UAE extends small business corporate tax relief to the end of 2029

The UAE Ministry of Finance has extended Small Business Relief until 31 December 2029: companies with annual revenue up to AED 3 million (about $820 000) can continue paying no corporate tax. In a country where small and medium businesses are roughly 94% of all companies and more than 60% of non-oil GDP, this is the tax event of the year.

Context: there is a tax, but not for everyone

When the UAE introduced its 9% corporate tax in 2023, entrepreneurs' main fear was not the rate but the trend: once it starts, it only tightens. Extending the relief for several more years answers exactly that fear. The system is proving predictable: large, established businesses pay; young ventures get room to grow.

• Up to AED 3m annual revenue — the exemption threshold.
• Until 31 December 2029 — the new expiry date.
• 9% — the standard corporate rate for those who outgrow the relief; for comparison, typical European rates run two to three times higher.

What it means in practice

Tax saved by a small company does not sit in a bank account — it goes into working capital: inventory, marketing, hiring. The relief works as a standing growth stimulus, and its extension extends the whole cycle: new licences, new employees, new offices.

This is where the news meets the office market, where vacancy is down to 6.1%: a good share of Grade B office demand comes precisely from companies growing under this relief. Tax predictability through 2029 means predictability of that demand too.

If you are considering moving a business

• Count revenue, not profit. The threshold is tied to turnover: a services business under AED 3m qualifies outright; a trading business with big volumes does not.
• Planning horizon: three-plus years. The rules are fixed to the end of 2029 — rare certainty by current standards anywhere.
• Relief is not exemption from filing. Tax registration and returns remain mandatory for exempt companies: the relief is claimed in the return, not instead of it.

Based on announcements by the UAE Ministry of Finance.