UAE Corporate Tax: Small Business Relief Extended to 2029

The Ministry of Finance has extended Small Business Relief by three years. The relief lets companies with annual revenue under AED 3 million pay no corporate tax on that period's profit. Eligible businesses can now elect it for tax periods ending on or before 31 December 2029, not 31 December 2026 as before. The change, Ministerial Decision No. 131 of 2026, was published on 7 August 2026 and took effect the day after.

What the relief actually does

A business that qualifies is treated as having no taxable income for that tax period. It owes no corporate tax on it. The business can also file a simplified corporate tax return rather than the full version.

It is not automatic. You have to elect it for each tax period when you file your return.

Who qualifies

• Revenue of AED 3,000,000 or less, in the current tax period and every previous tax period.
• A UAE resident person. The relief is not available to Qualifying Free Zone Persons.
• Not part of a multinational group with consolidated group revenue over AED 3.15 billion.

Splitting one business into several smaller entities to stay under the threshold does not work on its own. The FTA's general anti-abuse rule can treat the combined revenue as one business when deciding eligibility.

What changed

What to do

If your revenue is under AED 3 million, this does not move your next filing date. We covered the 30 September 2026 corporate tax return deadline separately, and as of 11 September 2026 the FTA's own filing page still states it: file your return before 30 September through EmaraTax. What changes is how much longer the relief and its simplified return stay available: three more tax periods, through the one ending 31 December 2029.

Check the conditions still fit your business before you elect the relief on each return, especially if your revenue, ownership structure, or free-zone status has changed since your last filing. The FTA's own guidance sets out the full eligibility test.

Sources

• Ministry of Finance, "Ministry of Finance Announces Extension of Small Business Relief for Corporate Tax Purposes until 31 December 2029", published 7 August 2026, checked 11 September 2026: mof.gov.ae
• Federal Tax Authority, "Small Business Relief (Corporate Tax)", checked 11 September 2026: tax.gov.ae
• Ministry of Finance, "Ministry of Finance Issues Decision on Small Business Relief for Corporate Tax Purposes" (original 2023 decision, for the eligibility conditions and the anti-abuse rule), checked 11 September 2026: mof.gov.ae
• Federal Tax Authority, corporate tax filing page confirming the "File your Corporate Tax Return before 30 SEP" deadline, checked 11 September 2026: tax.gov.ae

Working out whether the election is right for your business, and filing it correctly, is what a tax professional is for. Find one in GoProfiled's Accounting & Tax category.