UAE Announces Tax Exemption Rules

The United Arab Emirates has announced tax exemption rules, and they are particularly applicable to people earning money here while not living here.

Accosting to new rules, if your income comes from UAE sources but you don’t live here permanently, you are exempt from registering for corporate tax.

Other entities exempt include government bodies, government-controlled organisations, extractive businesses, and non-extractive natural resource companies. To be exempt, you have to meet the required criteria under the Corporate Tax Law.

It comes after a decision made by the UAE Ministry of Finance – with the release of Ministerial Decision No. 43 of 2023.

This outlines exemptions from tax registration under the Corporate Tax Law (Federal Decree-Law No. 47 of 2022).

The Ministry of Finance has confirmed that all Cabinet Decisions and Ministerial Decisions relating to the Corporate Tax Law can be found on their official website.

It comes after new guidelines on tax payments were released in March. They clarify how long you need to be in the country for to be deemed eligible to pay.

If you’re in the UAE for 90 days, you will be eligible to pay the lowest band – while 183 days is the threshold to meet the higher rate.

From now on, if you’re in the UAE even for just part of a day, that will be counted in deciding whether you meet the 90 or 183-day threshold.