Short, plain-English definitions of the terms you meet when you set up and run a business in the UAE. Each entry links to the guide or tool that explains it in full, and any figure in a definition comes from our facts register with its source.
92 terms. Last updated
A provider accredited under the UAE e-invoicing rules to issue, receive and exchange electronic invoices through the Electronic Invoicing System. Every business in scope must appoint one: by 30 October 2026 for businesses with revenue of AED 50 million or more, and by 31 March 2027 for smaller businesses, ahead of their go-live dates of 1 January 2027 and 1 July 2027.
UAE e-invoicing: who must comply and the 2026-2027 deadlinesA fine the Federal Tax Authority imposes for breaking a tax rule, set by Cabinet decision: No. 75 of 2023 for corporate tax and No. 40 of 2017 for VAT and excise tax. Registering late costs AED 10,000, and tax paid late carries a penalty of 14% a year, charged monthly. A person can ask the FTA to waive a penalty or to let it be paid in instalments.
Corporate tax penalties in the UAE: registration, filing and paymentThe fixed exchange rate between the UAE dirham and the US dollar, at USD 1 = AED 3.6725. The Central Bank of the UAE publishes the rate, and because the dirham is pegged rather than floating, the official rate does not move from day to day. A bank or an exchange house can still apply its own margin when it converts money.
Why the UAE dirham is pegged to the US dollar at 3.6725Paid holiday that a private-sector worker builds up under the UAE Labour Law: at least 30 days for each year of service, and 2 days for each month once service passes six months in the first year. Leave not taken when the job ends is paid in cash, calculated on the basic wage, whatever the number of days.
Leave in the UAE private sector: annual, sick, maternity and other leaveUnder the UAE Labour Law, a dismissal because the worker filed a serious complaint with MOHRE, or a lawsuit against the employer that proved valid. A court can order compensation of up to 3 months' wage, calculated on the last wage, in addition to the gratuity, notice pay and other dues. The claim starts as a complaint to MOHRE.
Resignation and termination under UAE labour law: notice and final payThe Central Bank of the UAE's monetary policy rate: the rate on its Overnight Deposit Facility. It was raised by 25 basis points to 3.90% from 17 September 2026, after the US Federal Reserve raised its own rate. Short-term borrowing from the Central Bank costs 50 basis points more than the Base Rate.
UAE interest rates: the CBUAE base rate and why it follows the FedThe fixed pay in an employment contract before allowances such as housing, transport and utilities. Under the UAE Labour Law, the end-of-service gratuity and the pay for unused annual leave are both calculated on the last basic wage, and overtime is paid at the hourly wage worked out from it plus at least 25%.
End-of-service gratuity in the UAE: how it is worked outThe natural person who ultimately owns or controls a company through 25% or more of its capital or voting rights, directly or through a chain of ownership, or who controls it by other means, such as the right to appoint most of its directors. Companies record their beneficial owners in a register, file it within 60 days of being licensed and update it within 15 days of a change.
How to start a business in the UAE: the steps in orderThe central bank and banking regulator of the UAE. It licenses and supervises banks and other financial institutions, issues rules such as the regulation that protects SME customers, keeps the dirham pegged to the US dollar and sets the Base Rate, its monetary policy rate. It also publishes official exchange rates and economic reviews.
UAE interest rates: the CBUAE base rate and why it follows the FedA document that states the country where goods were produced. Importers and customs authorities use it to decide whether goods qualify for a preferential rate of duty, such as duty-free treatment between GCC states or a lower rate under a trade agreement. The issuing body and the form depend on the destination and on the agreement concerned.
Certificates of origin in the UAE: when you need one and how to applyCost, insurance and freight: the price of goods plus the cost of insuring and shipping them up to the place of import. UAE customs duty on goods from outside the GCC is generally 5% of the CIF value, and the same value, with customs duty and excise tax added, is the base for import VAT.
UAE customs duty: rates, exemptions and how it is calculatedA trade agreement between the UAE and a partner country. A CEPA can remove or reduce customs duty on goods that meet its rules of origin, and it can also cover trade in services and investment. Each agreement has its own list of goods, timetable of tariff cuts and origin rules, so its effect depends on the partner country and the product.
UAE CEPA trade agreements: partners and what they changeThe rise in the prices households pay, measured by a consumer price index (CPI) that tracks a fixed basket of goods and services. FCSC compiles the UAE figures. Headline inflation averaged 1.6% in 2023, 1.7% in 2024 and 1.3% in 2025, with 0.3% in Abu Dhabi and 2.8% in Dubai in 2025.
