UAE Small Business Relief Extended to 2029: Who Qualifies and How to Claim
The AED 3 million revenue test, the new 2029 end date, who is excluded, and what you still have to file even when you pay no corporate tax.
Updated 27 October 2026
Small Business Relief (SBR) lets a qualifying UAE business treat its taxable income as nil, so no corporate tax is due. It was originally available for tax periods ending on or before 31 December 2026. Ministerial Decision No. 131 of 2026 extended it to tax periods ending on or before 31 December 2029, keeping the same AED 3 million revenue threshold.
Who qualifies
- You are a resident person for corporate tax – a UAE company or a natural person doing business in the UAE.
- Your revenue is AED 3 million or less in the tax period, and in every earlier period.
- You are not a Qualifying Free Zone Person and not part of a multinational group with global revenue of EUR 750 million or more.
The revenue test is a one-way door: once revenue goes above AED 3 million in any period, the relief cannot be claimed in later periods even if revenue falls again.
What you still have to do
- Register for corporate tax with the Federal Tax Authority on EmaraTax.
- Keep accounting records and financial statements (cash-basis accounts are allowed for revenue under AED 3 million).
- File a corporate tax return within 9 months of the period end and tick the election for Small Business Relief.
The trade-offs
In a year when you claim SBR, tax losses and disallowed net interest from that year cannot be carried forward. If your business is loss-making this year and expects profits later, it can sometimes be better not to elect relief so the loss can be used against future profits. Also watch for artificial splitting: dividing one business into several entities to stay under AED 3 million is treated as tax avoidance.
How much it saves
The first AED 375,000 of taxable income is already taxed at 0%, so SBR only saves money when profit is above that. A business with AED 2.5 million revenue and AED 600,000 profit would owe 9% × 225,000 = AED 20,250 without relief, and nothing with it. Run your own numbers with the UAE corporate tax calculator.
Based on Ministerial Decision No. 131 of 2026 as reported. Confirm the details on tax.gov.ae before filing.