Who we help

How UAE corporate tax applies in your sector.

The law reads the same for every company. Where the risk sits depends on how your business earns its income and who it trades with. This is where we see it, sector by sector.

Free zone businesses

Free zone companies can pay 0% on qualifying income, but only while every condition of the regime holds, in every tax period.

The 0% rate covers qualifying income only. All other taxable income is taxed at 9%, with no AED 375,000 0% band.
Non-qualifying revenue must stay within 5% of total revenue or AED 5 million, whichever is lower. One breach costs QFZP status for that tax period and the next four.
Qualifying activities follow Ministerial Decision No. 229 of 2025, which replaced the earlier list with effect from 1 June 2023 and brought in a Quoted Price test for commodities.
Every QFZP needs audited financial statements. From 2026 tax periods, Designated Zone distributors also need an independent auditor's agreed-upon-procedures report within 30 days after the return deadline.

Free zone (0%) CT-ready accounting Transfer pricing Health check & audits

Real estate & construction

Developers, contractors and property investors face valuation, timing and financing rules that decide when profit is taxed and how much.

Investment property held at fair value under the realisation basis can carry an irrevocable election to claim deemed depreciation of 4% of original cost (Ministerial Decision No. 173 of 2025, tax periods from 1 January 2025).
Developers: FTA Public Clarification CTP009 covers the transitional valuation of Qualifying Immovable Property.
Net interest on project and development finance is deductible up to the higher of AED 12 million or 30% of EBITDA. Disallowed interest carries forward for up to 10 tax periods.
An individual's income from selling or letting real estate that needs no licence stays outside corporate tax. Property held through a company is taxed in the company.

Advisory & planning Return filing CT-ready accounting Freelancers & individuals

Trading & distribution

Trading groups run on volume and thin margins, so related-party pricing, free zone status and invoice data each move the tax figure directly.

Related-party purchases and sales must be at arm's length, and the transfer pricing disclosure form is filed with the return once related-party transactions exceed AED 40 million in aggregate.
In a free zone, trading qualifying commodities and distribution in or from a Designated Zone can qualify for 0%. From 2026 tax periods, Designated Zone distributors need an independent auditor's agreed-upon-procedures report.
E-invoicing goes live on 1 January 2027 for revenue of AED 50 million or more, and on 1 July 2027 below that. Invoice data then has to reconcile to the revenue in your return.
Revenue over AED 50 million also means audited financial statements, and revenue of AED 200 million or more brings a Master File and Local File.

Transfer pricing Free zone (0%) CT-ready accounting Return filing

E-commerce & technology

Technology and online businesses can outgrow reliefs in a single year, and those carrying out R&D in the UAE can now claim a tax credit.

R&D tax credit for tax periods from 1 January 2026: 15%, 35% and 50% bands on qualifying UAE spend, non-refundable, capped at AED 2 million a year, with each project pre-approved by the Emirates Research and Development Council.
Small Business Relief is lost for good once revenue passes AED 3 million in any tax period, which one strong growth year can trigger.
Free zone companies selling to consumers: transactions with individuals are generally an excluded activity, so that revenue counts towards the de minimis limit.
Charges for IP, platforms and shared services between group companies must be priced at arm's length.

Advisory & planning Free zone (0%) Small Business Relief Transfer pricing

Professional services

In partner-led and owner-managed firms, the tax questions centre on what the business pays its owners, directors and their related parties.

Payments to owners, directors and their related parties are deductible only at market value and only if incurred wholly and exclusively for the business.
A connected-person schedule is filed with the return where payments or benefits to any one connected person exceed AED 500,000.
FTA Public Clarification CTP010 (April 2026): a director is a formally appointed board member and an officer is someone with strategic decision-making authority. Job titles alone don't decide it.
Small Business Relief needs revenue of AED 3 million or less in the period and every earlier one, and splitting a practice to stay under the limit is treated as abuse.

Return filing Small Business Relief Advisory & planning CT-ready accounting

Holding companies & family groups

Holding structures and family groups decide where profit, dividends and losses sit, and the reliefs depend on planning done before a transaction.

Dividends from shareholdings can be exempt under the participation exemption: broadly a stake of at least 5% (or costing at least AED 4 million), held or intended to be held for 12 months, in a company that meets a 9% subject-to-tax test.
A Tax Group needs a parent holding at least 95%, files one return, gets one AED 375,000 band, and must have audited aggregated financial statements whatever its revenue.
Losses can be transferred between resident companies with at least 75% common ownership, and Qualifying Group Relief applies at the same 75% threshold.
Family foundations and family wealth structures have their own rules, set out in FTA Public Clarification CTP008 and the family foundations guide updated in June 2026.

Tax groups Advisory & planning Transfer pricing Global minimum tax

Start-ups & SMEs

Most young companies owe little or no corporate tax in their early years, but each must still register, file and keep records on time.

Register within three months of incorporation. Late registration costs AED 10,000, waived if the first return is filed within 7 months of the end of the first tax period.
Small Business Relief applies where revenue is AED 3 million or less in the period and every earlier one, for tax periods ending on or before 31 December 2029.
Early losses carry forward indefinitely and can offset up to 75% of later taxable income, but losses from a year in which you elect Small Business Relief are lost.
There is one AED 375,000 0% band per taxable person, and splitting a business to multiply it is treated as abuse.

Registration Small Business Relief Return filing CT-ready accounting

Freelancers & individuals

Individuals pay corporate tax only on business turnover above AED 1 million in a calendar year, and much of what people earn is outside it altogether.

The test is total business turnover over AED 1 million in a calendar year (Cabinet Decision No. 49 of 2023). It applies to individuals, not companies.
Wages, personal investment income and income from real estate that needs no licence are excluded, whatever the amount.
Register by 31 March of the following year, then file and pay by 30 September: 2026 turnover means registering by 31 March 2027.
Once in scope, the 0% band on the first AED 375,000 applies and Small Business Relief is available, but losses from a year in which you elect it can't be carried forward.

Freelancers & individuals Small Business Relief Registration