Why Free Zone Persons Cannot Use Small Business Relief: Worked Example (UAE)

A logistics company in a Dubai free zone has revenue of AED 1,500,000 and qualifying income of AED 2,000,000 including prior-year timing items. It asks whether small business relief can shelter its small amount of non-qualifying income.

The answer is no: Ministerial Decision No. 73 of 2023 excludes qualifying free zone persons from the relief entirely, whatever their revenue.

The company instead relies on the free zone regime itself: 0% on qualifying income, with 9% on non-qualifying income above the threshold.

Qualifying income of AED 2,000,000 is taxed at 0% under Article 3 as it applies to qualifying free zone persons, so no threshold computation arises on it.

Non-qualifying taxable income of AED 200,000 sits inside the AED 375,000 band, so it is also taxed at 0%, giving a total bill of AED 0 without any relief election.

For the complete rulebook behind these adjustments, see our guide to small business relief.

Each step below carries its own arithmetic, so the full trail from the starting figure to the tax payable is visible.

Article 21 allows an eligible taxable person to elect to be treated as not having derived any taxable income for the period. The effect is total: no computation, no 9% rate, no tax. But the relief is an election, not an exemption, and it must be claimed on the corporate tax return for each period it is wanted.

Eligibility turns on revenue, not profit: AED 3 million or less in the current and every previous tax period, measured under the applicable accounting standards. A single period above AED 3 million ends eligibility permanently, even if revenue later falls back. The relief is also closed to qualifying free zone persons, non-residents and members of large multinational groups.

The relief is time-limited to tax periods starting on or after 1 June 2023 and ending on or before 31 December 2026. Businesses should plan their post-2026 compliance on normal rules unless the law is extended.

The hidden cost is forfeiture: a relief period cannot generate carried-forward tax losses or carried-forward disallowed interest. In a profit year that costs nothing, but in a loss year the election destroys a tax asset, which is why the decision must be modelled, not assumed.

The revenue test deserves careful measurement because it uses the accounting standards figure, not a tax-adjusted one. Revenue recognised under IFRS, including the timing of long-term contracts, is what counts. A company near the ceiling should review its revenue recognition policies before year-end, not after.

There is also no partial relief: at AED 3,000,001 the relief is gone entirely, not reduced. This cliff-edge design is deliberate, pushing growing businesses onto the normal rules cleanly rather than through a tapered phase-out that would complicate every computation.

The background rules are set out in our guide to tax loss relief.

Assuming the relief is automatic is the most common error. Without the election on the return, the normal computation applies and the tax is due, even where every condition was met.

Testing profit instead of revenue against the AED 3 million ceiling is the second. A high-margin business with AED 2,600,000 of revenue and AED 950,000 of profit qualifies fully; a loss-maker with AED 3,200,000 of revenue does not qualify at all.

Electing in a loss year without modelling the forfeiture is the third. The relief feels free when tax is nil either way, but the destroyed loss can cost tens of thousands in the following years.

A fourth mistake is ignoring the sunset date. Businesses that build permanent processes around the relief's simplicity will face a compliance cliff for periods ending after 31 December 2026, when full normal-rule computations become mandatory.

Our guide to taxable income covers the underlying provisions in more depth.

The relief is elected on the corporate tax return for the period: the return includes the election, the revenue figure for the period, and the confirmation that revenue was at or below AED 3 million in every previous period. There is no advance approval and no separate filing.

Keep a revenue history file proving the ceiling was met in every period since the regime began, with the financial statements for each year. The FTA can request this evidence, and a gap in the history undermines the current year's election.

Diary the sunset date now. For periods ending after 31 December 2026 the election disappears on current law, so the first normal-rule computation, with full adjustment schedules and transfer pricing awareness, should be prepared in advance rather than under filing-deadline pressure.

Finally, note the election is strictly per period: last year's election does not carry forward, and each year's return makes its own claim. A standing diary entry to model the election during year-end close prevents the default from becoming an accidental normal filing.

This page works one computation end to end: the scenario sets out the starting figures, the adjustments section applies each tax correction with its article reference, and the step-by-step section shows every line of arithmetic. The key figures are collected here for quick reference.

Use this page as a template by replacing the scenario's numbers with your own while keeping the same adjustment logic: the method, the article references and the order of operations transfer directly to any similar computation.

When you adapt the template, re-check each adjustment against the current facts rather than copying the amounts. A fine that was non-deductible here might be breach-of-contract compensation there; entertainment is always halved but only genuine client entertainment belongs in that line; and exempt income must meet its article's conditions in your period, not just resemble last year's.

Pay particular attention to the order of operations when you reuse the method. Adjustments come first to reach taxable income, then loss relief and the interest limitation apply to that figure, and only then do the 0% and 9% rate bands divide it. Reordering these layers is the fastest way to turn a right method into a wrong answer.

Continue with these worked examples: worked example: relief for a freelancer, worked example: three-year relief timeline, and worked example: relief availability through 2029. For the underlying rules, see our guides to small business relief, tax loss relief and taxable income.