UAE Extends Small Business Corporate Tax Relief to 2029

The UAE has extended its small business corporate tax relief programme until 31 December 2029, giving startups and small businesses several more years of simplified tax treatment under the country's corporate tax regime.

Who qualifies

Businesses with annual revenue up to AED 3 million (around $816,880) remain eligible to elect into the relief scheme, which lets qualifying small businesses avoid the full corporate tax compliance and calculation burden that larger companies face.

Why the extension matters

The UAE introduced federal corporate tax only in 2023, a significant shift for a jurisdiction long associated with a zero-tax reputation. The small business relief scheme was one of the main tools used to cushion that transition for entrepreneurs and freelancers formalising a business — extending it signals the government wants that on-ramp to stay available well into the rest of the decade rather than tightening quickly.

The bigger picture

The extension comes as the UAE separately works to align with OECD international tax standards through a Domestic Minimum Top-Up Tax aimed at large multinational groups — a reminder that the relief for small, mostly domestic businesses and the new rules targeting big multinational profit-shifting are two different tracks moving in parallel, not a general tightening across the board.