UAE inflation: how prices are measured and the latest rateThe UAE federal tax on business profits, which applies to tax periods starting on or after 1 June 2023. Taxable income up to and including AED 375,000 in a tax period is taxed at 0%, and the part above it at 9%. The Ministry of Finance sets the rules, and the Federal Tax Authority administers the tax.
UAE corporate tax rate: who pays 9% and who pays 0%The return in which a taxable person reports its taxable income and the corporate tax due for a tax period. It is filed online on EmaraTax, with financial statements attached unless small business relief is elected, no later than 9 months after the end of the tax period. The tax must be paid by the same date.
Corporate tax return in the UAE: deadlines and how to fileThe registration number a customs authority gives a business so that it can file customs declarations. Each emirate's customs department issues its own. In Dubai it is called the customs business code and is applied for online through Dubai Trade with a copy of the trade licence; in Abu Dhabi a business obtains a customs registration number through TAMM.
How to import goods into the UAE: licence, customs code and clearanceA tax on goods brought into a country. Goods imported into the UAE from outside the GCC generally pay 5% of their CIF value, alcohol pays 50% and cigarettes and tobacco 100%, and some goods are exempt. Duty is collected once, at the first point of entry into the GCC Customs Union.
UAE customs duty: rates, exemptions and how it is calculatedA condition for keeping qualifying free zone person status: non-qualifying revenue in a tax period must not exceed the lower of AED 5,000,000 or 5% of total revenue. Some revenue, such as that of a permanent establishment, is left out of the test. A free zone person that fails it loses the status for 5 tax periods.
Corporate tax in free zones: the qualifying free zone person rulesA free zone named by Cabinet decision that is treated as outside the UAE for VAT on certain supplies of goods, as long as it is fenced, has security measures and customs controls, and follows the procedures the law sets for handling goods. Services supplied in a designated zone are still treated as supplied in the UAE, and a free zone for corporate tax is not automatically a designated zone.
UAE VAT rates: 5%, zero-rated and exempt supplies explainedThe fee Dubai Land Department charges to register a property sale: 2% of the sale value paid by the seller and 2% paid by the buyer. Fixed fees for the title deed and other services, and a registration trustee service fee, come on top. Property sales in other emirates are registered under their own rules and fees.
Buying property in the UAE as a foreigner: freehold areas and rulesA tax that tops up the effective tax rate of UAE entities of large multinational groups to 15%. It applies for financial years starting on or after 1 January 2025 to groups with annual global revenue of EUR 750 million or more in at least two of the four preceding financial years, in addition to the normal corporate tax rules.
UAE corporate tax rate: who pays 9% and who pays 0%The UAE system under which businesses issue and send invoices and credit notes in a structured electronic format through accredited service providers, within 14 business days of the transaction. It started with a pilot on 1 July 2026. Businesses with revenue of AED 50 million or more go live by 1 January 2027, and smaller businesses by 1 July 2027.
UAE e-invoicing: who must comply and the 2026-2027 deadlinesThe Emirates Interbank Offered Rate: the daily reference rate at which a panel of banks can obtain dirham funding for a given period, such as one, three or six months. The Central Bank describes 3-month EIBOR as a key benchmark for floating-rate loans, and a lender may price a business loan as its own margin over it. It is not fixed to the Base Rate.
UAE interest rates: the CBUAE base rate and why it follows the FedThe Federal Tax Authority's online platform, where businesses and individuals register for tax, file returns, pay and apply for services such as a tax residency certificate or a penalty waiver. Corporate tax registration on EmaraTax is free of charge, and the corporate tax return is completed and filed there by the taxable person, its tax agent or its legal representative.
How to register for corporate tax in the UAEThe federal policy of raising the number of UAE nationals working in the private sector. Companies with 50 or more workers must raise the share of Emiratis in skilled jobs by 2 percentage points a year, and companies with 20 to 49 workers in 14 listed sectors have their own hiring targets. Companies that miss a target pay financial contributions.
Emiratisation rules for private companies: targets and contributionsA lump sum that an expatriate full-time worker in the private sector receives when the job ends, after at least one year of continuous service. It is 21 days' basic wage for each of the first five years and 30 days' basic wage for each later year, capped at two years' wage, and is paid within 14 days of the end of the contract.
