UAE Corporate Tax Calculator 2026: Formula, Examples and Limits

By Harib Nadim · Founder, CalcUAE · Updated 21 July 2026

For a business under the standard UAE corporate tax regime, the headline calculation is:

Corporate tax = 9% × (taxable income − AED 375,000)

If the result inside the brackets is negative, the tax under those standard bands is zero. A business with AED 500,000 of taxable income therefore has an estimated liability of AED 11,250:

(AED 500,000 − AED 375,000) × 9% = AED 11,250

The arithmetic is the easy part. The work lies in getting from accounting profit to taxable income. That is why the CalcUAE corporate tax calculator can be useful for planning but cannot turn unreconciled revenue and bank transactions into a filing-ready answer.

Quick estimates under the standard rates

Those examples assume one ordinary Taxable Person, no special regime, no loss offset and no tax credits. A tax group receives one AED 375,000 band for the group, not one for every member.

Revenue, accounting profit and taxable income are three different numbers

Say a consultancy invoices AED 1.8 million during the year and has AED 1.2 million of expenses. Its accounting profit may be AED 600,000, but its tax calculation does not automatically stop there.

A simplified bridge might look like this:

In that example, the add-backs and exempt income happen to net to zero. The standard-rate estimate remains:

(AED 600,000 − AED 375,000) × 9% = AED 20,250

Change the tax adjustments and the liability changes even though revenue and accounting profit stay the same.

What to enter in the calculator

The quickest mode asks for taxable income directly. Use it only if that figure has already been prepared from credible accounts and tax adjustments.

The detailed mode builds a rough bridge from:

• revenue;
• cost of goods sold;
• operating expenses;
• depreciation;
• non-deductible add-backs; and
• exempt income.

These labels require judgment. For example, “operating expenses” should not include a personal cost just because it was paid from the company bank account. “Exempt income” is not a general label for money received tax-free; a dividend or gain must meet the relevant exemption conditions.

Use actual books where possible. An annual bank-credit total is not a substitute for revenue because it can include loans, owner funding, transfers between accounts, VAT and collection of old invoices.

Common adjustments that change the estimate

Client entertainment

Only 50% of qualifying entertainment expenditure incurred for customers, shareholders, suppliers and other business partners is deductible under the corporate tax rules. If AED 40,000 of qualifying client entertainment was fully expensed in the accounts, a simplified calculation adds AED 20,000 back.

Do not apply the 50% limit blindly to every meal. Staff entertainment, employee welfare and travel costs can require different analysis based on their purpose and facts.

Fines, penalties and illegal payments

Government fines and penalties are generally non-deductible, subject to the law's specific wording and exceptions. Add them back if they reduced accounting profit. The same AED 10,000 late-registration penalty should not be treated as a deduction that saves AED 900 of corporate tax.

Exempt income

Some dividends and gains from a qualifying participation may be exempt. The conditions matter, including ownership, holding period and the status of the participation. Subtracting an amount in the calculator does not establish that the exemption applies.

Interest limitation

The general interest deduction limitation can restrict net interest expenditure. The legislation and Ministerial Decision include a 30% tax-EBITDA test and an AED 12 million de minimis threshold, alongside exclusions and special rules. This is an advanced input in the calculator because a single “interest expense” line from the accounts is not enough to determine the adjustment.

Tax losses

Available tax losses can generally offset up to 75% of taxable income for a later period, subject to the continuity and other statutory conditions. The unused balance may carry forward. The calculator can model the cap; it cannot verify that a historical loss is legally available.

Foreign tax credit

A foreign tax credit may reduce UAE corporate tax on relevant foreign income, capped by the UAE tax attributable to that income. Excess credit is not simply a cash refund. Keep evidence of the foreign tax paid and the income to which it relates.

Small Business Relief is a separate election

Small Business Relief (SBR) is not the AED 375,000 band. It is an election that can treat an eligible Resident Person as having no taxable income for the relevant period.

The headline revenue condition is AED 3 million or less for the current period and every previous tax period ending on or after 1 June 2023. The relief is available for eligible tax periods ending on or before 31 December 2026 under Ministerial Decision No. 73 of 2023. Qualifying Free Zone Persons and members of certain large multinational groups cannot use it.

