What you would owe
Note: Educational estimate for planning. Confirm final amounts on official channels.
The short answer
If you are employed on a salary in the UAE, you pay no UAE income tax at all. Not on your basic, not on allowances, not on your bonus, not on your gratuity. There is no payroll deduction, no tax return, nothing to file. That part of Dubai’s reputation is simply accurate.
If you run a business — and a freelance permit counts as one — corporate tax applies to your profit: 0% on the first AED 375,000 and 9% above it. A freelancer earning AED 300,000 owes nothing. One earning AED 600,000 owes 9% on AED 225,000, which is AED 20,250.
And if you remain tax-resident somewhere else, that country’s rules still apply to you regardless of what the UAE charges. This is where most of the real surprises happen.
The mistake that costs the most: it is banded, not a cliff
A large number of guides state that once profit passes AED 375,000 the 9% applies to the whole amount. It does not. The UAE government portal sets out two bands: 0% for taxable income up to AED 375,000, and 9% for taxable income above AED 375,000. Only the excess is taxed.
The difference is not small. On a profit of AED 400,000, the banded calculation gives 9% of AED 25,000 = AED 2,250. The cliff reading gives 9% of AED 400,000 = AED 36,000, sixteen times more. If anyone quotes you the second figure, they have misread the rule.
It also means there is no point in deliberately keeping profit just under the threshold. Earning one dirham more than AED 375,000 costs you nine fils, not thirty-four thousand dirhams.
Where a freelancer gets caught
The common assumption is that corporate tax is for corporations. It is not — it applies to business activity conducted under a commercial licence, and a freelance permit is such a licence. A consultant, designer or developer invoicing clients from a UAE freelance permit is inside the regime.
Two things soften it considerably. First, the AED 375,000 band is generous: a great many freelancers never reach it. Second, corporate tax is charged on profit, not revenue — legitimate business expenses come off first. Someone invoicing AED 450,000 with AED 120,000 of genuine costs has AED 330,000 of profit and owes nothing.
Registration is separate from payment. Being inside the regime generally means registering with the Federal Tax Authority even when the tax due is zero, and missing a registration deadline carries its own penalty. Zero tax is not the same as nothing to do.
Free zones: the 0% is conditional, and the condition matters
The government portal states that the corporate tax regime continues to honour the incentives offered to free zone businesses, subject to conditions — including not conducting business set up in the UAE’s mainland.
In practice a free zone company earning qualifying income can keep 0%. Income from mainland customers is generally not qualifying, and guidance commonly describes a de minimis allowance above which the whole entity can lose its qualifying status for that period. The figures circulating for that threshold are not on the official page, so this calculator flags free zone status rather than pretending to compute it.
If your free zone company sells to mainland UAE clients, that is the question to take to an adviser. It is the single most consequential detail in the regime and it is not something to work out from a blog.
"Tax-free" does not mean tax-free everywhere
The UAE charging you nothing says nothing about what your home country charges. Two cases matter.
US citizens and green card holders are taxed on worldwide income wherever they live. Living in Dubai does not end a US filing obligation. The Foreign Earned Income Exclusion can shelter a substantial slice of earned income, and the Foreign Tax Credit offsets foreign tax paid — but with little or no UAE tax paid, there is little to credit. Filing is still required.
Other nationalities depend on residency rules. Many countries stop taxing you once you are genuinely non-resident, but the tests vary and some look at days present, some at where your home or family is, some at where your income arises. Breaking residency is a question of fact, not of intention, and people get it wrong in both directions.
A UAE Tax Residency Certificate from the Federal Tax Authority is often part of the answer under a double tax treaty. That is a filing to make, not a status you acquire by moving.
What the UAE does charge you
No income tax does not mean no taxes. The ones you will actually meet:
- VAT at 5% on most goods and services — see the VAT calculator.
- Dubai Municipality housing fee, 5% of annual rental value, collected monthly through the DEWA bill — the housing fee calculator works it out.
- 4% DLD transfer fee when you buy property, plus trustee and registration fees — the purchase cost calculator itemises them.
- Tourism Dirham on hotel stays, and municipality fees on restaurant bills in some emirates.
- Salik tolls, parking, and the fee layer on most government transactions.
None of these is income tax, and together they are far lighter than income tax would be in most countries. But a budget built on "Dubai is tax-free" with no line for any of them will be wrong.
Worked examples
AED 300,000 a year, UAE tax due: zero. No filing, no deduction. Only a foreign tax residence changes this.
Below the band. Corporate tax due: zero — but registration with the FTA generally still applies.
9% of AED 225,000 = AED 20,250. An effective rate of 3.4% on the whole profit, because the first AED 375,000 is untaxed.
UAE tax: zero. US filing obligation: unchanged. The exclusion may cover most of it, but the return is still due.
How to use this calculator
- Pick how you earn — salary, freelance, mainland company or free zone.