End-of-service gratuity in the UAE: how it is worked outA card that records a company with the Federal Authority for Identity, Citizenship, Customs and Port Security (ICP), which describes it as reflecting the establishment's registered data. In Dubai, GDRFA Dubai issues establishment cards to private sector and free zone businesses. ICP renews the card only if the company holds a valid trade licence and has paid any fines due, so a lapsed licence also holds up the card.
How to start a business in the UAE: the steps in orderA federal tax on specific goods, charged separately from VAT. Since 1 January 2026 it covers five categories: tobacco and tobacco products, electronic smoking devices and tools, the liquids used in them, energy drinks and sweetened drinks. Tobacco, vaping products and energy drinks are taxed at 100% of the excise price, and sweetened drinks per litre by sugar content.
Excise tax calculatorA supply on which no VAT is charged and for which the supplier cannot recover the VAT on its related costs. In the UAE, exempt supplies are specified financial services, residential buildings sold or leased other than zero-rated first supplies, bare land and local passenger transport. Commercial property, by contrast, is taxed at the standard rate of 5%.
UAE VAT rates: 5%, zero-rated and exempt supplies explainedThe federal authority responsible for identity, citizenship, residence, customs and port security in the UAE. It issues the golden and green residence permits and publishes their conditions, and it sets federal customs policy, including the rules of the GCC Customs Union. Customs clearance at each port is handled by the customs authority of the emirate.
UAE golden visa: categories and requirements for investors and professionalsThe annual budget of the UAE federal government. The federal budget for 2026 is AED 92.40 billion, with spending equal to revenue, up from AED 71.50 billion in 2025, and the Ministry of Finance describes it as the second balanced federal budget in a row. It does not include the separate budgets of the individual emirates.
Oil and non-oil: how much of the UAE economy is oilThe federal body that compiles the UAE's official national statistics, including gross domestic product and consumer prices. The Central Bank of the UAE uses its data for the growth and inflation figures in its own reports. Recent figures are first published as preliminary and can be revised later, so a figure should always be read with its date.
UAE GDP: size, growth and how the economy is doingThe federal body that administers and collects corporate tax, VAT and excise tax in the UAE. It registers taxpayers, receives returns and payments, carries out tax audits, imposes administrative penalties and publishes guides and clarifications. A person can ask it to reconsider a decision within 40 business days of being notified of it.
How to register for corporate tax in the UAEEverything an employer owes a worker when the employment contract ends, paid together: unpaid wages, any notice allowance, pay for unused annual leave, a foreign worker's end-of-service gratuity and any other entitlement under the law, the contract or the establishment's by-laws. The Labour Law requires it to be paid within 14 days of the end of the contract.
Resignation and termination under UAE labour law: notice and final payThe form every private-sector employment contract takes under the UAE Labour Law. It runs for a set period and can be extended or renewed for a similar or shorter term. If both sides keep working after it ends without renewing it, the contract is treated as renewed on the same terms, and renewals count towards end-of-service benefits.
Resignation and termination under UAE labour law: notice and final payAn area with its own authority that licenses and registers companies under its own rules, and decides which company types it registers, such as the free zone company or the free zone establishment. A free zone company can trade inside its zone and internationally, but sells into the UAE mainland through a licensed mainland distributor or a mainland branch or company.
How to set up a free zone company in the UAEAn area of Dubai where non-UAE citizens may own and register property, designated by the Ruler of Dubai under Law No. 7 of 2006. Outside these areas, non-citizens cannot register property in Dubai in their own names. Companies owned by non-citizens can also hold property in these areas if they are registered in a Dubai free zone or another emirate.
Buying property in the UAE as a foreigner: freehold areas and rulesThe customs union of the six Gulf Cooperation Council states: the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Qatar, Bahrain and Oman. It has operated since 1 January 2003 with a common external tariff. Customs duty is collected once, at the first point of entry into the union, and goods of GCC origin move between member states free of duty.
UAE customs duty: rates, exemptions and how it is calculatedThe Golden Residency: a 10-year renewable UAE residence without a sponsor, issued by ICP to eligible investors, entrepreneurs, skilled professionals, exceptional talents, outstanding students and graduates, humanitarian pioneers and frontline heroes. Investor routes include AED 2,000,000 in property, or in a deposit, an investment fund or a UAE company, and professionals need a salary of at least AED 30,000 a month.
