Reference · English / العربية

UAE tax terms, translated into plain language

By Hamza Maghrabi · Last updated 22 August 2026

The words that appear on EmaraTax, in FTA letters and in this site — each with its Arabic equivalent.

Corporate tax

Taxable person (الخاضع للضريبة) — anyone required to register for and pay corporate tax: companies, and individuals with licensed business turnover over AED 1M.
Taxable income (الدخل الخاضع للضريبة) — accounting profit adjusted per the law; the number the 0%/9% bands apply to.
Small Business Relief (إعفاء الأعمال الصغيرة) — election for businesses with revenue ≤ AED 3M to be treated as having no taxable income; extended to periods ending on or before 31 December 2029 (Ministerial Decision No. 131 of 2026).
QFZP — Qualifying Free Zone Person (الشخص المؤهل في المنطقة الحرة) — a free zone company meeting all conditions for 0% on qualifying income.
Qualifying income (الدخل المؤهل) — free-zone income taxed at 0%: transactions with other free zone persons and listed qualifying activities.
De minimis (الحد الأدنى المسموح) — tolerated non-qualifying revenue: the lower of AED 5M or 5% of total revenue.
Tax period (الفترة الضريبية) — your financial year; the return is due 9 months after it ends.
DMTT / Pillar Two (الضريبة التكميلية) — the 15% minimum top-up tax on multinational groups with global revenue over €750M, from 2025.

Administration

FTA — Federal Tax Authority (الهيئة الاتحادية للضرائب) — the regulator that runs registration, returns and penalties.
EmaraTax (منصة إمارات تاكس) — the FTA's online portal where everything happens.
TRN — Tax Registration Number (رقم التسجيل الضريبي) — your VAT identity; corporate tax uses its own registration number.
Tax agent (وكيل ضريبي) — an FTA-licensed professional who can represent you.
Administrative penalty (غرامة إدارية) — fixed fines like the AED 10,000 late-registration penalty; see the penalty calculator.
E-invoicing (الفوترة الإلكترونية) — the structured-invoice mandate phasing in from 2026–27; check your deadline.

VAT & other

VAT (ضريبة القيمة المضافة) — the 5% tax on most goods and services since 2018.
Zero-rated vs exempt (الخاضع للنسبة الصفرية / المعفى) — zero-rated supplies allow input VAT recovery; exempt supplies don't.
Gratuity / end-of-service benefit (مكافأة نهاية الخدمة) — the statutory payment on leaving a job; see the final settlement calculator.
Nisab (النصاب) — the wealth threshold (85g of gold) above which zakat is due; see the zakat calculator.

More terms

The rest of the vocabulary

Taxable person	Any person subject to corporate tax. Includes companies, and individuals carrying on licensed business above the AED 1,000,000 turnover threshold.
Tax period	The financial year, or part of it, for which a return is filed. Usually twelve months.
Taxable income	Accounting profit adjusted for non-deductible items, exempt income, losses and other statutory adjustments. The figure the 9% applies to.
TRN	Tax Registration Number. Issued by the FTA on registration and required on tax invoices.
EmaraTax	The FTA's online platform for registration, filing, payment and reconsideration requests.
QFZP	Qualifying Free Zone Person. A free zone company meeting all the conditions for 0% on qualifying income.
De minimis	The allowance letting a QFZP earn limited non-qualifying revenue, capped at the lower of 5% of total revenue or AED 5,000,000, without losing status.
Designated zone	A VAT classification affecting the treatment of goods moving in and out. Not the same as qualifying for 0% corporate tax.
Input VAT	VAT you pay on business purchases, generally recoverable against output VAT.
Output VAT	VAT you charge customers on taxable supplies.
Reverse charge	Mechanism making the recipient account for VAT on imported goods and services instead of the supplier.
Zero-rated	Taxable at 0%. No VAT charged to the customer, and input VAT remains recoverable.
Exempt supply	Outside the charge to VAT. No VAT charged, and related input VAT is not recoverable.
Voluntary disclosure	The formal route to correct an error in a submitted return.
Reconsideration	A formal request asking the FTA to review a decision or penalty, within the statutory deadline.
Arm's length	The pricing standard for related-party transactions: the price unconnected parties would have agreed.
Transfer pricing	The rules and documentation governing pricing between related parties.
Permanent establishment	A taxable presence created in a country by the nature and duration of activity there, even without a local company.
DMTT	Domestic Minimum Top-up Tax. Brings very large multinational groups to an effective 15% rate under the OECD Pillar Two rules.
Small Business Relief	Election treating a resident business with revenue of AED 3,000,000 or less as having no taxable income, available to periods ending on or before 31 December 2029.
UBO	Ultimate Beneficial Owner. The natural person ultimately owning or controlling a company, subject to its own filing requirements.
Accredited service provider	A provider certified to transmit e-invoices on the Peppol network under the UAE e-invoicing mandate.
Gratuity	End of service benefit under UAE labour law, calculated on basic salary.
Basic salary	The contractual base component excluding allowances. The figure gratuity and overtime are calculated on.

Terms you cannot find here are usually explained in context in the corporate tax guide, the VAT page or the labour law guide.

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