Cabinet Decision Cabinet Decision No. 49 of 2021 Cabinet

CD 49/2021 — 2021 replacement of the tax penalty tables

Cabinet Decision No. 49 of 2021 Amending Certain Provisions of Cabinet Decision No. 40 of 2017 on Administrative Penalties for Violation of Tax Laws in the UAE

In force Issued 28 April 2021 In force from 28 June 2021

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

Official Arabic title
قرار مجلس الوزراء رقم (49) لسنة 2021 — تعديل بعض أحكام قرار مجلس الوزراء رقم (40) لسنة 2017 بشأن الغرامات الإدارية التي تُفرض على مخالفة القوانين الضريبية في الدولة
Document type
Cabinet Decision
Number
49
Issued by
Cabinet
Administered by
Federal Tax Authority
Issued
28 April 2021
In force from
28 June 2021
Applies to
Amends Cabinet Decision No. 40 of 2017.
Current position
In force as an amending decision. Its Table 2 (Excise Tax) and its same-date rule are still cited in the current consolidated text; Tables 1 and 3 were amended again by Cabinet Decision No. 129 of 2025 from 14 April 2026.
Topics
Tax Procedures & the FTA · Administrative penalties
Official text
Official Arabic text

Factual summary

Replaced the three penalty tables of Cabinet Decision No. 40 of 2017 from 28 June 2021. It introduced the late-payment penalty of 2% then 4% per month (capped at 300%) and percentage penalties for voluntary disclosures that rose with the time taken to disclose, set the rule for monthly penalties falling on a date that does not exist in a month, and allowed a one-off reduction of unpaid earlier penalties to 30% if the tax and 30% of the penalties were paid by 31 December 2021.

What it means in practice Professional insight

Kept for the history of the penalty schedule. For violations from 14 April 2026, the amounts in Cabinet Decision No. 40 of 2017 as amended by Cabinet Decision No. 129 of 2025 apply.

Key provisions

  • Art. One Replaced Tables 1, 2 and 3 of Cabinet Decision No. 40 of 2017. In the 2021 Table 1, late payment was 2% on the day after the due date and a 4% monthly penalty after one month, up to a maximum of 300% (item 9); voluntary disclosure penalties were 5%, 10%, 20%, 30% or 40% of the difference depending on the year of disclosure (item 11).
  • Art. Two Monthly penalties applied on the same date: where a month has no corresponding date, the first day of the following month is used (items 4, 9 and 14 of Table 1).
  • Art. Three One-off redetermination: unpaid penalties imposed before the decision took effect were reduced to 30% if all payable tax and 30% of the unpaid penalties were paid by 31 December 2021.
  • Art. 5 In force 60 days after issuance (28 June 2021 per the consolidated cover).

What changed

  1. 28 April 2021 Issued
  2. 28 June 2021 In force
  3. 28 June 2021 Amends CD 40/2017 — Administrative penalties: VAT, Excise Tax and Tax Procedures (schedule in force from 14 April 2026): Replaced Tables 1–3; same-date rule for monthly penalties; one-off reduction of earlier unpaid penalties to 30% if paid by 31 December 2021.

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.