Reviewed by the editorial team of Symbol Consulting DMCC
Ministerial Decision No. 131 of 2026 extends Small Business Relief to Tax Periods that end on or before 31 December 2029 (per WAM, reporting the Ministry of Finance announcement of 7 August 2026, as of 9 October 2026). Two adviser guides still online on 9 October 2026 give the old end date, 31 December 2026, and one of them says that nothing replaces the relief.
Two adviser guides still give 31 December 2026 as the end date
STH Financial and Decisive Zone each publish a Small Business Relief guide that, on 9 October 2026, still ends the relief on 31 December 2026. The page data of the first show a last change on 7 October 2026 and those of the second a publication on 24 August 2026, both after the Ministry of Finance announcement of 7 August 2026 (per each page’s own data and WAM, as of 9 October 2026).
STH Financial writes: “That’s when the relief expires. And unless the UAE government extends it (which is currently not announced), thousands of businesses will face their first 9% corporate tax bill starting from 2027.” Its status note adds: “The Ministry of Finance has not issued any decision to extend” (per STH Financial, as of 9 October 2026).
Decisive Zone writes: “After that date, it is gone. Nothing replaces it. Businesses that have been reporting zero move to the standard regime: 9% on taxable income above AED 375,000, with 0% below.” (per Decisive Zone, as of 9 October 2026). Neither guide mentions 2029.
The decision moves only the end date of the 2023 decision
The Ministry of Finance announced Ministerial Decision No. 131 of 2026 on 7 August 2026 as extending Small Business Relief to tax periods ending on or before 31 December 2029, with the threshold of Ministerial Decision No. 73 of 2023 continuing to apply (per WAM, 7 August 2026, as of 9 October 2026).
A third-party copy of the decision’s PDF shows two articles. Article One replaces Clause (2) of Article 2 of Ministerial Decision No. 73 of 2023, so that the AED 3,000,000 threshold applies to Tax Periods ending on or before 31 December 2029; Article Two brings the decision into force the day after its publication; the copy gives 29 July 2026 as the issue date. Nothing else in the 2023 decision is replaced (per a PDF copy of Ministerial Decision No. 131 of 2026, as of 9 October 2026).
Symbol Consulting, acting as verification agent, rests the number and the 2029 date on the WAM report of the Ministry’s announcement, and the issue date and Article Two on the PDF copy alone.
The election and the standard bands differ on seven points
Small Business Relief and the standard 0% and 9% bands are two treatments of the same Tax Period, set side by side below on seven points. The election rests on Article 21 of Federal Decree-Law No. 47 of 2022 and Ministerial Decision No. 73 of 2023 as amended; the bands rest on Article 3(1) of the Decree-Law and Cabinet Resolution No. 116 of 2022 (per those texts and CTGSBR1, as of 9 October 2026).
| Point | Small Business Relief | Standard bands |
|---|---|---|
| How it applies | Elected in each Tax Return; cannot be added after submission | Applies to every Tax Period without an election |
| Threshold and base | Revenue of AED 3,000,000 or less in the relevant and all previous Tax Periods | Taxable Income of AED 375,000, where 0% ends and 9% begins |
| Result | No Taxable Income, so no Corporate Tax at any profit | 0% up to AED 375,000 and 9% above |
| Who cannot use it | Non-resident persons, Qualifying Free Zone Persons, constituent companies of a Multinational Enterprise Group with consolidated revenue above AED 3.15 billion | Qualifying Free Zone Persons, taxed under Article 3(2) |
| Losses and interest | Not carried forward from an elected period; earlier balances stay | Tax Loss relief (Article 37) and interest limit (Article 30) apply |
| Return and documents | Simplified return; no transfer pricing documentation; registration and records continue | Full return; transfer pricing documentation rules apply |
| Last eligible period | Ends on or before 31 December 2029 | No end date in Article 3 or Cabinet Resolution No. 116 of 2022 |
The two figures belong to different categories of the rule. AED 3,000,000 is a gate on Revenue, “the gross amount of income derived during a Tax Period”, tested across every period since 1 June 2023. AED 375,000 is a band on Taxable Income inside one period (per Ministerial Decision No. 73 of 2023 and CTGSBR1, page 13, as of 9 October 2026).
Small Business Relief is an option within each Tax Period
The 0% and 9% bands apply to every Tax Period that commences on or after 1 June 2023, and an eligible business sets them aside only for a period in which it elects Small Business Relief. The end date of the relief therefore governs an option; the bands have no start date tied to it (per Federal Decree-Law No. 47 of 2022, Articles 21(1) and 69, as of 9 October 2026).
