UAE taxes for Brits: the UK link and your State Pension

The UAE doesn't tax your salary at all, so the real work for Brits in Dubai is on the UK side: leaving properly, and knowing what HMRC can still touch.

The short version

The UAE "does not levy income tax on individuals" [1]. There's no tax on wages, and no tax return for an ordinary employee.
You still pay 5% VAT on most goods and services, and a business you run under a commercial licence can fall into corporate tax: 0% up to AED 375,000 (about £75,770) of taxable income, 9% above it [1][2].
The UAE has tax residency rules (183 days, or 90 days with a residence visa and a home or job here), and the Federal Tax Authority issues a Tax Residency Certificate if you need proof [3].
Leaving the UK tax system is down to the Statutory Residence Test, not the lack of tax in Dubai. UK rent stays taxable in the UK [4][5].
The UK–UAE double taxation convention has applied since 2017. Your UK State Pension is frozen in the UAE: it never gets the yearly rise [6][7].

What the UAE actually taxes

Coming from a country where the taxman takes a slice of every payslip, the UAE is a shock to the system. The FCDO's own guide puts it simply: the UAE has no income tax on salaries or wages, though depending on the emirate there may be taxes on some goods and services, municipal taxes and customs duties [8].

What you'll meet as a resident:

Tax	Who pays	Rate
Personal income tax	Nobody	None [1]
VAT	Everyone, on most purchases	5% [1]
Excise tax	Buyers of goods "harmful to health" such as tobacco and fizzy drinks	Varies by product [1]
Corporate tax	Companies, and individuals doing business under a commercial licence	0% up to AED 375,000, 9% above [2]

Corporate tax started with financial years beginning on or after 1 June 2023 [2]. For most employed Brits it's irrelevant. It matters if you go freelance or open a side business under a trade licence, because the UAE government lists "individuals conducting business activities under a commercial licence" in its scope [2]. Your salary, and income from personal investments, aren't business income in that sense, but the rules on when a sole trader has to register are detailed. Check them with the Federal Tax Authority before you start invoicing.

Day-to-day living still has its fees and charges, from visa renewals to utility connections. Our guide to your first month in Dubai covers the set-up costs.

UAE tax residency and the certificate

You'd think a country with no income tax wouldn't care who's resident. But since 1 March 2023, Cabinet Decision No. 85 of 2022 has set out who counts as a UAE tax resident, and a Ministry of Finance decision in February 2023 filled in the detail [3]. You're UAE tax resident if any one of these applies:

Your usual home and the centre of your financial and personal interests are in the UAE, however many days you spend here.
183 days. You were in the UAE for 183 days or more in any 12-month period.
90 days. You were in the UAE for 90 days or more in a 12-month period, you're a UAE resident visa holder (or a UAE or GCC national), and you either have a permanent place of residence here or work or run a business here [3].

Any part of a day counts as a day [3]. Where a tax treaty has its own residence rules, the treaty wins for treaty purposes [3].

Why bother? Because banks, foreign tax offices and HMRC may ask where you're resident, and a Tax Residency Certificate (TRC) from the Federal Tax Authority answers the question. You apply online with an entry and exit report and evidence such as a salary certificate or an Ejari-registered tenancy. The fees are AED 50 to submit plus AED 1,000 for an individual who isn't registered for tax (about £212 in all) [3]. It's the document to have ready if you claim treaty relief on UK income or a bank asks you to prove where you're resident.

Leaving the UK tax system properly

The UK taxes by residence, not citizenship. Moving to a tax-free country doesn't end UK residence by itself; the Statutory Residence Test does, one tax year at a time.

