The UAE doesn't close for Christmas. Most of the countries you buy from do. Between now and mid-March, a national holiday, the Dubai Shopping Festival, two tax deadlines, a new e-invoicing rule, Chinese New Year and Ramadan all land within 15 weeks of each other.
This planner puts them in one place, with what each one means for your orders, your tax and your systems. Order the right things before 25 December and you start 2027 with stock on the shelf. Leave them until January and you'll still be waiting when Ramadan begins.
The dates that matter, December 2026 to March 2027
| Date | What happens | What it means for your business |
|---|---|---|
| 2–3 Dec 2026 (Wed–Thu) | Eid Al Etihad, UAE public holiday | Offices, couriers and many suppliers close. Plan deliveries around it. |
| 4 Dec 2026 – 17 Jan 2027 | Dubai Shopping Festival, 32nd edition | The retail peak. Packaging, displays and online listings must be ready before it opens. |
| 25 Dec 2026 (Fri) | Christmas Day | A normal working day in the UAE. A public holiday in India, Bangladesh and Pakistan, where it is also Quaid-e-Azam Day. |
| 31 Dec 2026 | Corporate tax return and payment due | For companies whose financial year ended on 31 March 2026. |
| 1 Jan 2027 (Fri) | New Year's Day, UAE public holiday | A three-day weekend. The first working day of 2027 is Monday 4 January. |
| 1 Jan 2027 | Mandatory e-invoicing, phase 1 | Applies to businesses with annual revenue of AED 50 million or more. |
| 28 Jan 2027 | VAT return and payment due | For VAT quarters ending 31 December 2026. |
| 5–12 Feb 2027 | Chinese New Year holiday (New Year's Day is 6 Feb) | Factories slow down weeks earlier and restart slowly afterwards. |
| Around 8 Feb 2027 | Ramadan expected to begin | The private-sector working day is two hours shorter for the month. |
| Around 9–12 Mar 2027 | Eid Al Fitr expected | Another three or four days of closures. |
| 31 Mar 2027 | E-invoicing: provider deadline for everyone else | Businesses under AED 50 million appoint an Accredited Service Provider. Go-live is 1 July 2027. |
| 30 Sep 2027 | Corporate tax return for calendar-year 2026 | For companies with a 31 December 2026 year-end. |
Ramadan and Eid dates are astronomical estimates until the moon-sighting committee confirms them, so treat them as plus or minus a day.
Christmas in the UAE: open for business, but your suppliers may not be
Christmas is not a public holiday in the UAE, and 25 December 2026 falls on a Friday. Your office will most likely be open. The people you buy from are a different story.
- Pakistan closes on 25 December for Quaid-e-Azam Day.
- India and Bangladesh both mark Christmas Day as a public holiday.
- European and American suppliers often run skeleton teams from Christmas Eve until early January.
A one-day closure rarely matters. What matters is the cut-off before it. Ask every supplier now for their last order date and last dispatch date of 2026, and write both into your purchase plan.
Corporate gifts for Christmas and New Year
If you send gifts to clients or staff, order them in November. Branded items need artwork approval, a proof, printing and delivery, and printers fill up fast in December. Our corporate gifts service covers executive sets, welcome kits and branded merchandise, quoted in one go.
Chinese New Year 2027 comes 11 days earlier
Chinese New Year falls on Saturday 6 February 2027, against 17 February in 2026. China's official holiday runs from 5 to 12 February, but that week is only the middle of the disruption.
- Many factories cut output from mid-January, as workers travel home early.
- After the holiday, production restarts slowly, and not every worker comes back.
- Ramadan is expected to begin two days after Chinese New Year. Cargo from Asia to the Gulf meets both slowdowns back to back.
Sea freight from China's main ports to Jebel Ali usually takes about three to four weeks port to port, before customs clearance and delivery. Most of our orders from China take 3–6 weeks from approval to delivery, depending on production time and freight method. Working back from early February, that gives you three deadlines:
- By early December: confirm orders for anything you need in the first quarter of 2027.
- By early January: finish production and inspect the goods. A rushed pre-holiday batch is when defects slip through.
- By mid-January: the cargo should be at the port of loading and booked.
Ask each factory for four dates: its last order date, last production day, last dispatch date and expected restart date. If the answers don't fit your plan, split the order: ship the urgent part by air and the rest by sea.
That is the work our China sourcing service does every day. We check the factory, approve samples with you, arrange inspection, freight and customs, and deliver to your door. We source from India and Pakistan too, which can be useful while China is closed.
Choosing sourcing providers before the rush
December is when weak suppliers show themselves. Whether you work with sourcing consultants, procurement providers or a single agent, a good procurement service provider gives you a quote on total landed cost, not just the factory price. Before you commit to one, check four things:
- Do they quote the full landed cost: product, freight, customs duty (usually 5%) and 5% import VAT?
- Do they inspect goods before shipment, against an approved sample?
- Can they tell you their own holiday cut-off dates today?
- Will one quote cover products from more than one country?
Read how to choose a procurement company in the UAE for the full checklist, or send your list to our product sourcing services in the UAE.
PPE: winter is the busy season on site
The UAE's cooler months are peak time for construction, fit-outs and outdoor events, so demand for safety gear rises when stock is tightest. Count helmets, gloves, safety shoes, high-visibility vests and first-aid kits now, against the headcount you expect in January, not the one you have today.
Two delivery speeds apply. Items in UAE stock arrive in 2–5 days. Branded workwear and anything imported from China takes 3–6 weeks, so those orders belong in the Chinese New Year plan above. Ask for test certificates and data sheets with every order, so your safety officer can check them before the goods arrive. Good PPE suppliers in the UAE send these without being asked. See our PPE and safety equipment supply for the full range.
