UAE corporate tax computation template in Excel: the input list, the computation lines in Article 20(2) order, and three checked cases
A tax computation is a fixed sequence of lines, and the value of a template is that the sequence is right and every line says why it is there. This page sets out what a UAE Corporate Tax computation template needs, line by line, in the order Article 20(2) of Federal Decree-Law No. 47 of 2022 gives: Accounting Income, then exempt income, then deductions, then Tax Loss relief, then the rates in Article 3. The rules themselves are walked through in the companion guide, How UAE Corporate Tax is computed. This page is about the sheet.
Not tax advice. The Decree-Law, the Cabinet and Ministerial Decisions and the FTA guides control.
Sheet 1: the inputs
One period, one entity, amounts in AED. Four groups of inputs are enough for an SME or a free zone company without transfer pricing adjustments.
Entity and period. Name, Tax Period start and end, and six yes/no answers: Resident Person (Article 11); Free Zone Person (Article 18); whether all the Qualifying Free Zone Person conditions in Article 18(1) are met; constituent company of a multinational group; whether Revenue exceeded AED 3,000,000 in any earlier Tax Period; whether Small Business Relief is elected this period. The FTA's Small Business Relief guide (CTGSBR1) is explicit that the AED 3,000,000 test applies to the current period and every previous one, and that once Revenue exceeds it the relief is lost for later periods even if Revenue falls back. Financial statements. Revenue (gross, per the accounting standards, not profit), Accounting Income, depreciation and amortisation (for EBITDA), interest expenditure, taxable interest income, and Net Interest Expenditure disallowed in earlier periods and carried forward. Exempt income already in Accounting Income. Dividends from UAE resident juridical persons (Article 22(1)), Participation Exemption income (Article 23), other exempt income (Article 22, Article 24). Expenditure in Accounting Income that is not deductible. Entertainment (Article 32, 50% deductible), fines and penalties (Article 33(2)), donations to bodies that are not Qualifying Public Benefit Entities (Article 33(1)), distributions to owners, Corporate Tax expense, recoverable input VAT and foreign income tax charged to expense (Article 33(4), (6), (7), (8)), and expenditure not for the Business or incurred in deriving Exempt Income (Article 28(2)). Losses, credits and the free zone lines. Tax Losses carried forward (Article 37, only losses arising after Corporate Tax commenced), Foreign Tax Credit available (Article 47), and for a free zone company its Qualifying Income and non-qualifying Revenue.Sheet 2: the computation lines
| Block | Line | Basis |
|---|---|---|
| Relief tests | Eligible for Small Business Relief; relief applied this period | Ministerial Decision No. 73 of 2023, Articles 2 and 3; election per Tax Period (Article 21) |
| De minimis test passed; taxed as a Qualifying Free Zone Person | Non-qualifying Revenue not above the lower of 5% of total Revenue and AED 5,000,000 (Ministerial Decision No. 139 of 2023, Article 4); Article 18(1) | |
| Taxable Income | Accounting Income | Article 20(2), the starting point |
| Less exempt dividends, Participation Exemption income, other exempt income | Articles 22, 23, 24 | |
| Add 50% of entertainment; fines; non-qualifying donations; owner distributions, Corporate Tax, recoverable VAT, foreign tax; non-business expenditure | Articles 32, 33, 28(2) | |
| EBITDA for the interest rule (Accounting Income plus net interest plus D&A, less exempt income) | Article 30(1) | |
| Net Interest Expenditure including the brought-forward amount; whether the limitation applies; the amount disallowed; brought-forward interest now deductible | Article 30(1) to (4) and (6): deductible up to 30% of EBITDA, excess carried forward ten Tax Periods; AED 12,000,000 safe harbour in Ministerial Decision No. 126 of 2023 | |
| Taxable Income before Tax Loss relief | Article 20(2) | |
| Less Tax Loss relief | Article 37(2): at most 75% of Taxable Income before relief; none while Small Business Relief is elected | |
| Taxable Income | Article 21: nil under Small Business Relief | |
| Corporate Tax | 0% band; 9% on the excess | Cabinet Decision No. 116 of 2022 (AED 375,000); Article 3(1) |
