UAE ESR Update: Deadline extended till 8th July 2021!

Entities falling within scope of ESR, with financial year-end 31st December 2020, will have till 8th July 2021 to submit their respective Notification or Substance Report, as the case may be. The extension was announced due to technical issues experienced by some entities in filing their Notification or Economic Substance Report on the Ministry of Finance’s Portal on 30th June 2021.

Should your entity fall within ESR scope and have failed to submit the ESR Notification till now, it is paramount that this step is remediated by the 8th July 2021, so as to avoid the risk of penalties for late (or lack of) submission of the ESR Notification amounting AED 20,000.

Entities with financial year-end 31st December 2020 and falling within the scope of ESR must also submit a Substance Report by 31st December 2021 to confirm that they comply with the ESR requirements, to wit: (i) the entity is being managed and directed in the UAE; (ii) has adequate number of employees, expenditure, physical assets in the UAE; (iii) the core income-generating activity (CIGA) is being carried out in the UAE.

We strongly recommend all entities falling within the scope of ESR to review their governance arrangement and put in place all necessary measures to comply with the ESR requirements from now on. Non-compliant practices should be remediated without further delay.