- Enter the annual amount: gross salary if employed, taxable profit if in business.
- Add allowable business expenses so the tax is worked out on profit rather than revenue.
- Say whether you are still tax-resident anywhere else, because that often matters more.
- Read the band split: the first AED 375,000 of profit is taxed at 0%.
- If you run a business, check the registration point as well as the tax figure.
- Confirm anything consequential with the Federal Tax Authority or an adviser.
Frequently asked questions
Is there income tax in Dubai?
No. There is no personal income tax anywhere in the UAE, so a salary is not taxed and there is no return to file on it. Corporate tax exists separately and applies to business profit above AED 375,000, which can include a freelancer operating under a licence.
Do freelancers pay tax in the UAE?
Potentially. A freelance permit is a commercial licence, so corporate tax applies to the profit it generates: 0% on the first AED 375,000 and 9% above that. Many freelancers never reach the threshold, but registration with the Federal Tax Authority generally applies even when the tax due is zero.
Is the 9% charged on all my profit once I pass AED 375,000?
No, and this is the most common and most expensive misunderstanding. The UAE government portal sets 0% up to AED 375,000 and 9% above it — only the excess is taxed. On AED 400,000 of profit that is 9% of AED 25,000, which is AED 2,250, not AED 36,000.
Do I still pay tax in my home country if I live in Dubai?
That depends entirely on your home country. US citizens and green card holders are taxed on worldwide income wherever they live and must keep filing. Most other nationalities stop being taxed once genuinely non-resident, but the residency tests differ and are questions of fact. Take advice rather than assuming.
Do I pay tax on crypto in the UAE?
There is no personal capital gains or income tax for individuals, so personal crypto gains are not taxed at the individual level. If you are trading as a business under a licence, that activity falls within corporate tax like any other business income. The line between personal investing and trading as a business is one to confirm with an adviser.
Do free zone companies pay 0%?
They can, on qualifying income. The government portal says free zone incentives continue to be honoured subject to conditions, including not conducting business set up in the mainland. Income from mainland customers is generally not qualifying, and exceeding the allowance can cost the whole entity its status for that period. This is the detail to take to an adviser.
Is rental income from a Dubai property taxed?
Not at the individual level — there is no personal income tax. Property held through a company falls under corporate tax like any other business income, and you may still owe tax in your country of residence. The 5% housing fee on the DEWA bill is a municipality charge rather than a tax on income.
What taxes do I actually pay in the UAE?
Mainly 5% VAT on goods and services, the Dubai Municipality housing fee at 5% of annual rental value, the 4% DLD transfer fee when buying property, Tourism Dirham on hotel stays, and the fee layer on government transactions. None is income tax, but a budget that assumes zero of everything will be wrong.
When did UAE corporate tax start?
It applies from the beginning of a business’s first financial year starting on or after 1 June 2023, per the UAE government portal.
Do you store my numbers?
No. Calculations run in your browser and nothing is sent to a server. See our Privacy Policy for analytics and AdSense cookie details.
Where these figures come from
The rates and thresholds are transcribed from the UAE government portal’s corporate tax page, read 30 October 2026, which that page itself records as updated 28 October 2026: 0 per cent for taxable income up to AED 375,000 and 9 per cent for taxable income above AED 375,000, applying from the beginning of the first financial year starting on or after 1 June 2023. The same page states that free zone incentives continue to be honoured subject to conditions including not conducting business set up in the mainland, and that a different rate, not yet specified, applies to large multinationals under OECD Pillar Two.
What this page deliberately does not quantify. Small Business Relief and the free zone de minimis threshold are widely discussed but do not appear on the official page, and published figures for them disagree. The multinational top-up rate is explicitly unspecified there. None is built into the calculation — the page names them and sends you to an adviser instead of inventing a number. The absence of personal income tax is the long-standing position but we did not find a single official page stating it as a rate, so it is described rather than cited.
Last checked against the source: 30 October 2026. Tax residence in another country is governed by that country’s law, not this page. Confirm anything consequential with the Federal Tax Authority or a qualified adviser. Not affiliated with the FTA or the Ministry of Finance.
Related tools
Explore connected calculators to finish your UAE budget without dead-end pages.
Privacy & advertising disclosure
Calculations run locally in your browser. We may use Google Analytics (G-HDT8XHLXK2) and, when approved, Google AdSense (ca-pub-9886918406188712).
Third parties including Google may use cookies for ads/measurement. Read our Privacy Policy and How Google uses data.
Publisher pages: About, Contact, Disclaimer.
Disclaimer
Disclaimer: Educational estimate using rates transcribed from the UAE government portal. Small Business Relief, the free zone de minimis threshold and the multinational top-up rate are not quantified here because the official page does not state them. Whether another country taxes you is governed by that country’s law. Not tax, legal or financial advice — confirm with the Federal Tax Authority or a qualified adviser. Not affiliated with any UAE authority.