Every UAE tax & pay answer, in one place

For most of its history the UAE ran with almost no tax on business. That changed twice in a decade. VAT arrived on 1 January 2018 at 5%, and corporate tax followed for financial years starting on or after 1 June 2023. Neither is heavy by international standards, but both come with registration, filing and record-keeping duties, and the penalties are aimed squarely at businesses that ignore the paperwork rather than at businesses that owe a lot of tax.

The corporate tax rate is 0% on the first AED 375,000 of taxable income and 9% above it. A company earning AED 500,000 pays 9% on AED 125,000, so AED 11,250, which is an effective rate of 2.25%. That single fact surprises most people who assume 9% applies to everything.

Smaller businesses can go further. Small Business Relief lets a resident business with revenue of AED 3,000,000 or less be treated as having no taxable income at all, which means zero corporate tax. It was originally due to expire at the end of 2026. Ministerial Decision No. 131 of 2026 extended it to tax periods ending on or before 31 December 2029. The relief is not automatic, you elect it on your return, and you still have to file.

That last point catches people every year. Filing and paying are separate obligations. A business with zero tax due still has to register and still has to file on time, and the late filing penalty applies whether or not any tax was owed.

Start where you actually are

You run a company	Register for corporate tax, file within nine months of your financial year end, and check whether Small Business Relief covers you. If you are in a free zone, the question is whether you meet the Qualifying Free Zone Person conditions. Start at business or run the corporate tax calculator.
You freelance or hold a sole establishment licence	You are only in scope for corporate tax once your business turnover passes AED 1,000,000 in a calendar year. Salary, personal investment income and personal real estate income do not count toward it. See individuals.
You are an employee	There is no personal income tax in the UAE, so nothing is deducted from your salary. What matters to you is what you are owed: end of service gratuity, overtime, annual leave and your final settlement. Start with the gratuity calculator or the labour law guide.

What is coming next

Electronic invoicing is the next big change. The national e-invoicing system began its pilot in July 2026 with the largest taxpayers. Businesses with revenue of AED 50,000,000 or more must appoint an accredited service provider by 30 October 2026 and issue e-invoices from 1 January 2027. Everyone else follows during 2027. It applies to B2B invoicing regardless of whether you are registered for VAT, so it reaches a lot of businesses that think of themselves as being outside the tax system. The e-invoicing page has the timeline and a readiness check.

How this site is kept honest

Rates and deadlines here are checked against the Federal Tax Authority newsroom and the Ministry of Finance media centre every day, and nothing moves on a single source. When a figure changes it is corrected everywhere it appears, in English and Arabic, on the same day. What changed and when is logged on the updates page, and the reasoning behind that process is on the about page.

Every calculator runs in your browser. Nothing you type is sent anywhere, stored, or shared, which is why none of them ask you to sign up.