RAKEZ Audit Requirement: Who Must File and When

Yes, for every company. RAKEZ's official FAQ says that all companies incorporated in the RAKEZ jurisdiction are required to prepare and submit audited financial statements for every financial year. There is no turnover or headcount exemption in the FAQ, unlike the simplified route some other zones now offer.

The legal basis is Part 11 of the RAKEZ Companies Regulations of 2023. Regulation 74 requires every company to keep accounting records sufficient to show and explain its transactions and disclose its financial position with reasonable accuracy. Regulation 76 requires the shareholders or directors to prepare accounts for each financial year that show a true and fair view and follow the accounting standards approved by the Authority. Regulation 76(4) then says that within six months after the year end the accounts must be prepared and approved, examined and reported on by an auditor, and laid before the annual general meeting.

Regulation 74 also requires accounting records and underlying documents to be preserved and kept for five years. Regulation 76(9) makes a company that fails to meet these requirements liable to a fine set by the Implementing Regulations. If your company is dormant or newly formed, the obligation still applies once its first financial year closes.

The RAKEZ FAQ states the deadline plainly: audited financial statements must be submitted to RAKEZ within six (6) months from the end of the financial year. For a company on the standard 31 December year end, that means by 30 June of the following year.

The deadline is not tied to your licence. RAKEZ's FAQ answers the question directly: audited financial statements are not required at the time of licence renewal. That differs from IFZA, which collects statements at renewal. In RAKEZ, a company renewing in March still has until 30 June to file its December accounts, and a company renewing in September is already late if it has not filed by 30 June.

Your financial year comes from Regulation 75 and your Memorandum of Association. The first financial year runs from incorporation and must be at least six and at most eighteen months, notified to the Registrar within three months of incorporation. RAKEZ's FAQ notes that the standard Memorandum sets a January to December year. A company formed in July 2025 could therefore choose a first year ending 31 December 2026 (18 months), with audited statements due by 30 June 2027. Separately, under Regulation 76(5) the Registrar can direct a company to file its accounts and auditor's report within seven days of the directive.

Only a RAKEZ-approved firm can sign. The FAQ says RAKEZ does not accept financial statements prepared by an auditing firm that is not enrolled in its approved auditors list, and defines an approved auditor as a UAE auditing firm enrolled in that list under RAKEZ's implementing regulations. Regulation 80(2) of the Companies Regulations backs this up: a firm must not consent to be appointed, act as auditor, or prepare any auditor's report unless it is registered as an auditor under the Regulations.

The list is published on vas.rakez.com, the RAKEZ value-added services site, in two tiers, Premium and Standard. RAKEZ describes the firms on it as licensed to prepare audited financial statements for RAKEZ entities. Our approved auditors by free zone page explains how to check a firm against each zone's list.

Appointment follows Regulation 80. The company appoints its auditor by ordinary resolution, and at each annual general meeting appoints an auditor to hold office until the next one; before the first AGM the shareholders or directors can make the appointment. Keep the resolution with your corporate records. If you change auditors mid-year, confirm the new firm is on the current list before it starts fieldwork, because a report from a firm that has dropped off the list will not be accepted.

RAKEZ publishes the consequence in two official documents. The FAQ says that a company that fails to submit its audited financial statements on time is fined AED 2,500.

The RAKEZ Violation Codes (Registration and Licensing/Compliance, Issue 04, dated 28 May 2024) add the escalation. Item 10, failure to submit audited financial statements, carries:

• first violation: AED 2,500 with a deadline of three months to comply;
• second violation: suspension of all services.

A suspension of all services means the company cannot rely on RAKEZ processing its service requests, so treat the three-month window after the first fine as a hard stop. The Violation Codes state that these penalties are without prejudice to any other liability under UAE law, so a missed RAKEZ filing can also become a problem with the Federal Tax Authority if the same accounts are needed for corporate tax.

The figures above are the published amounts as of the Issue 04 document; check the current RAKEZ Violation Codes before relying on them for a specific case.

The RAKEZ rule is a free zone requirement. Corporate tax adds a separate test under Ministerial Decision No. 84 of 2025, which applies to tax periods starting on or after 1 January 2025 and repealed Ministerial Decision No. 82 of 2023. Audited financial statements are required for any taxable person with revenue above AED 50 million, for every Qualifying Free Zone Person whatever its revenue, and for tax groups.

Many RAKEZ companies claim the 0% rate as a Qualifying Free Zone Person. For them the two rules line up: one audited set, signed by a RAKEZ-approved firm, can serve both RAKEZ (due six months after year end) and the corporate tax return (due nine months after the end of the tax period; see the filing deadline guide). Plan the audit to meet the earlier RAKEZ date.

A practical checklist for a 31 December year end:

1. Confirm the financial year in your Memorandum and Registrar records.
2. Appoint a firm from the current RAKEZ list by resolution.
3. Close the books and agree the qualifying and non-qualifying income split if you claim QFZP status.
4. Submit the audited statements to RAKEZ by 30 June.
5. Use the same statements for the corporate tax return by 30 September.

For the tax side of a RAKEZ company, see RAKEZ corporate tax.