UAE golden visa: categories and requirements for investors and professionalsThe Green Residence: a 5-year renewable UAE residence without a sponsor, issued by ICP. Skilled workers at MOHRE occupational levels 1 to 3 qualify with at least a bachelor's degree and a salary of at least AED 15,000 a month. Freelancers and self-employed people need a MOHRE permit and freelance income of at least AED 360,000 a year over the previous two years.
Investor visas and the green visa in the UAE: who qualifiesThe total value of the goods and services produced in a country over a period. FCSC publishes UAE GDP, and growth is quoted in real terms. UAE real GDP grew 6.2% in 2025, and in the first half of 2026 it reached AED 961.9 billion at constant prices, 0.4% more than a year earlier.
UAE GDP: size, growth and how the economy is doingThe Harmonized System code, an international product classification number that customs authorities use to identify goods. In the UAE, the code of a product decides its line in the common customs tariff of the GCC, and so whether it pays the general rate of duty, a higher rate or no duty at all. Importers declare it for the goods they clear.
UAE customs duty: rates, exemptions and how it is calculatedThe UAE unemployment insurance scheme for private-sector and federal government employees, with some exclusions. A worker with a basic salary of up to AED 16,000 pays no more than AED 5 a month, and above that no more than AED 10. After a job loss that is not a resignation, it pays 60% of the average basic salary for up to 3 months per claim.
ILOE unemployment insurance: who must subscribe and what it paysVAT charged when goods enter the UAE, at the standard rate of 5%. It is worked out on the customs value of the goods, including insurance and freight, plus any customs duty and excise tax paid on the import; VAT itself is not part of the value. The customs duty calculator shows both taxes for a shipment.
How to import goods into the UAE: licence, customs code and clearanceThe VAT a registered business pays on the goods and services it buys, and on its imports, for its business. It deducts input tax from the VAT it charges on its sales in its VAT return, and claims the balance back if input tax is the larger amount. VAT on costs linked to exempt supplies cannot be recovered in this way.
How to file a VAT return in the UAE: periods, deadlines and paymentThe number an investor needs to hold or trade shares on a UAE stock exchange. For the Dubai Financial Market it is the DFM Investor Number, or NIN, issued by Dubai CSD, which is also needed to subscribe to an IPO. The Abu Dhabi Securities Exchange issues its own investor number for trading, clearing and settlement.
How to invest in the UAE stock market: DFM, ADX and your investor numberA short document that a bank or other financial institution licensed by the Central Bank of the UAE must give an SME customer before it provides a product, setting out the product's main terms and costs. The institution must also give at least 60 calendar days' written notice before it changes the terms and conditions of a product or service, including its fees.
Business accounts with no minimum balance: how UAE bank fees workThe checks a bank carries out to confirm who a customer is, who owns and controls it and how it will use its account, before it opens the account and while the account runs. For a company, the bank looks at its licence and founding documents, its owners and beneficial owners, and the people who sign for it. Each bank sets its own list of documents.
How to open a business bank account in the UAEOne of the five forms of commercial company allowed by the Commercial Companies Law. An LLC has at least 2 and at most 50 partners, each liable only up to their share of the capital, and a single natural or legal person can also form and own one alone. On the mainland, its trade name is followed by the abbreviation LLC.
Company legal forms in the UAE: LLC, sole establishment, branch and moreA company licensed by the economic department of an emirate rather than by a free zone authority, also called an onshore company. Since early 2021, foreign investors can own up to 100% of most mainland companies without an Emirati shareholder or a local agent. For activities of strategic impact, the Cabinet sets licensing conditions that may restrict foreign ownership.
Mainland vs free zone: how to choose for your UAE companyLeave for a female private-sector worker around childbirth: 60 days, the first 45 on full pay and the next 15 on half pay. It can start up to 30 days before the expected delivery date, and the employer may not dismiss her or give her notice because of pregnancy or maternity leave. Further leave applies in some cases.
Leave in the UAE private sector: annual, sick, maternity and other leaveThe founding document of a company. u.ae lists it for limited partnerships, limited liability companies and both types of joint stock company. In Dubai, the Department of Economy and Tourism issues the memorandum for LLCs, one-person companies and civil companies, and a notary for the other legal forms. Depending on the legal form and the owners, a local service agent agreement can take its place.
