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✓ Last verified: 28 September 2026 · FTA / Ministry of Finance

UAE Corporate Tax Calculator

The maths is simple — 0% up to AED 375,000 of profit, 9% above. The money is in the reliefs: Small Business Relief can zero your bill entirely, and it is no longer expiring in 2026 — Ministerial Decision 131 of 2026 pushed the cut-off out to 31 December 2029. Check where you stand in ten seconds.

Needed for the Small Business Relief check (threshold: AED 3M).

Corporate tax due

AED 0

Enter your profit.

Registration is mandatory for every company — even at 0% tax. Mainland, free zone, and individuals with business turnover above AED 1M all must register with the FTA; the late-registration penalty is AED 10,000. The FTA's relief initiative waives that penalty where the first tax return or annual declaration is filed within 7 months of the end of the first tax period — not the usual 9 — and refunds it as an EmaraTax credit if already paid. Note the window is tied to your first period only: for a calendar-year company already trading in 2023 the first period was 2024 and the window closed on 31 July 2025; for a first period ending 31 December 2025 it closed on 31 July 2026. Returns for periods ending 31 December 2025 are due by 30 September 2026 — late-filing and late-payment penalties explained.

How the pieces fit (2026)

  • Standard: 0% on profit up to AED 375,000; 9% on everything above.
  • Small Business Relief: if revenue ≤ AED 3M (and you're a UAE resident business, not a QFZP or multinational-group member), you can elect a zero tax base — for tax periods ending on or before 31 December 2029. The original cut-off was 31 December 2026; Ministerial Decision 131 of 2026 (issued 29 July 2026) replaced Clause 2 of Article 2 of MD 73/2023 and moved it three years out. The AED 3M threshold itself did not change — only the deadline. The relief is elected per tax period, in the return.
  • Free zones: a Qualifying Free Zone Person pays 0% on qualifying income — but must maintain substance in the zone, stick to qualifying activities, keep non-qualifying revenue under 5% or AED 5M (whichever is lower), and file audited accounts. Slip once and the status is lost for the current year plus four more. And a QFZP gets no AED 375,000 zero band, so for small free zone companies it can cost more than the ordinary rules: the full QFZP test under MD 229 of 2025.
  • Individuals: salaries, personal investments and personal rental income are outside corporate tax entirely; only business activity with turnover above AED 1M in a calendar year pulls a natural person in, licensed or not (guide for individuals).
  • Very large groups: multinationals with €750M+ global revenue face a 15% minimum top-up tax (DMTT) from 2025 — irrelevant to SMEs.

The two tax bands on your first AED 1M of profit

0% on profit up to AED 375,000 9% on profit above AED 375,000 0% 9% AED 0 375,000 1,000,000 Example: AED 1M profit → tax AED 56,250 → effective rate 5.6%

The zero band means small profits stay untouched — and Small Business Relief (revenue ≤ AED 3M) can zero even the 9% band, for tax periods ending up to 31 December 2029.

Frequently asked questions

When does Small Business Relief end?

It now applies to tax periods ending on or before 31 December 2029. The relief was originally written to expire after 31 December 2026, but Ministerial Decision 131 of 2026 — issued on 29 July 2026 — amended Ministerial Decision 73 of 2023 and extended it by three years. Two things to keep in mind: the AED 3M revenue threshold was not raised, and the relief is not automatic — you have to elect it in each year's return in EmaraTax. Note also that the AED 3M test looks at the current and all previous tax periods, so a single year above AED 3M disqualifies you for good.

Do I have to register if my profit is below AED 375K?

Yes. Registration is mandatory for all taxable persons regardless of profit — including zero-tax and loss-making companies. The penalty for late registration is AED 10,000, waived where the first return or annual declaration is filed within 7 months of the end of the first tax period (and refunded as an EmaraTax credit if already paid). That window attaches to the first period only — for a 31 December 2025 year-end it expired on 31 July 2026.

Is free-zone income automatically tax-free?

No — only for a Qualifying Free Zone Person on qualifying income (defined activity lists), with real substance in the zone, audited financials, and non-qualifying revenue under the de-minimis line (5% or AED 5M). Breach the conditions and you lose the 0% for five years.

Do freelancers and individuals pay corporate tax?

Only if their total business turnover exceeds AED 1M in a calendar year, whether or not they hold a licence (Cabinet Decision 49 of 2023; the FTA taxes an unlicensed business too). Turnover is gross income, not profit. Employment income, personal investments and renting out your own property (without a license) stay outside the regime.

Is salary a deductible expense for my company?

Yes — salaries, including reasonable owner salaries, are deductible business expenses, which is why profit (not revenue) is the tax base. Model your net first in the salary calculator, then tax the remainder here.

Sources

28 September 2026: corrected the wording on individuals. We had written that only licensed business activity above AED 1M counts; Cabinet Decision 49 of 2023 tests business turnover, and the FTA's natural-persons guide (Example 2) treats an unlicensed business as taxable too. A licence matters only for the personal-investment and real-estate exclusions. 23 September 2026: the late-registration waiver note was corrected — for most calendar-year companies the first tax period was 2024, so the 7-month window closed on 31 July 2025, not 2026. Rules re-verified on 22 September 2026. Corrected this round: Small Business Relief does not end after 2026. Ministerial Decision 131 of 2026, issued 29 July 2026 and effective the day after publication, replaced Clause 2 of Article 2 of MD 73/2023 with text running the AED 3M threshold through “Tax Periods that end on or before 31 December 2029”. We read the decision itself rather than a summary: it is one operative sentence, it changes only the date, and it leaves the AED 3M figure alone. Every page on this site that said “2026 is the final year” has been corrected. Unchanged and re-confirmed: the 9% rate and AED 375,000 band, the AED 3M threshold, the QFZP de-minimis (5% or AED 5M), the AED 1M natural-person threshold, and the AED 10,000 late-registration penalty waiver running 7 months from the end of the first tax period — so for 31 December 2025 year-ends that window still closed on 31 July 2026.

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✓ CheckUAE — free UAE calculators, verified against official sources · https://checkuae-hub.pages.dev/corporate-tax-calculator-uae/ · Estimate for information only, not legal or financial advice.