Packaging for DSF, gifting and the New Year
The Dubai Shopping Festival runs from 4 December 2026 to 17 January 2027, and it is not only Dubai retailers who feel it. Gift boxes, mailer boxes, carrier bags, labels and printed tape all sell faster in December. If you sell online or run a shop, plan two stock levels: one for the festival weeks and one for Ramadan, which starts about three weeks after DSF ends.
Whether you need a packing supplier for shipping cartons or shop packaging supplies for the counter, plain cartons and mailers from UAE stock arrive in days. Custom printed packaging needs a proof and production time, so brief it in November. Our packaging supply service covers shipping, ecommerce, retail and food packaging, plain or printed with your brand.
Corporate tax: two dates around the New Year
Every business subject to UAE corporate tax must file a return and pay any tax due within nine months of the end of its financial year. Around the New Year, that means:
- 31 December 2026: the deadline for financial years that ended on 31 March 2026.
- 30 September 2027: the deadline for financial years that end on 31 December 2026, which covers most companies.
A late return costs AED 500 a month for the first 12 months and AED 1,000 a month after that. Since 14 April 2026, unpaid tax carries a late payment penalty of 14% a year, calculated monthly.
One piece of good news: Small Business Relief has been extended. Ministerial Decision No. 131 of 2026 lets eligible businesses with revenue of AED 3 million or less elect the relief for tax periods ending on or before 31 December 2029, instead of 31 December 2026. You still have to register, file a return and tick the election inside it. Qualifying free zone persons cannot use it.
New company, or not yet registered? We handle VAT and corporate tax registration on EmaraTax with the Federal Tax Authority, for mainland and free zone companies. Your accountant or a registered tax agent then prepares the return itself.
E-invoicing starts on 1 January 2027
From New Year's Day, businesses with annual revenue of AED 50 million or more must issue B2B and B2G invoices through an Accredited Service Provider (ASP). Their deadline to appoint one was 30 October 2026. Everyone else must appoint an ASP by 31 March 2027 and go live on 1 July 2027.
That is less time than it sounds, because e-invoicing touches your whole invoicing system. If your invoices still come out of Excel, Word or a basic app, now is the moment to plan an ERP that can connect to an ASP. Get the system right in the first quarter, test it in the second, and go live calmly in July. Our custom ERP and CRM systems are built for UAE VAT from the start.
CRM services: start 2027 with clean data
The quiet week between Christmas and New Year is the best week of the year to fix your customer data. Merge duplicate contacts, close dead deals and move the leads hiding in WhatsApp chats into one pipeline. If your team has outgrown spreadsheets, a custom CRM puts every lead, quote and follow-up in one place, with no per-user fees.
Starting a business in Sharjah in 2027
Many founders use the New Year as their start date. If that is you, start the paperwork in December: activity approval, trade name and documents take time, and offices slow down over the holidays. Sharjah is one of the most cost-effective places in the UAE to set up, with free zones including SPC Free Zone, Sharjah Media City (Shams), SAIF Zone and Hamriyah Free Zone. Read our business setup in Sharjah guide, then register for corporate tax as soon as the licence is issued.
Your digital content before the festival
Customers search before they shop. Before DSF opens, check that your website, Google Business Profile and product listings show festival hours, current prices and real photos. If you need a digital content supplier, our website packages can include the copy and content we prepare for you. A small business that still has no website can launch one in one to two weeks; see our website packages, each with a live sample site.
The year-end checklist
- Confirm every supplier's last order and last dispatch date of 2026.
- Place first-quarter orders from China by early December.
- Order Christmas and New Year corporate gifts in November.
- Count PPE stock against January's headcount.
- Brief printed packaging for DSF and Ramadan.
- Note your corporate tax deadline from your financial year-end.
- Check your e-invoicing date and whether your systems can connect to an ASP.
- Clean your CRM data in the week between Christmas and New Year.
- Update your website and listings before 4 December.
Frequently asked questions
Is Christmas a public holiday in the UAE?
No. Christmas Day is not one of the UAE's official public holidays, and 25 December 2026 is a normal working day for most businesses. Many suppliers in India, Bangladesh, Pakistan, Europe and the US are closed or short-staffed around it.
When is the New Year holiday in the UAE for 2027?
New Year's Day, Friday 1 January 2027, is a public holiday for the public and private sectors. With the weekend it gives a three-day break, and work resumes on Monday 4 January.
When should I order from China before Chinese New Year 2027?
Confirm orders by early December 2026, and aim to have goods finished and inspected by early January and booked on a ship by mid-January. Chinese New Year is on 6 February 2027 and the official holiday runs from 5 to 12 February.
Has Small Business Relief ended?
No. It has been extended to tax periods ending on or before 31 December 2029, for eligible businesses with revenue of AED 3 million or less. You must still register and elect it in your return.
Does e-invoicing apply to my business from 1 January 2027?
Only if your annual revenue is AED 50 million or more. Other businesses must appoint an Accredited Service Provider by 31 March 2027 and start on 1 July 2027.
Plan it once, with one team
The Supplier (TheSupplier.ae) brings sourcing, digital systems and business consultancy under one roof, from Sharjah. Send your year-end list on WhatsApp at +971 56 822 1312 or through our contact page, and we'll come back with one plan and one quote. Season's greetings, and a happy and productive 2027.
This article is general information, not tax or legal advice. Dates and rules were checked in November 2026 and can change; Islamic holiday dates depend on the moon sighting.