| Qualifying Free Zone Person: 0% on Qualifying Income, 9% on the rest | Article 3(2) | |
| Less Foreign Tax Credit; Corporate Tax Payable | Article 47(2), capped at the tax due; Article 48 | |
| Carry-forwards | Tax Losses to next period; disallowed Net Interest Expenditure to next period | Article 37; Article 30(4). Nothing accrues while relief is elected (Ministerial Decision No. 73 of 2023, Article 4) |
| Deadlines | Return and payment due | Articles 48 and 53: nine months after the end of the Tax Period |
Two ordering points that a template gets wrong if it is built from a textbook rather than the Decree-Law:
The interest limitation comes before losses. Article 30 sits in Chapter Nine (deductions), Article 37 in Chapter Eleven (Tax Loss relief), and Article 20(2) lists deductions (d) before Tax Loss relief (f). So EBITDA and the disallowed interest are computed on the adjusted figure before any losses are used, and the 75% cap in Article 37(2) is applied to Taxable Income after the interest adjustment. Small Business Relief switches the whole middle off. Once elected, Taxable Income is treated as nil (Article 21), losses and disallowed interest neither get used nor accrue for that period, and the carry-forward lines simply pass the opening balances through.Three checked cases
The workbook's formulas were run through a formula engine against hand-computed answers before listing. Three of the six cases:
Case 1, no relief election. Revenue AED 2,400,000; Accounting Income AED 520,000; exempt UAE dividends 30,000; entertainment 40,000; fines 8,000; non-qualifying donations 5,000; non-business expenditure 6,000; interest expense 150,000 against 10,000 income; losses brought forward 120,000. Adjusted income: 520,000 less 30,000 plus 20,000 plus 8,000 plus 5,000 plus 6,000 = AED 529,000. Net Interest Expenditure 140,000 is under the AED 12,000,000 safe harbour, nothing disallowed. Loss relief: the lower of 120,000 and 75% of 529,000, so 120,000. Taxable Income AED 409,000. Tax: 9% of 34,000 = AED 3,060. Case 2, interest limited. Revenue AED 50,000,000; Accounting Income 10,000,000; D&A 2,000,000; interest expense 20,000,000; no interest income, exempt income, add-backs or losses. EBITDA 32,000,000. Net Interest Expenditure 20,000,000 exceeds the safe harbour, so the cap is 30% of 32,000,000 = 9,600,000 and 10,400,000 is disallowed and carried forward. Taxable Income AED 20,400,000. Tax: 9% of 20,025,000 = AED 1,802,250. Case 3, free zone de minimis. The Case 1 company as a Free Zone Person meeting the Article 18(1) conditions, with Qualifying Income of 400,000 and non-qualifying Revenue of 100,000. 5% of 2,400,000 is 120,000, so 100,000 passes de minimis. Not eligible for Small Business Relief (a Qualifying Free Zone Person is excluded). Taxable Income 409,000; 0% on the 400,000 Qualifying Income; 9% on 9,000 = AED 810. Raise the non-qualifying Revenue to 130,000 and the test fails: the standard rates apply and the tax returns to AED 3,060.Where the workbook fits
The UAE Corporate Tax Computation Workbook is the two sheets above: Inputs (yellow cells only, one period), Computation (every line above with its article in the third column), plus a Guide sheet and a Sources sheet listing the Decree-Law, the Cabinet and Ministerial Decisions and the FTA guides used. Live formulas, no macros, no locked cells; Excel and Google Sheets. Out of scope: transfer pricing adjustments, Tax Groups, Business Restructuring Relief and the Domestic Minimum Top-up Tax.
The free UAE Corporate Tax calculator runs the same computation for one period in the browser; the UAE e-invoicing readiness checklist covers the other 2027 obligation.
Sources
- Federal Decree-Law No. 47 of 2022 on the Taxation of Corporations and Businesses (unofficial English translation, Ministry of Finance): Articles 3, 11, 18, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 28, 30, 32, 33, 37, 47, 48, 53.
- Cabinet Decision No. 116 of 2022 (the AED 375,000 threshold); Cabinet Decision No. 55 of 2023 (Qualifying Income).
- Ministerial Decision No. 73 of 2023 (Small Business Relief); Ministerial Decision No. 126 of 2023 (interest limitation, AED 12,000,000 safe harbour); Ministerial Decision No. 139 of 2023 (de minimis).
- Federal Tax Authority, Corporate Tax Guide, Small Business Relief (CTGSBR1).
Last checked against the sources on 20 September 2026.
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