About taxes in UAE / Dubai

The United Arab Emirates levies no personal income tax on employment income — your gross salary is your net salary. There is no PAYE, no Medicare Levy, no social security deduction for foreign nationals (only UAE/GCC nationals contribute to the public pension scheme, at 5% employee). Salaries in the UAE are typically quoted as a "total package" or broken down into a basic salary plus housing, transport, and other allowances; the structure matters for end-of-service gratuity calculations but not for income tax. Employers must contribute to a workplace savings scheme (DEWS in the DIFC, similar in ADGM) for some employees, but this also doesn't reduce your take-home pay. Note that a 9% federal Corporate Tax was introduced in June 2023, but it applies to businesses, not employees. End-of-service gratuity ("EOS") of roughly 21 days' basic pay per year for the first 5 years and 30 days thereafter is paid by the employer when you leave — separate from monthly salary. VAT of 5% applies to most goods and services, so while there's no income tax, day-to-day spending carries a small consumption tax.