UAE corporate tax and VAT: the essentials for business owners
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Watch Alan explain it · 0:55
Read the video transcript
Everyone knows Dubai is tax free. Right? Well, these days, that's not quite the whole story. Since 2023, the UAE has had a corporate tax on business profits. The headline rate? Nine percent. Which sounds bad, until you see how it actually works. Your first three hundred and seventy five thousand dirhams of profit each year? Taxed at zero. That's roughly eighty thousand pounds. Every single year. Smaller businesses can often claim relief that keeps them at zero for now. And there's still no personal income tax. Your salary and your dividends stay yours. So the picture is still very good. It's just not the zero everything story you see on TikTok. The real trap? The admin. Registration has deadlines, and missing them gets expensive. So if you're setting up, and you want the numbers worked through properly, that's exactly what we do. Come and have a chat before you commit to a structure.
The UAE is still highly tax-efficient, but “tax-free” is out of date for businesses. Two taxes matter, plus the obligations that come with them.
Corporate tax
UAE corporate tax is 9% on taxable profits above AED 375,000, profits up to that threshold are effectively at 0%. Crucially, registration and filing are generally required even if no tax is due, so this isn’t something to ignore just because you’re small.
There’s a freezone angle: a “qualifying free zone person” earning “qualifying income” can still benefit from a 0% corporate-tax rate, but the conditions are strict and specific, and not every freezone company qualifies. It’s worth checking rather than assuming.
VAT
VAT is 5%. Once your taxable turnover passes the mandatory registration threshold, you must register, charge VAT, and file periodic returns. You can register voluntarily below the threshold if it suits your business.
The obligations behind the taxes
Both taxes come with record-keeping and filing duties, and many companies also fall under economic substance and ultimate beneficial owner (UBO) rules. Staying compliant is mostly about good records and meeting deadlines, not difficult, but not optional.
What it means for you
For most owners the UAE is still very competitive, but the days of “set up and forget” are over. Build registration, filing and bookkeeping into your plan from day one, and the tax side stays simple.