How to start a business in the UAE: the steps in orderThe amount a bank asks a business to keep in its account, below which the bank may charge a fee or apply different terms. Each bank sets its own minimum balances and fees, so there is no single market figure. Under the Central Bank's SME rules, a bank must give SME customers 60 calendar days' notice before it changes its fees.
Business accounts with no minimum balance: how UAE bank fees workThe UAE Labour Law sets no general minimum wage for the private sector; it requires wages to be enough to meet workers' basic needs. A separate minimum applies to UAE nationals: MOHRE has set the minimum monthly wage for Emiratis working in the private sector at AED 6,000, effective 1 January 2026.
Emiratisation rules for private companies: targets and contributionsThe federal ministry responsible for private-sector employment in the UAE. It registers employers, issues work permits, runs the Wage Protection System, applies the Emiratisation targets and handles labour complaints, which it tries to settle within 14 days before referring them to court. It can decide claims under AED 50,000 itself.
Wage Protection System (WPS): what UAE employers must doThe Emirati Talent Competitiveness Council, which runs the national programmes that support UAE nationals in private-sector jobs and the companies that hire them. Its platform lists Emirati job seekers and training programmes, and MOHRE points companies to it when they recruit. Fake Emiratisation and other fraud aimed at obtaining Nafis support are violations with their own penalties.
Emiratisation rules for private companies: targets and contributionsGross domestic product measured at current prices, so it moves with both the volume of output and the prices it is sold at. Real GDP is the better measure of whether output is growing; nominal GDP is the one usually used to compare the size of economies or to express tax revenue and debt as a share of output.
UAE GDP: size, growth and how the economy is doingThe part of UAE output that does not come from the hydrocarbon sector of oil and gas, such as trade, finance, construction, real estate, tourism and manufacturing. In the first half of 2026, non-oil GDP grew 1.8% on a year earlier and made up 79.2% of real GDP, up from 78.1%, according to FCSC.
Oil and non-oil: how much of the UAE economy is oilThe time between one party telling the other that it is ending an employment contract and the end of the contract. After probation, the UAE Labour Law requires a notice period of at least 30 days and no more than 90 days. The worker is paid in full during it, and a party that does not serve notice pays the other in lieu.
Resignation and termination under UAE labour law: notice and final payA property sold before it is built or completed. In Dubai, amounts buyers pay for units sold off-plan are deposited in the project's escrow account under Law No. 8 of 2007, and the Dubai Land Department's project status service shows a project's completion percentage. ICP accepts off-plan units bought from an approved local developer towards the property route of the golden visa.
Buying property in the UAE as a foreigner: freehold areas and rulesA company registered with an offshore registry in the UAE that receives a certificate of incorporation rather than a business licence. An offshore company registered with Jafza, the Jebel Ali Free Zone Authority, cannot carry on commercial activity with persons in the UAE and deals with Jafza only through a registered agent. Other offshore registries in the UAE set their own rules.
Company legal forms in the UAE: LLC, sole establishment, branch and moreWork beyond the normal hours of 8 a day or 48 a week. Under the UAE Labour Law, overtime is limited to 2 hours a day and is paid at the hourly wage based on the basic wage plus at least 25%, or plus at least 50% for overtime between 10 pm and 4 am, except for shift workers.
Working hours and overtime pay under UAE labour lawA place of business in the UAE, or a person acting for it here, through which a non-resident carries on business, making it taxable in the UAE on the profits linked to it. A non-resident company whose permanent establishment comes into existence on or after 1 March 2024 must apply for corporate tax registration within 6 months.
How to register for corporate tax in the UAEA trial period at the start of employment, of up to 6 months, which can be used only once with the same employer. During probation the employer must give 14 days' written notice to end the contract, and a worker must give 1 month's notice to move to another UAE employer or 14 days' notice to leave the UAE.
Probation period rules in the UAEA free zone person that meets the conditions of the Corporate Tax Law, including adequate substance in the free zone, qualifying income, audited financial statements, transfer pricing compliance and the de minimis test. It pays corporate tax at 0% on qualifying income and 9% on its other taxable income. Failing a condition costs it the status for 5 tax periods.
Corporate tax in free zones: the qualifying free zone person rulesThe shipment to another country of goods that were first imported into the UAE, with or without storage, repacking or other handling in between. A re-export goes through its own customs procedure, for example from a free zone or a customs warehouse, and that procedure decides how customs duty on the goods is handled.
