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Small Business Relief: eligibility

Applies
FY2024 onwards
Reviewed
Rule
UAE-CT-SBR-2024.1
By

Who can elect UAE Small Business Relief?

A UAE resident with revenue of AED 3 million or less in this and every earlier tax period, for periods ending by 31 December 2029, elected in the return.

Per Federal Decree-Law No. 47 of 2022, Article 21, Small Business Relief

A Resident Person may elect for Small Business Relief for a tax period where revenue in that period, and in every earlier tax period, is within the published cap. The election is made in the return and applies to that period alone.

Where the relief applies, the person is treated as not having derived taxable income for the period. Other exemptions, reliefs and deductions are not available alongside it. Transfer pricing documentation is not required, but the arm's length principle still applies.

Applies to tax periods ending on or before 2029-12-31, per Ministerial Decision No. 131 of 2026. This replaces Article 2(2) of Ministerial Decision No. 73 of 2023, which set 31 December 2026.

Small Business Relief is a temporary regime and survives only by affirmative renewal.

What the relief requires, and what it does

To elect

  • Be a Resident Person — natural or juridical
  • Keep revenue within the published cap in this tax period and every earlier one
  • Make the election in the return for the period

Who cannot elect

  • A Qualifying Free Zone Person
  • A member of a Multinational Enterprise Group whose consolidated group revenue exceeds the published group cap

The effect where it applies

  • The person is treated as not having derived taxable income for the period
  • Other exemptions, reliefs and deductions are not available alongside it
  • Transfer pricing documentation is not required, though the arm's length principle still applies

Order of testing

  1. 1

    Inputs requiring your determination

    Any input a person must decide and has not decided stops the computation. An undecided input is never read as a no.

  2. 2

    Availability of the regime

    The relief applies only to tax periods ending on or before the date set by Ministerial Decision. Tested before any condition inside the relief, because if the regime does not cover the period, no condition within it is worth testing.

  3. 3

    Resident Person test

    The relief is available to a Resident Person, natural or juridical.

  4. 4

    Qualifying Free Zone Person exclusion

    A Qualifying Free Zone Person cannot elect.

  5. 5

    Multinational group revenue exclusion

    A member of a Multinational Enterprise Group whose consolidated group revenue exceeds the published group cap cannot elect.

  6. 6

    Revenue test

    Revenue is tested in this tax period and in every earlier one. Where more than one period breaches the cap, the earliest is reported — that is the period a reviewer will want to open.

  7. 7

    Election test

    Reported separately from the conditions, because the conditions being met without an election is a different answer from the conditions not being met.

Worked example

A natural person operates a business in Sharjah and is a UAE Resident Person for Corporate Tax purposes. The tax period ends on 31 December each year. Revenue was AED 1,900,000 in the period ending 31 December 2026, and AED 4,300,000 in the period ending 31 December 2025.

The FTA’s conclusion

Not eligible for Small Business Relief for the tax period ending 31 December 2026, because revenue exceeded the threshold in the prior tax period.

Computed from this rule — same facts, worked independently

Revenue of AED 4,300,000 in FY2025 exceeds the published cap of AED 3,000,000 as computed, so the relief is not available for FY2026.

Decided by the revenue test — earlier tax period

Examples

Illustrative scenarios — ours, not the authority’s — each computed live by this rule. Change any fact and the outcome is the rule’s, not a hand-written answer.

Within the cap, election made

A resident company with revenue of AED 2,400,000 this tax period and AED 2,100,000 in the prior period, which has made the Small Business Relief election in its return.

Computed

Meets the conditions for Small Business Relief as computed for FY2026 — revenue in this and every earlier tax period is within the published cap of AED 3,000,000, and the election has been made.

Decided by the revenue test and election

Conditions met, but no election

The same company, which did not make the election in its return. The conditions being met without an election is a different answer from the conditions not being met.

Computed

The conditions are met as computed for FY2026, but no election has been made for the period. The election is required in the return and applies to that period only.

Decided by the election test

Try it

Supply the facts and this rule computes the outcome in your browser, live. Leave a determination undecided and it blocks the result — it is never read as a no.

Revenue by period (AED per tax period)

Not computed yet

5 inputs still need your determination:

  • Is the taxable person a Resident Person for Corporate Tax purposes?
  • Has the election for Small Business Relief been made in the return for this tax period?
  • Is the taxable person a Qualifying Free Zone Person?
  • Is the taxable person a member of a Multinational Enterprise Group?
  • What is the revenue for this tax period and each earlier tax period?

Computed in your browser from the figures you supply. Nothing is sent anywhere, and the result is a computation against a rule — reference, not tax advice.

Thresholds

uae.sbr_revenue_cap
AED 3,000,000 · reviewed 2026-09-24 · source
uae.sbr_mne_group_revenue_cap
AED 3,150,000,000 · reviewed 2026-09-24 · source

Threshold values are published separately from the rule and carried with a citation. Where none has been published for the period being computed, the rule reports that rather than applying a default.

Sources

Share this rule

Reference, not tax advice.

Pankaj Agarwal — Tax Technology Leader