United Arab Emirates · Tax & compliance
The tax answer you need,
with the law it rests on.
Corporate tax, VAT, audit and accounting for businesses and individuals in the UAE. Written to be read once and understood — not to sell you a consultation.
- Corporate tax
- 9%
- Below the threshold
- 0%
- VAT standard rate
- 5%
- VAT registration
- AED 375,000
on taxable income above AED 375,000
on the first AED 375,000
on most goods and services
mandatory threshold, rolling 12 months
Rates set by Federal Decree-Law No. 47 of 2022 (corporate tax) and Federal Decree-Law No. 8 of 2017 as amended (VAT). Check any threshold against the Federal Tax Authority before you act on it — no page here has been reviewed yet.
Four ways in, depending on who is asking
I run a company in the UAE
Registration, filing, thresholds and what actually applies to a company your size.
Start with corporate tax → Free zoneMy entity is in a free zone
Whether you qualify for 0%, what breaks it, and the audit your zone expects.
Check your position → IndividualI live and earn here
Residency, tax certificates, and whether your home country still has a claim.
Personal tax and residency → StudyingI am building a career in this
Qualifications, syllabuses, salaries and what employers in the UAE ask for.
Careers and study →Every area, mapped to the questions people actually search
Each hub below is built from real search demand, not from a service brochure. The counts are the number of distinct searches, harvested from UAE Google autocomplete, that the hub and its pages are structured to cover — read straight from the architecture, never typed in.
Corporate Tax
The 9% regime end to end — who is taxable, how income is computed, reliefs, groups, and the filing cycle.
693 questions coveredVAT
Registration, place of supply, input tax recovery, returns, refunds and the corrections that avoid penalties.
222 questions coveredAudit & Assurance
Statutory audit, free zone requirements, internal audit and what an approved auditor will ask you for.
94 questions coveredAccounting
Bookkeeping, year-end close, IFRS, management reporting and outsourced finance.
165 questions coveredPayroll & Gratuity
WPS, end-of-service benefits, leave and the calculations people get wrong.
144 questions coveredCompany Setup
Mainland, free zone and offshore — and the tax consequence of each choice before you commit.
248 questions coveredTransfer Pricing
Related-party rules, documentation thresholds, benchmarking and disclosure.
73 questions coveredESR, UBO & AML
The compliance filings that sit alongside tax and carry their own penalties.
21 questions coveredCalculators, not spreadsheets emailed on request
Corporate tax calculator
Taxable income in, tax due out — including Small Business Relief.
ToolVAT calculator
Add or remove 5% VAT, and reverse-charge scenarios.
ToolGratuity calculator
End-of-service benefit across contract types and service lengths.
ToolTRN verification
Check whether a tax registration number is genuine.
Three rules we do not break
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We name the basis.
Every figure, deadline and rule cites the decree-law, cabinet decision or FTA guide it comes from. If we cannot point at a source, we do not state it as fact.
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We date the review.
Tax law moves. Each page carries the date it was last checked, and we re-check when the FTA publishes something that touches it — not on a content calendar.
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We say when it is unclear.
Some positions are genuinely unsettled. We mark those rather than writing a confident sentence that reads well and might cost you a penalty.
Common questions, answered directly
Does every UAE company have to pay corporate tax?
Every taxable person must register, but not every one pays. UAE corporate tax applies at 0% on taxable income up to AED 375,000 and 9% above it, so a business under that threshold registers and files a return showing nil tax. Registration and payment are separate obligations, and it is the registration deadline that catches most businesses out.
Is Dubai actually tax free?
For most individuals, there is still no personal income tax on salary in the UAE. That is not the same as tax free: businesses fall under corporate tax, VAT applies at 5% on most goods and services, excise tax applies to specific products, and your home country may still tax you on worldwide income depending on your residency position.
Do free zone companies escape corporate tax?
No. Free zone entities are within the corporate tax regime. A Qualifying Free Zone Person can access a 0% rate on qualifying income, but only while it meets every condition — adequate substance, qualifying activities, the de minimis limits and transfer pricing compliance. Fail one and the 0% is lost, and it can be lost for several years.
When do I need to register for VAT?
Registration is mandatory once your taxable supplies and imports exceed AED 375,000 across a rolling twelve-month period, or where you expect to exceed it within the next 30 days. Voluntary registration becomes available at AED 187,500, which can be worth it if you carry recoverable input tax.
How is this site different from a firm’s blog?
We publish the basis. Every page names the law, decision or guide it relies on, and states its own review status rather than implying one — every page here is currently an unreviewed draft and says so. We say plainly when something is unsettled or when a figure needs checking against the Federal Tax Authority. We would rather tell you that a point is unclear than write around it.
Work out where you stand
Start with the position that applies to you — the corporate tax hub covers registration, thresholds, free zone status and the filing cycle in one place.