SBR can also affect tax-loss and interest positions, so “zero tax today” is not the only comparison. The Small Business Relief guide covers the election in more detail.

Free-zone companies need a different calculation

A free-zone licence does not switch the standard calculator to 0%. A Qualifying Free Zone Person (QFZP) can receive:

• 0% on Qualifying Income; and
• 9% on taxable income that is not Qualifying Income, without the ordinary AED 375,000 zero-rate band for that non-qualifying amount.

The QFZP rules also test adequate substance, audited financial statements, transfer pricing, qualifying activities, excluded activities and the de minimis limit for non-qualifying revenue. The calculator's free-zone mode is a scenario model. Classifying the income requires the underlying contracts, counterparties and activities.

If non-qualifying revenue exceeds the permitted de minimis amount, or another QFZP condition fails, the consequences can extend beyond one invoice. Read the free-zone corporate tax guide before relying on a 0% estimate.

Freelancers: check turnover before profit

For a natural person carrying on a business in the UAE, the AED 1 million turnover threshold determines whether the business is within the corporate tax regime under Cabinet Decision No. 49 of 2023. Salary, personal investment income and qualifying real-estate investment income are treated separately from business turnover.

Only after the natural person is in scope do profit, deductions and the AED 375,000 taxable-income band answer the payment question. A freelancer can have turnover above AED 1 million and still owe no tax because taxable income is below AED 375,000. The registration and filing analysis is still required.

See corporate tax for freelancers for the boundary between business and personal income.

What the result does—and does not—tell you

The calculator is good for:

• estimating cash to reserve;
• testing a profit forecast;
• seeing the effect of a simple add-back;
• modelling a tax-loss offset;
• comparing SBR with the standard bands; and
• checking the arithmetic in a draft calculation.

It does not:

• file anything with the FTA;
• confirm that an expense is deductible;
• determine QFZP status;
• prove eligibility for SBR or an exemption;
• replace financial statements;
• account for every restructuring, transfer-pricing or related-party rule; or
• guarantee that the FTA will accept the inputs.

Calling any unofficial estimator “FTA approved” or “FTA compliant” would overstate what it is. The FTA applies the law to the return and its evidence, not to the branding on a calculator.

From estimate to return

Once the estimate is material, work backwards from the filing deadline:

1. Close the accounting period and reconcile the balance sheet.
2. Prepare the accounting-profit-to-taxable-income bridge.
3. Review reliefs, exemptions, losses, interest and related-party disclosures.
4. Reconcile tax payable to available foreign tax credits and prepayments.
5. File and pay through EmaraTax within nine months after the end of the tax period, unless a different rule applies.
6. Keep the calculation and supporting records for the required retention period.

A company with a 31 December 2025 year-end generally files and pays by 30 September 2026. That is a deadline example, not proof that your own tax period ends in December.

Frequently asked questions

Is the first AED 375,000 based on revenue or profit?

It applies to taxable income, not gross revenue. Accounting profit is the starting point before corporate tax adjustments.

If taxable income reaches AED 375,001, is the whole amount taxed at 9%?

No. Under the standard rates, only the AED 1 above the threshold is taxed at 9%.

Must a zero-tax company still register and file?

Often, yes. A zero liability is not the same as being outside the registration and filing rules. The answer depends on the type of person and any applicable exemption.

Can I use the calculator for a free-zone company?

Use its free-zone mode for a scenario, not for classifying income or confirming QFZP status. Those are legal and factual tests beyond arithmetic.

Why does the calculator result differ from 9% of accounting profit?

The standard AED 375,000 band and tax adjustments both change the result. Losses, credits and special regimes can change it again.

Official sources

• FTA Corporate Tax General Guide
• UAE Corporate Tax legislation and guides
• Federal Decree-Law No. 47 of 2022 on the Taxation of Corporations and Businesses

Open the UAE corporate tax calculator, enter the most reliable figure you have, and treat the output as an estimate until the underlying tax adjustments have been reviewed.