Cabinet Decision Cabinet Decision No. 129 of 2025 Cabinet

CD 129/2025 — New tax penalty amounts from 14 April 2026

Cabinet Decision No. 129 of 2025 (amending Cabinet Decision No. 40 of 2017 on Administrative Penalties for Violation of Tax Laws in the UAE)

In force Issued 9 October 2025 In force from 14 April 2026

Official Arabic text (opens in a new tab) English translation (unofficial) (opens in a new tab)

Official Arabic title
قرار مجلس الوزراء رقم (129) لسنة 2025
Document type
Cabinet Decision
Number
129
Issued by
Cabinet
Administered by
Federal Tax Authority
Issued
9 October 2025
In force from
14 April 2026
Applies to
Amends Cabinet Decision No. 40 of 2017 (Article 1, Table 1 and Table 3).
Current position
In force from 14 April 2026. Known from the FTA and MoF consolidated texts of Cabinet Decision No. 40 of 2017; the amending decision itself is not published separately on those sites.
Topics
Tax Procedures & the FTA · Administrative penalties · Voluntary disclosure
Official text
Official Arabic text · English translation (unofficial)

Factual summary

Amended Article 1 and Tables 1 and 3 of Cabinet Decision No. 40 of 2017 with effect from 14 April 2026. The late-payment penalty is now a monthly 14% per annum on unpaid tax (the 2021 table of Cabinet Decision No. 49 of 2021 had set 2%, then 4% per month, capped at 300%); voluntary disclosures now attract 1% of the tax difference per month, and failure to disclose before a tax audit notice attracts a fixed 15% plus 1% per month. The full table is in the linked official consolidated PDF.

What it means in practice Professional insight

Who: VAT and Excise Tax registrants and anyone correcting past returns. What to check: penalties for periods after 14 April 2026 are computed under the new monthly rates; the full schedule is in the consolidated text.

Key provisions

  • Art. 1 Article 1 (Definitions) of Cabinet Decision No. 40 of 2017 amended; the current definitions refer to Federal Decree-Law No. 28 of 2022 on Tax Procedures.
  • Table 1, item 9 Late payment now: a monthly penalty of 14% per annum, for each month or part thereof, on the unsettled Payable Tax from the day following the due date.
  • Table 1, items 11–12 Voluntary disclosure now: 1% of the Tax Difference per month; without a disclosure before notice of a Tax Audit: a fixed 15% plus 1% per month.
  • Table 3 Table 3 (VAT) amended; its current items are listed in the record of Cabinet Decision No. 40 of 2017.

What changed

  1. 9 October 2025 Issued
  2. 14 April 2026 In force
  3. 14 April 2026 Amends CD 40/2017 — Administrative penalties: VAT, Excise Tax and Tax Procedures (schedule in force from 14 April 2026) — Art. 1: Also amends Tables 1 and 3: late payment 14% per annum charged monthly; voluntary disclosure 1% per month; 15% plus 1% per month without a disclosure before an audit notice.

Relationship chain

Law → decisions made under it → amendments → guidance and announcements; oldest first within each level.

  1. 30 September 2022 Federal Decree-Law FDL 28/2022 — Tax Procedures Law In force — amended
    1. 11 June 2017 Federal Law FL 7/2017 — former Tax Procedures Law — Replaced by this law from 1 March 2023 Superseded
      1. 24 September 2017 Cabinet Decision CD 36/2017 — Former Tax Procedures Executive Regulation (repealed) — Executive Regulation of this law Repealed
      2. 1 May 2018 Cabinet Decision CD 23/2018 — Tax Disputes Resolution Committees — Made under it In force
      3. 28 December 2021 Cabinet Decision CD 105/2021 — Instalments, waiver and refund of administrative penalties — Made under it In force
      4. 2 September 2022 Cabinet Decision CD 85/2022 — Who is a UAE tax resident — Made under it In force (see Corporate Tax)
    2. 24 September 2017 Cabinet Decision CD 40/2017 — Administrative penalties: VAT, Excise Tax and Tax Procedures (schedule in force from 14 April 2026) — Made under it In force — amended
      1. 28 April 2021 Cabinet Decision CD 49/2021 — 2021 replacement of the tax penalty tables — Amends it In force
      2. 9 October 2025 Cabinet Decision CD 129/2025 — New tax penalty amounts from 14 April 2026 — Amends Art. 1 In force
    3. 10 July 2023 Cabinet Decision CD 74/2023 — Tax Procedures Executive Regulation — Executive Regulation of this law In force — amended
      1. 16 August 2023 FTA Decision FTA Decision 14/2023 — Extra conditions for a firm to register as a tax agent — Made under Art. 12(2)(d) In force
      2. 13 December 2023 FTA Decision FTA Decision 15/2023 — Annual CPD hours for individual tax agents — Made under it In force
      3. 15 January 2024 FTA Decision FTA Decision 1/2024 — Professional standards and black points for tax agents — Made under it In force
      4. 23 March 2026 Cabinet Decision CD 17/2026 — Amendments to the Tax Procedures Executive Regulation — Amends Arts. 3, 10, 18, 26, 28 In force
      5. 2 June 2026 FTA Decision FTA Decision 4/2026 — Keeping records as electronic copies or photocopies — Made under Art. 4(2) In force
    4. 19 July 2024 FTA Decision FTA Decision 5/2024 — When private clarification fees are refunded — Made under it In force
    5. 1 November 2024 FTA Decision FTA Decision 8/2024 — Correcting VAT return errors that do not change the tax due — Made under it In force (see VAT)
    6. 17 February 2025 FTA Decision FTA Decision 1/2025 — Extending deadlines for review and reconsideration requests — Made under it In force
    7. 13 March 2025 Ministerial Decision MD 64/2025 — Earlier e-invoicing service-provider accreditation (repealed) — Made under it Superseded (see E-Invoicing)
    8. 12 September 2025 Ministerial Decision MD 243/2025 — E-invoicing system — Made under e-invoicing provisions In force — amended (see E-Invoicing)
    9. 9 October 2025 Cabinet Decision CD 106/2025 — E-invoicing violations and penalties — Made under it In force (see E-Invoicing)
    10. 4 December 2025 FTA Decision FTA Decision 9/2025 — Declining refunds of residual amounts during a tax audit — Made under it In force
    11. 11 June 2026 FTA Decision FTA Decision 7/2026 — Disposal of seized and abandoned goods — Made under it In force

Official sources

Official Arabic text (opens in a new tab) English translation (unofficial) (opens in a new tab)

Related services: VAT Health Check · Corporate Tax

Last verified against official sources: 26 October 2026 · اقرأ بالعربية

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The current penalties are in the Tax Penalties Table

General information, not tax advice. Each record is checked against the official source; where they differ, the official Arabic text prevails.