Sold Your Company? De-Register for Corporate Tax — Screen by Screen
If you've sold your UAE business, you still need to close it out with the Federal Tax Authority. This is the EmaraTax de-registration walkthrough for the "Sale of Business" scenario — eleven screens, in plain English, no jargon. It's free of charge, the FTA typically takes around 30 business days to approve, and the one document that really matters is your sale agreement as a PDF.
Selling the business isn't the last step
Once a sale closes, your company still sits on the FTA's books as a registered Corporate Tax payer. De-registration is how you formally take it off — and for a sale, the FTA wants to see the documentary evidence of the transfer. The good news: the whole thing is done online inside EmaraTax, it costs nothing, and the form pre-fills most of your details from your original registration. The eleven screens below walk through exactly what you'll see and tap, in order.
Login to EmaraTax
Sign in to your FTA account
Open eservices.tax.gov.ae in your browser. Log in with your email credentials or via UAE Pass. If you can't remember your password, use the "Forgot Password" link to reset it before going any further.
Forgot your password? Use "Forgot Password" to reset.
Taxable Person List
Pick the company you sold
After login you'll land on a list of your registered entities — your "taxable persons". Find the company you sold, then click "View" to open it.
Taxable Person Dashboard
Find the Deregister option
You're now on the company's dashboard. In the top-right menu you'll see a few actions — Deregister, Print Certificate and Amend. Click "Deregister".
Instructions & Guidelines
Read, tick, and Start
This page lays out the requirements and conditions for de-registration. For a sale, it specifically mentions needing "documentary evidence providing the sale of business." Read it, then tick the checkbox confirming you've read the instructions, and click "Start" at the bottom-right.
I confirm I have read and understood the de-registration instructions and conditions.
Note: for a sale, you'll need documentary evidence providing the sale of business.
StartDe-Registration Details
Auto-populated — fill the two that matter
The form auto-populates your business name, nature of business, TRN and other details from your original Corporate Tax registration. You'll see two sections on a progress bar (the current one in blue, completed ones in green). Two mandatory fields are on you:
- Date of de-registration — the date you sold the company.
- Reason — choose "Sale of Business" from the dropdown.
One quirk to watch: if the date field is pre-populated and greyed out, you can't change it — leave it. If it's blank, enter your sale date.
Upload Supporting Documents
Attach the sale agreement
Upload your sale agreement / business transfer document. Accepted formats are PDF, DOC and DOCX, up to 15 MB per file and a maximum of 5 files. When it's attached, click "Next Step".
Review & Declaration
Check carefully — no edits after this
You'll get a full summary of everything you entered. Review it carefully, because you can't edit anything once it's submitted. Tick the declaration — "I declare that all information provided is true, accurate, and complete to the best of my knowledge and belief" — then click "Submit".
I declare that all information provided is true, accurate, and complete to the best of my knowledge and belief.
Confirmation Pop-Up
One final yes
A pop-up appears asking "Are you sure you want to submit this application?" Click "Yes, I confirm" to send it to the FTA.
Are you sure you want to submit this application?
Yes, I confirm CancelSubmission Success
Save your reference number
A green success screen confirms it's in. It shows your company name, applicant number, TRN, reference number and date of submission. You can print this page — keep that reference number handy for tracking.
Application History & Status
Track while the FTA reviews
Back on the dashboard, click "View Application History". While the FTA processes your request the status shows In Review (blue); once they approve it, it turns Approved (green). You can search by your application number to jump straight to it.
Download the De-Registration Certificate
Grab the right certificate
Once the FTA approves, go to "View Application", click the approved application, and open the "Certificate" tab. You'll see two certificates: the Corporate Tax Registration Certificate and the De-Registration Certificate — the one you actually need. Click the three-dot menu (⋮) next to the de-registration certificate and choose "Download".
Before you start
The whole process is free of charge. The FTA typically takes up to 30 business days to approve a de-registration. Have your sale agreement ready as a PDF before you begin — that's the key document for the "Sale of Business" reason, and it's the one thing that holds people up.
The flow in one breath
- Log in to EmaraTax → open the company you sold → click Deregister.
- Read the instructions and tick the box → enter your sale date and pick Sale of Business.
- Upload the sale agreement PDF → review carefully → declare and Submit.
- Confirm the pop-up → save your reference number → track until it reads Approved.
- Open the Certificate tab → download the De-Registration Certificate. Done.
Need a hand closing things out?
If you'd rather have the EmaraTax filing handled for you — or you're juggling more than one entity — Stackbirds can run the de-registration and keep your reference numbers tracked to approval.
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