UAE Corporate Tax for Ecommerce Sellers: Rates, Relief and Deadlines

The UAE taxes company profit at 9%. But only above AED 375,000, and many small online stores pay nothing at all.

That's one of the lowest corporate tax rates anywhere. A store selling to Dubai and Abu Dhabi keeps far more of its profit than it would in London or Berlin.

The rules are simple once you see them laid out. You need to register on time, file once a year and know whether you qualify for relief.

Here's what your store will pay, the deadlines that matter and three worked examples. For the bigger picture, start with our UAE regulations guide.

How does UAE corporate tax work?

Corporate tax (CT) is a yearly tax on your company's profit. It started for financial years beginning on or after 1 June 2023, and the Federal Tax Authority (FTA) runs it through its EmaraTax portal.

Three rules cover most ecommerce sellers:

• Who registers. Every licensed company, mainland or free zone, even if it owes nothing.
• What's taxed. Profit, not sales. Marketplace fees, ads, shipping, stock and salaries all come off first.
• How much. Nothing on the first AED 375,000 of taxable profit. Everything above it is taxed at 9%.

Very large groups follow separate global minimum tax rules. They don't affect a typical online store.

How much corporate tax will your store pay?

The 9% only bites once profit passes the threshold. Here's what a standard company owes at four profit levels:

AED 300,000 profit

0 AED

AED 500,000 profit

11250 AED

AED 1 million profit

56250 AED

AED 2 million profit

146250 AED

MiddleEastEcom calculation, 0% to AED 375,000 then 9%

Even at AED 2 million profit, the effective rate is about 7.3%. The tax-free first slice makes a real difference.

Worked example 1: a growing Shopify store

Say your company sells AED 4 million a year and keeps AED 500,000 as profit. Only the AED 125,000 above the threshold is taxed. At 9%, that's AED 11,250.

That's an effective rate of 2.25% on profit. Small Business Relief can't help here, because revenue is above the cap.

Worked example 2: a smaller marketplace seller

Now take a noon and Amazon.ae seller with AED 2.5 million revenue and AED 450,000 profit. Under the standard rules, the AED 75,000 above the threshold costs AED 6,750.

With Small Business Relief, the bill is zero. Revenue is under AED 3 million, so the company is treated as having no taxable income.

Worked example 3: a free zone store selling to UAE shoppers

A free zone company with AED 4 million revenue sells almost entirely to consumers in Dubai and Sharjah. Those sales aren't qualifying income, so it can't use the free zone 0% rate.

It falls back to the standard rules. On AED 500,000 profit it pays AED 11,250, exactly like the first example. The licence location didn't change the bill.

Small Business Relief: pay nothing until 2029

Small Business Relief (SBR) is the best deal in UAE tax for a young store. If you elect it, the company is treated as having no taxable income for that year.

You qualify when:

• Revenue is AED 3 million or less, in the current year and every previous year.
• The company is UAE resident. Mainland and free zone companies both count.
• You're not a Qualifying Free Zone Person or part of a very large multinational group.

The Ministry of Finance extended SBR in August 2026. It now covers tax periods ending by the end of 2029. The revenue cap didn't change.

Two catches are worth knowing. You still file a simplified return within 9 months of year end to claim it. And once revenue passes AED 3 million in any year, you can't go back to SBR later.

Do free zone ecommerce companies pay corporate tax?

Usually, yes. A Qualifying Free Zone Person (QFZP) pays 0% on qualifying income and 9% on the rest. The catch is what counts as qualifying.

Income generally qualifies when it comes from:

• Sales to other free zone companies, in the same or another zone.
• Exports, such as shipping orders to Saudi Arabia or Kuwait.
• Certain trading and logistics activities listed in the free zone rules.

Retail sales to consumers on the UAE mainland generally don't qualify. If that non-qualifying income goes over a small de minimis limit (the lower of 5% of revenue or AED 5 million), the company loses QFZP status for the year.

That's why most free zone online stores selling to UAE shoppers pay the standard 0% and 9% rates. A QFZP also needs audited accounts, real staff and assets in the zone, and can't use SBR.

