Boutique Tax & Accounting for UAE SMEs.

Small Business Relief is a UAE Corporate Tax election available to resident companies with revenue up to AED 3 million in a tax period. Where elected, the company is treated as having no taxable income for that period (effectively 0% CT), though a tax return is still filed. It is available for tax periods ending on or before 31 December 2026 (and may be extended). You still need to be registered for CT and file a return. Available to most mainland and Free Zone resident companies — but not QFZPs claiming 0% QFZP already. See our full UAE Corporate Tax service page.

QFZP (Qualifying Free Zone Person) is a UAE CT regime for Free Zone companies that meet 5 conditions — adequate substance, qualifying income only (list), transfer pricing compliance, audited accounts, and no election out. Qualifying income is taxed at 0%; non-qualifying income at 9%. Small Business Relief is a separate election based purely on revenue size (AED 3m). You can only pick one — and the right choice depends on your income profile. We model both and pick the better one for your facts. Our Free Zone QFZP service covers the full analysis.

Yes. All UAE resident companies must register for Corporate Tax with the FTA — regardless of profitability, size, Free Zone status, or whether Small Business Relief applies. Late registration penalties are AED 10,000. We handle CT registration as part of every SME engagement; it’s typically a 2-week turnaround.

Mandatory registration kicks in once your taxable supplies exceed AED 375,000 in a rolling 12-month period, or where you expect to exceed it in the next 30 days. Voluntary registration is available from AED 187,500. VAT returns are filed quarterly for most SMEs. We handle VAT registration (same-week), training on Xero/QBO, and the first return at a fixed fee. See our UAE VAT service for the full fee breakdown.

The ‘best’ free zone depends on activity, substance, VAT treatment (Designated Zone vs regular), banking access, and whether QFZP is realistically available for your income type. IFZA, DMCC, DIFC, ADGM, SPC Free Zone, DWC, Meydan — each has strengths. We’re an IFZA Strategic Partner but recommend neutrally. The decision also interacts with Small Business Relief vs QFZP strategy, so we usually scope that at the same time.

Xero and QuickBooks Online are our top two picks for UAE SMEs — both are VAT-ready, cloud-based, and integrate with every bank and payment platform in the market. Zoho Books is a strong budget option with native Arabic support. Sage and Odoo work for inventory-heavy or multi-entity SMEs. We’re certified across all five and will pick the one that fits your workflow, not the one we’re best at selling. Full detail in our bookkeeping service page.

Below AED 50m revenue, unaudited financial statements are typically sufficient. Above AED 50m, audit is required. QFZP election also requires audited accounts regardless of size. Certain free zones (DMCC, DIFC, ADGM) require audited accounts for all tenants as a licence condition. We prepare the accounts to audit-ready standard and introduce you to one of our audit-firm partners — we don’t audit ourselves (independence).

Our SME Starter is AED 950/month all-in, covering bookkeeping on Xero (Lite tier, up to 50 transactions/mo), quarterly VAT returns, the annual CT return, Small Business Relief election if applicable, FTA correspondence, and your Xero subscription. Suited to small Free Zone companies and early-stage SMEs with modest transaction volume. We tier up to Core (AED 2,500/mo) or Growth (AED 5,500/mo) once transaction volume or complexity grows.

Yes — alongside business setup. Standard investor / employee residence visas come as part of the Free Zone or mainland licence. The Golden Visa (10-year renewable) is available for specialist categories (property investors AED 2m+, specialists in science/medicine/etc., top executives, exceptional-talent entrepreneurs). We work with trusted UAE immigration partners on the Golden Visa application — we handle the tax-side planning (residence certificate, personal tax residence, income structure) and they handle the immigration paperwork.

For an existing UAE SME with records in Xero or QBO already: 2 weeks to full operational handover. For a new company we’re incorporating from scratch: 4-6 weeks from engagement letter to live trading (licence, bank account, visa, CT/VAT registration all set up). We send a written engagement letter, fixed-fee quote and onboarding timeline before any work begins.