Exporting and re-exporting goods from the UAEGross domestic product measured at constant prices, so that it shows changes in the volume of goods and services produced rather than changes in their prices. Growth of the UAE economy is quoted in real terms: real GDP grew 4.3% in 2023, 6.6% in 2024 and 6.2% in 2025, according to FCSC data.
UAE GDP: size, growth and how the economy is doingA VAT rule under which the business that receives a supply, rather than the supplier, accounts for the VAT, for example on certain imports of goods and services. The recipient reports the VAT as output tax and, where entitled, recovers it as input tax in the same return. Since 1 January 2026 it no longer has to issue a self-invoice.
Reverse charge under UAE VAT: when it applies and how to account for itThe tests that decide which goods count as originating in a country, and so qualify for the lower duty a trade agreement such as a CEPA offers. They differ between agreements and between products, so passing them under one agreement says nothing about another. A common test asks for sufficient working or processing, shown by a change in tariff classification or a minimum value content.
UAE CEPA trade agreements: partners and what they changeLeave for illness that is not caused by a work injury. After probation, a private-sector worker is entitled to up to 90 days a year, continuous or intermittent: the first 15 days on full pay, the next 30 on half pay and the remaining 45 unpaid. The worker must tell the employer within 3 days and provide a medical report.
Leave in the UAE private sector: annual, sick, maternity and other leaveA shorter VAT invoice that leaves out the buyer's details and the line-by-line breakdown, and is issued on the date of supply. A VAT-registered supplier may use it when the customer is not registered for VAT, or when the customer is registered and the supply is worth AED 10,000 or less, but never for a supply under the reverse charge.
Tax invoice requirements in the UAE: what a valid VAT invoice must showA corporate tax relief that lets a resident business be treated as having no taxable income for a tax period if its revenue in that period, and in every earlier one, is no more than AED 3 million. It covers tax periods ending on or before 31 December 2029 and is elected in each tax return. Qualifying free zone persons and members of large multinational groups cannot use it.
Small business relief: who qualifies for UAE corporate tax relief and how to claim itA micro, small or medium business. For the Central Bank of the UAE's customer protection rules, the size limits come from Cabinet Resolution No. 22 of 2016 and differ for trading, manufacturing and services. A small trading business, for example, has up to 50 employees or revenue of up to AED 50 million, and a medium one up to 200 employees or AED 250 million.
SME finance in the UAE: loans, trade finance and government programmesA business owned by one person that is not a separate company. Emirates license it, and its trade name is followed by EST. The owner is personally liable for all of its debts, unlike the owner of a one-person LLC, who risks only the capital. For corporate tax, the owner and the establishment are treated as one and the same, so the owner is the taxable person.
Company legal forms in the UAE: LLC, sole establishment, branch and moreIslamic finance certificates that give their holders a share in the ownership of assets, or in the income from them, instead of a loan that pays interest. Governments and companies issue sukuk to raise money. Holders receive periodic payments and the return of their capital at the end of the term, as set in the terms of each issue.
UAE treasury bonds and sukuk: how individuals can investExcise tax on drinks with added sugar or other sweeteners, charged per litre by sugar content since 1 January 2026: AED 1.09 a litre for 8 grams or more per 100 mL, AED 0.79 for 5 grams to under 8 grams, and AED 0 below 5 grams or for drinks sweetened only artificially. Drinks with at least 75% milk are not covered.
Excise tax calculatorThe document a VAT-registered supplier issues when the VAT it charged on a supply turns out too high, for example because the supply was cancelled, the agreed price changed, goods were returned with a refund or tax was charged in error. It must be issued within 14 days of the event that caused the adjustment and delivered to the buyer.
Tax invoice requirements in the UAE: what a valid VAT invoice must showThe document a VAT-registered business must issue for a taxable supply, showing the details the VAT law requires, within 14 days of the date of supply. A simplified tax invoice can be used instead when the customer is not registered for VAT, or is registered and the supply is worth no more than AED 10,000.
Tax invoice requirements in the UAE: what a valid VAT invoice must showThe period for which a business works out and reports its tax. For corporate tax it is the financial year: the calendar year or the 12-month period of the financial statements, and a business can apply to the FTA to change it. For VAT the standard tax period is three calendar months, though the FTA can set a different one.