Check the automatic overseas tests. Most people moving to Dubai for a full-time job use the third one: full-time work abroad, fewer than 91 days in the UK and fewer than 31 days working more than three hours in the UK in the tax year. See the Statutory Residence Test explained.
Look at split-year treatment for the year you leave, so your UAE salary from the move date isn't caught. Our split-year guide explains the cases.
Tell HMRC. Use form P85 if you were employed and won't do a Self Assessment return, otherwise report it on your return with the SA109 residence pages [4].
Keep UK income in view. Non-residents usually still pay UK tax on UK income such as rent and savings interest [4]. You can't use HMRC's online service as a non-resident, so the return goes by post (deadline 31 October), through commercial software or through an agent [4].

The trap is going home too often. Dubai to London is a single direct flight, with a time difference of only a few hours, and a few long weekends, a wedding and Christmas back in Blighty can add up fast. Our guide to no income tax in Dubai but UK tax ties goes through the ties that catch Gulf workers.

The UK–UAE double taxation convention

The UK and the UAE signed a double taxation convention in Dubai on 12 April 2016. It came into force on 25 December 2016 and applies to UK income tax for tax years from 2017 [6]. With no UAE income tax, it does less than the UK–US treaty, but a few articles matter to Brits:

Income	Who can tax it	Article
Your Dubai salary, for work done in the UAE	The UAE, which doesn't	Article 14
UK rent from a flat in Leeds	The UK, where the property is	Article 6
Gains on UK property	The UK	Article 13
Pensions paid to a UAE resident	Only the UAE, subject to the government service rule	Article 17
UK government pay and pensions (civil service, forces, NHS schemes run by the state)	Generally only the UK	Article 18

Source: 2016 UK–UAE Double Taxation Convention on GOV.UK [6].

Who counts as UAE resident under the treaty. Article 4 treats an individual as UAE resident if they're domiciled in the UAE under UAE law, with a tie-breaker for anyone who is resident in both countries: first, where you have a permanent home; then where your personal and economic relations are closer; then your habitual abode and nationality [6]. If you keep a house in Surrey available while renting in Dubai Marina, the tie-breaker can get interesting. A tax adviser who knows both countries can check your situation.

Pensions. Article 17 says pensions paid to a resident of one country "shall be taxable only in that State" [6], which is how a UAE resident can draw a UK private or workplace pension without UK tax, once HMRC has accepted a treaty claim. Government pensions sit under Article 18 and usually stay taxable in the UK. Never move a UK pension into an overseas scheme without regulated financial advice; our guide to UK pensions abroad and the transfer warnings explains the overseas transfer charge and the scams.

Your UK State Pension in the UAE: frozen

The UAE isn't on the DWP's list of countries where the State Pension goes up each year. The list covers the EEA, Switzerland and a handful of countries with agreements that include uprating, and you only get the increase "if you live in" one of them [7]. Retire to Dubai and your pension stays at the rate you were first paid abroad.

To put a number on it, the full new State Pension is £230.25 a week in 2025/26 and £241.30 a week in 2026/27 [9]. In an uprating country that rise is automatic; in Dubai, someone who started drawing in 2025/26 would stay on £230.25 for good.

On tax, GOV.UK says non-residents don't usually pay UK tax on the State Pension [4]. You claim it through the International Pension Centre and can have it paid into a UAE or UK account, every 4 or 13 weeks; payments abroad are converted at the rate on the day, with a 0.39% conversion charge [10].

As a British citizen you keep the UK Personal Allowance as a non-resident, so smaller amounts of UK income can still be tax-free [4]. To fill gaps in your National Insurance record, see voluntary National Insurance from abroad, which changed on 6 April 2026. The UAE has no state pension for expats; the FCDO notes that only UAE citizens can claim one [8], which is why your end-of-service gratuity matters.

The tax questions people ask most in our community group for Brits in the UAE are almost all on the UK side, so you're in good company if HMRC is the one keeping you up at night.

Pound conversions use £1 = AED 4.9491, derived from the Bank of England USD spot rate of 5 November 2026 (£1 = USD 1.3476) and the dirham's fixed peg of AED 3.6725 per US dollar. Tax is general information, not advice.

UAE taxes for Brits: no income tax, the UK treaty and your State Pension