Country-by-Country Reporting (CbCR) in the UAE: Who Must File and When

Country-by-Country Reporting (CbCR) is mandatory for UAE-headquartered MNE groups with consolidated global revenues of AED 3.15 billion or more. Two separate obligations apply: the CbCR Notification must be filed with the UAE Ministry of Finance by the last day of the fiscal year; the full CbC Report must be submitted within 12 months of fiscal year-end.

 

Missing the notification deadline triggers a penalty of AED 1,000,000 plus AED 10,000 per day. The report follows the OECD three-table format and is exchanged automatically with tax authorities in treaty partner jurisdictions. CbCR data is also the foundation for Pillar Two DMTT calculations — errors in the report can directly affect your DMTT liability. 

CbCR is frequently misunderstood in two ways. 

The first is thinking it only applies to very large global groups — it does, but “AED 3.15 billion” is roughly USD 860 million in consolidated revenues. Many UAE-headquartered family conglomerates and regional MNEs cross this threshold. 

 

The second is conflating the CbCR notification with the CbC report itself. These are two separate obligations with two separate deadlines. Missing either — or both — carries substantial penalties.

Who Has a CbCR Obligation 

CbCR applies to a UAE-resident Ultimate Parent Entity (UPE) of an MNE group where the group’s consolidated revenues in the preceding fiscal year equalled or exceeded AED 3.15 billion. 

 

The UAE framework — established under Cabinet Resolution No. 44 of 2020 — applies to financial reporting years commencing on or after 1 January 2019. 

 

Every UAE constituent entity of an in-scope MNE group has a notification obligation — even if they are not the UPE. They must notify the Ministry of Finance that the UPE is filing on behalf of the group (or identify who is). 

 

Who is exempt: MNE groups below the AED 3.15 billion threshold. UAE-only groups with no overseas entities. Natural persons and non-juridical entities. 

Two Separate Obligations — Two Separate Deadlines

This is the most operationally critical distinction.

 

 

For a group with a December 2024 year-end: 

• Notification was due: 31 December 2024 

• CbC Report is due: 31 December 2025 

 

The notification confirms who the reporting entity is and that CbCR applies. The full report contains the financial and operational data across all jurisdictions. 

 

Missing the notification — even if you plan to file the full report — triggers the AED 1,000,000 penalty independently.

The Three-Table OECD Format

The CbC Report follows the OECD standard three-table format under Cabinet Resolution No. 44 of 2020: 

 

Table 1 — Financial Data by Jurisdiction: For each jurisdiction where the group operates, report: revenues (related and unrelated party separately), profit or loss before income tax, income tax paid, income tax accrued, stated capital, accumulated earnings, number of employees, and tangible assets other than cash. 

 

Table 2 — Business Activities by Entity: For each constituent entity, list the jurisdiction of tax residence, the nature of the main business activities (manufacturing, distribution, R&D, services, IP holding, internal financing, dormant, etc.). 

 

Table 3 — Additional Information: Explanatory notes, clarifications of methodology, or explanations of significant year-on-year changes. This table is where contextual information that cannot be captured in the structured format goes. 

 

The report must be filed in English. All data must be based on group financial statements and translated into the group’s functional currency using average annual exchange rates.

Surrogate Filing: When the UPE Is Not in the UAE

In many MNE groups with UAE operations, the Ultimate Parent Entity is not UAE-resident — it may be based in the UK, USA, or another jurisdiction. 

 

In these cases, a UAE constituent entity can be designated as the Surrogate Parent Entity (SPE) and file the CbC Report on behalf of the group in the UAE — provided: 

• The UPE’s home jurisdiction either does not require CbCR, or 

• There is no automatic exchange agreement between the UAE and the UPE’s jurisdiction, or 

• The UPE’s jurisdiction has had a systematic failure in exchange 

 

The SPE arrangement must be notified to the Ministry of Finance, and the SPE must confirm its designation in the CbCR notification. 

 

For many regional MNE groups with GCC parents and UAE constituent entities, the surrogate option is the practical filing mechanism — and it is underused because finance teams assume the parent company’s home-jurisdiction filing satisfies the UAE obligation. It typically does not.

What the FTA Does with CbCR Data 

This is a question CFOs ask but rarely get answered directly. 

 

The Ministry of Finance shares CbCR data with tax authorities in treaty partner jurisdictions through the OECD’s automatic exchange framework (BEPS Action 13). The data is confidential — it cannot be shared with non-treaty jurisdictions and cannot be used as the sole basis for a tax adjustment. 

 

However, CbCR data is used for transfer pricing risk profiling. If your CbCR shows high profits in the UAE entity and low profits in jurisdictions where the group’s operational substance sits — or vice versa — it flags a mismatch that may trigger a transfer pricing inquiry. The inquiry would then require separate, transactional evidence before any adjustment is made. 

 

The takeaway: CbCR accuracy matters. Errors or inconsistencies between the CbCR, Local File, and TP Disclosure Form create a data mismatch that the FTA’s risk systems are designed to detect. 

