify accounting gaps, significant transactions and likely tax workstreams. The final computation must be reconciled to the accounts and information used for the return. Agree a process for changes to the trial balance so that an earlier draft is not mistaken for the approved filing position.
What is useful when requesting a second review of a prepared Corporate Tax return?
Provide the draft return, computation, financial statements or trial balance, adjustment schedules and the assumptions made by the preparer. Identify the specific concern and agree whether the review covers the complete return or selected issues. A second review should record its scope and unresolved facts rather than imply a blanket assurance.
VERIFY THE DETAIL
Official sources & further reading
- FTA — Determination of Taxable Income CTGDTI1
- FTA — Tax Returns Guide CTGTXR1
- FTA — General Corporate Tax Guide
Source checks support this general guide. Your treatment depends on the facts, tax period and applicable legislation.