Corporate tax return in the UAE: deadlines and how to fileThe number the Federal Tax Authority gives a person when it approves a tax registration on EmaraTax. For VAT it is what people mean by a UAE VAT number, and the VAT law requires it on every tax return, tax invoice, tax credit note and other tax document. An approved corporate tax registration also gives the business a TRN.
VAT registration in the UAE: thresholds and how to registerA certificate from the Federal Tax Authority confirming that a company or an individual was resident in the UAE for tax purposes over one tax period or another 12-month period. It can be requested to apply a double taxation agreement or for other purposes, with different documents for each. The FTA processes a complete application within 10 business days, and a new company can apply once it has been established for 12 months.
How to get a UAE tax residency certificateThe profit on which corporate tax is charged. It starts from the accounting profit in the financial statements and is adjusted as the Corporate Tax Law requires, for example for exempt income, reliefs and disallowed expenses. Tax losses carried forward can reduce it by no more than 75% in a later period, and the first AED 375,000 is taxed at 0%.
UAE corporate tax rate: who pays 9% and who pays 0%A person subject to UAE corporate tax. Resident persons are companies formed in the UAE, free zone companies included, foreign companies managed and controlled here, and individuals doing business here. Non-residents are taxable when they have a permanent establishment, UAE-sourced income or a nexus here. An individual is taxable once business turnover exceeds AED 1 million in a calendar year.
How to register for corporate tax in the UAEThe licence that allows a business to carry on its stated activities. A mainland licence is issued by the economic department of the emirate, and a free zone licence by the zone's authority. The Ministry of Economy and Tourism lists six types: industrial, commercial, professional, tourism, agricultural and crafts, and the emirates offer further variants of their own.
Trade licence types in the UAE: commercial, professional, industrial and e-commerceThe name under which a business is registered and trades. On the mainland it is registered by the emirate's economic department and must be followed by the abbreviation of the legal form, such as LLC, EST, PJSC or PrJSC. A trade name is not a trademark: trademarks are registered by the Ministry of Economy and Tourism.
Trade licence types in the UAE: commercial, professional, industrial and e-commerceFederal Decree-Law No. 33 of 2021 on the Regulation of Employment Relationships, in force since 2 February 2022, with its Implementing Regulation, Cabinet Resolution No. 1 of 2022. It governs private-sector employment on the mainland and in non-financial free zones, from contracts, hours and leave to wages, end-of-service benefits and disputes. Its periods count a year as 365 days and a month as 30.
End-of-service gratuity in the UAE: how it is worked outA tax on the consumption of goods and services, collected in stages by registered businesses along the supply chain. In the UAE it is charged at a standard rate of 5% on taxable supplies and imports, unless a supply is zero-rated or exempt. A business must register once its taxable supplies and imports exceed AED 375,000 over the previous 12 months.
UAE VAT rates: 5%, zero-rated and exempt supplies explainedThe value of supplies at which a business must or may register for VAT. Registration is mandatory when taxable supplies and imports exceeded AED 375,000 over the previous 12 months, or will in the next 30 days, and voluntary above AED 187,500. A non-resident making taxable supplies in the UAE has no threshold, unless someone in the UAE settles the VAT.
VAT registration in the UAE: thresholds and how to registerThe return a VAT-registered business files with the Federal Tax Authority for each tax period, normally three calendar months. It reports the VAT charged on sales and the VAT recovered on costs. The return must reach the FTA, and any VAT due must be paid, by the 28th day after the end of the tax period.
How to file a VAT return in the UAE: periods, deadlines and paymentA form a taxpayer uses to tell the Federal Tax Authority about an error in a tax return, a tax assessment or a refund application, and to correct it. The penalty is 1% of the tax difference for each month or part of a month. If the error is disclosed only after the FTA has notified a tax audit, a fixed 15% is added.
Corporate tax penalties in the UAE: registration, filing and paymentThe electronic system through which employers registered with MOHRE pay salaries, so that the ministry can check that wages are paid in full and on time. Under Ministerial Resolution No. 340 of 2026, the previous month's wages are due on the first day of each month, and at least 85% of the total wages due must be paid on time.
Wage Protection System (WPS): what UAE employers must doA taxable supply on which VAT is charged at 0%. In the UAE these include exports of goods and services outside the GCC, international transport, certain means of transport, investment-grade precious metals, the first supply of a new residential building within three years of completion, and designated education and healthcare services.
UAE VAT rates: 5%, zero-rated and exempt supplies explained