Is UAE Small Business Relief Ending in 2026? No, It Runs to 2029

Watch on YouTube: Is UAE Small Business Relief Ending in 2026? No, It Runs to 2029 (88 seconds). Transcript below.

Is UAE Small Business Relief ending in 2026?

No. Small Business Relief (SBR) lets a small resident business be treated as having no taxable income for a tax period. Ministerial Decision No. 73 of 2023 first limited it to tax periods ending on or before 31 December 2026 (UAE Ministry of Finance, 6 April 2023). That is where the “ends in 2026” answer comes from.

Ministerial Decision No. 131 of 2026, issued on 29 July 2026, replaced that limit. In our translation of the official Arabic text, the threshold “continues to apply to subsequent tax periods ending on or before 31 December 2029”. It applies from the day after its publication.

What changed, and what stayed the same?

Only the end date.

UAE Small Business Relief before and after Ministerial Decision No. 131 of 2026. Checked 9 October 2026.

Rule	Before (MD 73 of 2023)	Now (MD 131 of 2026)
Last tax period covered	Ending on or before 31 December 2026	Ending on or before 31 December 2029
First tax period covered	Starting on or after 1 June 2023	Unchanged
Revenue limit	AED 3,000,000 or less, every tax period	Unchanged
Cannot elect	Qualifying Free Zone Persons; members of multinational groups above AED 3.15 billion	Unchanged
Effect	No taxable income for the period	Unchanged
Registration and return	Required; return within 9 months	Unchanged

The test is when a tax period ends: with a 31 December year end, the 2027 to 2029 tax periods are now covered; a period ending 30 June 2030 is not.

Who qualifies for Small Business Relief from 2027 to 2029?

A resident person with revenue of AED 3,000,000 or less in the current tax period and every previous one, who elects the relief for that period (Federal Tax Authority). Revenue can be determined under the accounting standards accepted in the UAE (UAE Ministry of Finance).

The FTA’s example: revenue of AED 4,300,000 in the period ending 31 December 2025 rules out the period ending 31 December 2026, even at AED 1,900,000. Go over once, and it’s gone for good.

What does electing the relief do?

The period is treated as having no taxable income (FTA). Two conditions come with it:

• Other exemptions, reliefs and deductions are not available for that period (FTA).
• No transfer pricing documentation is needed, but related-party deals must still be priced at arm’s length, as if the parties were unrelated (FTA).

Who can’t use Small Business Relief?

Qualifying Free Zone Persons (QFZPs), free zone companies that meet the conditions for 0% corporate tax on qualifying income (UAE Ministry of Finance), and members of multinational enterprise (MNE) groups with consolidated revenue above AED 3.15 billion (FTA).

Splitting one business to keep each part under AED 3 million does not work either: where the whole business exceeds AED 3 million and the relief is elected, the ministry treats an artificial separation as a tax advantage arrangement under Article 50(1) of the Corporate Tax Law.

Do you still register and file if you elect the relief?

Yes. Every taxable person, including free zone persons, registers for corporate tax and files a return within 9 months of each tax period end (UAE Ministry of Finance), and the relief is elected each period (FTA). With a 31 December year end, the 2026 return is due by 30 September 2027.

Can a Dubai company owned by a Singapore company claim it?

Yes, if it meets the conditions. A Singapore parent or sister company does not by itself trigger the MNE exclusion, which starts above AED 3.15 billion of group revenue. The Dubai company must be a resident person, not a QFZP, and pass the revenue test on its own figures.

Price deals between the two at arm’s length. Whether a given Dubai company should elect the relief or operate as a QFZP depends on its facts: that is advice, not a rule. How profits move between the two: our Singapore and Dubai company guide.

What to do by 30 September 2027 (31 December year end)

Other year ends: count 9 months from the end of your tax period.

1. Pull revenue for every tax period so far from the financial statements.
2. Confirm the company is a resident person and not a QFZP.
3. Check consolidated group revenue against AED 3.15 billion.
4. Decide whether to elect: other reliefs fall away for that period.
5. Keep registration current, file within 9 months and elect each period.
6. Price related-party deals, including with a Singapore company, at arm’s length.
7. Do not split one business to stay under AED 3 million.
8. Diary 31 December 2029, the last period end the decision covers.

How does VIVOS run both ends?