	Standard rules	Small Business Relief	Qualifying Free Zone Person
Who it suits	Most stores above AED 3m revenue	Stores with revenue up to AED 3m	Free zone B2B traders and exporters
Tax on profit	0% to AED 375,000, then 9%	0% (no taxable income)	0% on qualifying income, 9% on the rest
B2C sales to UAE shoppers	Taxed normally	Covered	Not qualifying income
Available in a free zone
Available on the mainland
Audited accounts needed	Above AED 50m revenue
Return still required

Weighing up where to set up? Our guide to UAE free zone vs mainland compares cost and access, and the best UAE free zones for ecommerce lists the packages.

When do you register for corporate tax?

Register soon after your licence arrives. The deadline for new companies is short, and EmaraTax registration is free.

The FTA's Decision No. 3 of 2024 sets the timeframes. A company incorporated in the UAE (including a free zone) must apply within 3 months of incorporation.

Miss it and the penalty is AED 10,000. The FTA waives it, or refunds it, if you file your first return within 7 months of the end of your first tax period. That's 2 months earlier than the normal deadline.

1

Get your UAE Pass

Your digital ID for all government portals, including EmaraTax.

2

Create an EmaraTax account

Sign in with UAE Pass and add your company as a taxable person.

3

Submit the corporate tax registration

Upload your trade licence, owner details and Emirates ID. Do it within 3 months of incorporation.

4

Receive your tax registration number

The FTA reviews the application and issues a TRN for corporate tax.

5

Pick your financial year

Most stores use the calendar year. Your first return is due 9 months after it ends.

Filing your corporate tax return

You file one return and pay any tax within 9 months of your financial year end. For a December year end, that's 30 September of the following year.

To file smoothly:

• Keep proper books with marketplace payout reports, ad invoices and stock records.
• Reconcile payouts from noon, Amazon and your gateway to the sales in your accounts.
• Keep records for 7 years. The FTA can ask for them.

Losses carry forward with no time limit. They can offset up to 75% of a later year's taxable profit. Filing every year keeps them alive.

Transfer pricing basics

Transfer pricing rules apply when your UAE company trades with a related party, such as a parent factory in China or a sister company in Europe. Prices between them must match what unrelated businesses would agree. That's the arm's length principle.

For example, if your UAE store buys stock from your own factory, the factory price should match what it charges other buyers. Otherwise the FTA can adjust your profit.

Most small sellers only need to keep evidence of their pricing. Formal paperwork starts higher up:

• Disclosure form. Filed with the return once related-party transactions pass AED 40 million in a year.
• Master file and local file. Needed when your UAE company has revenue of AED 200 million or more, or belongs to a group above AED 3.15 billion.

Payments to people connected to the owners, such as salaries paid to a shareholder's family, must also be at market value to be deductible.

Notes for foreign sellers without a UAE company

You can sell to UAE shoppers without a UAE company. Corporate tax reaches a non-resident only when it has a permanent establishment (PE) or another nexus in the UAE.

A PE is a fixed place of business or a person who habitually signs deals for you. In practice:

• Selling on Amazon.ae or noon from abroad doesn't create a PE by itself.
• Stock in a marketplace or 3PL warehouse isn't usually your own fixed place of business. The law also excludes storage and delivery that's only preparatory or auxiliary, but for a store, delivery is close to the core business. Get advice before you keep a lot of stock there year round.
• Your own office, warehouse or staff in the UAE can create a PE. So can a local agent who negotiates and concludes contracts for you.
• Running the company from Dubai can make it UAE resident, with full tax on its profit.

A non-resident with a PE must register within 6 months of the PE coming into existence. VAT is a separate question, covered in UAE VAT for online sellers.

Notes for Chinese sellers

• A UAE free zone company owned by a Chinese parent pays the same rates as anyone else. Most B2C stores land on the standard rules or SBR.
• Buying stock from your own factory triggers transfer pricing. Keep the factory's price list for third-party buyers on file.
• Set the UAE company's financial year to match your group reporting, so one set of year-end accounts serves both.
• The full setup route, from zone choice to bank account, is in our guide to company setup in the UAE for Chinese businesses.

Your corporate tax checklist

Get help from a UAE tax agent

A registered tax agent costs far less than a mistake on your first return. They can choose your financial year, run SBR against loss carry-forward and set up your books for VAT too.

Prefer to compare first? Browse all VAT and tax advisors in the UAE.