The Federal Tax Authority states the relation directly: “Corporate Tax would be paid at the rate of 0% on Taxable Income up to AED 375,000 and 9% on Taxable Income above AED 375,000 had the Small Business Relief not been elected for” (per the FTA, CTGSBR1, page 15, as of 9 October 2026). The same guide still gives “31 December 2026” on page 11 and lists one amendment line, “August 2023” as “First version”, on page 46. Cabinet Resolution No. 116 of 2022, issued on 30 December 2022, sets the AED 375,000 amount in its Articles 2 and 3.
A business with Taxable Income of AED 375,000 or less owes nothing under the bands either, so at that level the election changes no tax and matters only for losses, interest, the return and the documents (Cabinet Resolution No. 116 of 2022, Article 2(1), author’s calculation).
Revenue history and the year-end now carry the weight
For a resident business outside the exclusions, two conditions decide whether Small Business Relief can be elected for a period: Revenue of AED 3,000,000 or less in that period and every earlier one, and a Tax Period ending on or before 31 December 2029. Each taxpayer’s own revenue history and year-end, not one calendar date, decide who is eligible (per Ministerial Decision No. 73 of 2023 as amended, as of 9 October 2026).
The revenue test does not reset. The FTA’s Example 3 shows a Sharjah business with Revenue of AED 4,300,000 in 2025 and AED 1,900,000 in 2026 that cannot elect for 2026 (per the FTA, CTGSBR1, Example 3, as of 9 October 2026).
The year-end matters because the cut-off attaches to the end of the Tax Period. A business with a 31 March year-end has its last eligible period ending on 31 March 2029, and the period running to 31 March 2030 ends after the cut-off (per WAM, 7 August 2026, author’s calculation).
An election forfeits the period’s losses and keeps the filing duties
Electing Small Business Relief for a Tax Period removes Tax Loss relief and interest carry-forward for that period, and it does not remove registration, a Tax Return or record keeping. The trade is a nil tax result and a simplified return for losses and interest that cannot be carried forward (per Ministerial Decision No. 73 of 2023, Articles 4 and 5, and CTGSBR1, as of 9 October 2026).
Example 11 in the FTA guide prices the trade: a company with Revenue of AED 2,500,000 and a Tax Loss of AED 1,000,000 that elects the relief has a loss that “will not be declared to the FTA and cannot be carried forward to future Tax Periods”, whereas without the election the loss can be carried forward, but only with a full Tax Return (per the FTA, CTGSBR1, Example 11, as of 9 October 2026).
The choice is made once per return: after submission without the election, “there would be no possibility to claim this benefit at a later stage” (CTGSBR1, page 15). The filing duty stays throughout: “eligibility for the relief does not remove the obligation to file a Corporate Tax return”, as the FTA news release of 3 August 2026 puts it (as of 9 October 2026).
Which treatment fits which business
Small Business Relief fits a business with Revenue always at or below AED 3,000,000 and Taxable Income above AED 375,000. The standard bands fit a business expecting a Tax Loss to carry forward, and are the only choice once Revenue has crossed the threshold or for a Multinational Enterprise Group member above AED 3.15 billion of consolidated revenue (per the FTA, CTGSBR1, page 13, as of 9 October 2026).
The gain from the election grows with profit: AED 38,250 at the guide’s profit of AED 800,000, AED 101,250 at AED 1,500,000, and nothing at AED 375,000 or less (per the FTA, CTGSBR1, Table 2, author’s calculation).
Dates that fix the position for a calendar-year business
Four dates carry the Small Business Relief position of a calendar-year business: the close of the 2026 period, the filing dates for 2026 and for the last eligible period, and the end of that last period. The two filing dates are calculated from the FTA’s nine-month rule (per Ministerial Decision No. 73 of 2023, WAM of 7 August 2026 and the FTA news release of 3 August 2026, as of 9 October 2026).
- 31 December 2026: the Tax Period closes, and its Revenue joins the cumulative test for every later period.
- 30 September 2027: the Tax Return for the period ending 31 December 2026 falls due, and any election is made in it.
- 31 December 2029: the last Tax Period end that the relief can carry.
- 30 September 2030: the Tax Return for that last period falls due.
This material was reviewed by the editorial team of Symbol Consulting DMCC, an advisory firm that provides company setup and licensing, tax and regulatory compliance, and market entry consulting across multiple countries.
This material is a general analysis of published rules. It is not legal, tax, immigration or financial advice.