With VIVOS Pte. Ltd. in Singapore and VIVOS Corporate Services L.L.C. in Dubai: one team checks the Dubai company’s revenue history, files its UAE returns and prices its dealings with the Singapore company at arm’s length.

Part of the 2027 Rule Changes series

Episode 2 of 2027 Rule Changes: What Most Pages Still Get Wrong, after episode 1, UAE E-Invoicing Deadline: Appoint a Provider by 30 October 2026. Every dated change, with its official source, is on the rule changes tracker for Singapore, Malaysia, Hong Kong and the UAE. Next, on Tuesday 27 October 2026: Singapore YA 2026, your rebate, your grants, your deadline. Free zone or mainland: which Dubai companies can still elect the relief.

Video transcript

Video transcript

Is UAE Small Business Relief ending in 2026? No. Ministerial Decision 131 of 2026 extends it to tax periods ending on or before the thirty-first of December 2029. The revenue limit remains the same at three million dirhams.

I’m Ray Tay, co-founder of VIVOS. Most pages, and many AI answers, still say the relief stops in 2026. The new decision was issued on the twenty-ninth of July.

Elect it, and you’re treated as having no taxable income for that period. But the test is strict: three million dirhams or less this period and in every earlier one. Go over once, and it’s gone for good.

Two groups can’t use it: qualifying free zone persons, and members of multinational groups with over three point one five billion dirhams of revenue. Everyone else still registers, files and elects each year.

Own a Singapore company too? That alone doesn’t block your Dubai company, because the group exclusion starts above three point one five billion. Just price deals between them at arm’s length.

So check your revenue history before counting on 2027 to 2029. VIVOS runs both ends, with VIVOS in Singapore and VIVOS Corporate Services in Dubai. Most firms compare countries. VIVOS connects them.

Presented by an AI-generated avatar and voice of Ray Tay, co-founder of VIVOS. Written and fact-checked by VIVOS; facts checked 9 October 2026. General information, not tax advice.

Frequently asked questions

Is UAE Small Business Relief ending in 2026?

No. Ministerial Decision No. 131 of 2026, issued on 29 July 2026, extends UAE Small Business Relief to tax periods ending on or before 31 December 2029. The old 2026 end date came from Ministerial Decision No. 73 of 2023. The AED 3 million revenue limit is unchanged.

What is the revenue limit for UAE Small Business Relief?

AED 3,000,000 or less in the current tax period and every previous one (Federal Tax Authority). Go over once and it is gone for later periods: AED 4,300,000 in the period ending 31 December 2025 rules out 2026, even at AED 1,900,000.

Can a free zone company claim UAE Small Business Relief?

Not if it is a Qualifying Free Zone Person. The Federal Tax Authority lists Qualifying Free Zone Persons, and members of multinational groups above AED 3.15 billion, as unable to elect it. A Qualifying Free Zone Person can instead benefit from 0% corporate tax on qualifying income.

Can a Dubai company owned by a Singapore company claim Small Business Relief?

Yes, if it meets the conditions. A Singapore parent alone does not trigger the multinational group exclusion, which starts above AED 3.15 billion. The Dubai company must be resident, not a Qualifying Free Zone Person, within AED 3,000,000 every period, and price deals with its parent at arm’s length.

Is there 0% corporate tax for small UAE companies in 2027?

Not as a general rate. A small resident business that elects Small Business Relief is treated as having no taxable income for the period, and the relief now covers tax periods ending on or before 31 December 2029, if revenue stays at AED 3,000,000 or less every period.

Sources

• UAE Ministry of Finance, Ministerial Decision No. 131 of 2026 (official Arabic text, 29 July 2026), Arts 1 and 2. Checked 9 October 2026.
• UAE Federal Tax Authority, Small Business Relief. Checked 9 October 2026.
• UAE Ministry of Finance, Corporate Tax in the UAE. Checked 9 October 2026.
• UAE Ministry of Finance, release on Ministerial Decision No. 73 of 2023 (6 April 2023). Checked 9 October 2026.

Related services and insights

• Accounting and tax in the UAE · UAE corporate tax registration and filing deadlines
• Videos: Singapore company, Dubai company: are the dividends tax-free? · Is there a Hong Kong UAE tax treaty?

Running a small company in Dubai?

Send us your Dubai company’s revenue for each tax period so far, and we will check it against the AED 3 million test. Talk to our team or WhatsApp +65 8827 7870.