CbCR and Pillar Two DMTT — The Critical Interaction 

For MNE groups in scope for the UAE’s Domestic Minimum Top-Up Tax (DMTT) — groups with global revenues exceeding EUR 750 million — CbCR data is the primary input to the DMTT calculation. 

 

The DMTT requires the calculation of an Effective Tax Rate (ETR) for each jurisdiction. That ETR calculation uses the financial data reported in Table 1 of the CbCR. If the CbCR data is inaccurate — for example, if revenues or taxes paid are misallocated — the DMTT calculation will be wrong, and the resulting top-up tax liability will be incorrect. 

 

Groups subject to both CbCR and DMTT should treat the CbCR as part of their DMTT preparation process, not as a separate annual compliance task.

How NR Doshi & Partners Can Help 

NR Doshi & Partners assists UAE-headquartered MNE groups with CbCR notification filing, full CbC Report preparation, SPE designation, and the integration of CbCR data into Pillar Two DMTT calculations. 

 

We work with group Finance Directors and Tax Directors to ensure that CbCR data is consistent with Local File benchmarking, TP Disclosure Forms, and audited financial statements — eliminating the data mismatches that trigger FTA risk flags. 

 

Contact us: enquiries@nrdoshi.ae | +971 4 352 8001 

 

Key Takeaways 

• CbCR applies to UAE-headquartered MNE groups with consolidated revenues ≥ AED 3.15 billion 

• Two separate deadlines: notification by year-end, full report within 12 months — missing either triggers independent penalties 

• The AED 1,000,000 notification penalty applies even if the full report is filed on time 

• Surrogate filing allows a UAE constituent entity to file on behalf of a non-UAE UPE — underused but often necessary 

• CbCR data feeds directly into Pillar Two DMTT calculations — accuracy matters beyond just the CbCR obligation itself 

Frequently Asked Questions 

What is Country-by-Country Reporting and does it apply to my UAE business?  

 

CbCR is an annual reporting obligation under BEPS Action 13 that requires large MNE groups to disclose financial and operational data — revenues, profits, taxes paid, employees, and tangible assets — on a jurisdiction-by-jurisdiction basis. In the UAE, CbCR is mandatory for UAE-headquartered MNE groups whose consolidated global revenues equalled or exceeded AED 3.15 billion in the preceding fiscal year, under Cabinet Resolution No. 44 of 2020. If your group’s UAE entity is a constituent part of an MNE group that exceeds this threshold, you have a CbCR notification obligation even if you are not the Ultimate Parent Entity. 

 

What is the difference between the CbCR notification and the CbC Report? The  

 

CbCR notification is a short filing confirming that CbCR applies to the group and identifying the reporting entity (usually the UPE). It must be filed with the UAE Ministry of Finance by the last day of the fiscal year. The CbC Report is the full data submission — covering financial and operational information for every jurisdiction where the group operates across three OECD standard tables. It must be filed within 12 months of the fiscal year-end. Both obligations exist independently: missing the notification deadline triggers a separate AED 1,000,000 penalty even if the full report is filed on time. 

 

What happens if we miss the CbCR notification deadline? The penalty for a UAE  

 

Ultimate Parent Entity that fails to submit the CbCR notification by the fiscal year-end deadline is AED 1,000,000. In addition, an administrative penalty of AED 10,000 per day applies for each day the failure continues, capped at an additional AED 250,000. Incomplete or inaccurate CbC Reports carry penalties of AED 50,000–500,000. Failure to maintain supporting CbCR records for the required period is subject to a separate AED 100,000 fine. The maximum total penalty per fiscal year, excluding daily penalties, is capped at AED 1,000,000 per entity. 

 

Can a non-UAE entity file CbCR on behalf of a UAE group? The CbCR framework is  

 

designed for UAE-headquartered UPEs to file in the UAE. However, a Surrogate Parent Entity (SPE) arrangement exists for situations where a UAE constituent entity needs to file on behalf of a non-UAE UPE — for example, where the UPE’s home jurisdiction does not have CbCR or where there is no exchange agreement with the UAE. Conversely, if your group’s UPE is non-UAE and files CbCR in its home jurisdiction under a qualifying exchange agreement, a UAE constituent entity must still file a notification confirming this arrangement with the UAE Ministry of Finance. 

 

How is CbCR data used by the FTA and other tax authorities? The UAE Ministry of  

 

Finance shares CbCR data automatically with tax authorities in treaty partner jurisdictions through the OECD’s automatic exchange framework. The data is confidential and cannot be used as the sole basis for a tax adjustment — it is used for transfer pricing risk profiling. Where the CbCR shows profit distributions inconsistent with where the group’s functions, assets, and risks reside, it may trigger a transfer pricing inquiry requiring transactional-level evidence. Data inconsistencies between the CbCR, TP Disclosure Form, and Local File are a specific FTA risk flag.