FREEHOLD · NO TAX ON RENTAL INCOME
The question here is not what it earns. It is what it keeps.
Dubai’s gross yields are public, current, and unremarkable next to the Gulf. What separates the UAE from a mature Western market is the ledger of deductions, so that is what this page shows, including the two the brochures leave out.
United Arab Emirates
- INDEX RANK
- #029
- COVERAGE TIER
- TIER A
- PROPERTY STOCK INDEXED
- $1.5T
- GDP (2024)
- $545.0B
- SOURCES INDEXED
- 101
PRIMARY MARKETS
Dubai, Abu Dhabi, Sharjah, Al Ain, Ajman, Ras Al Khaimah
This market’s record in the Smart Bricks index. All 207 countries
- Dubai citywide apartments, gross yield
- 5.3-5.7%
- Source: ValuStrat, November 2025
- Price growth, full year 2025
- +9.81%
- Source: Dubai Statistics Center
- Citywide apartments, per m²
- AED 19,353
- Source: Dubai Land Department
Every figure on this page is either Smart Bricks’ own index record or a third-party figure with its source named beside it. Where no figure can be sourced, this page says so rather than estimating.
THE DEDUCTION LEDGER
Every line that comes off the top.
The UAE charges no income tax on rental income and no capital gains tax on property held by an individual. In Dubai, two lines still come off the top, and they are the two a zero-tax headline leaves out.
- Not taken
- None
- Applies
- Recurring
Income tax on rental income
There is no personal income tax on rental income in the UAE. In the United Kingdom the same income is charged at 20 to 45 percent.
Source: HMRC, for the UK comparison
- Not taken
- None
- Applies
- On sale
Capital gains tax on disposal
No capital gains tax applies to property held by an individual.
- Taken
- 4%
- Applies
- One-off, on purchase
Dubai transfer fee
Charged on the property value at registration. This is the line most commonly left off a zero-tax claim.
Source: Dubai Land Department
- Taken
- 5%
- Applies
- Recurring, municipal
Dubai housing fee
A municipal charge levied on the annual rental value of the property, not on its price. The second line most commonly left off.
Source: Dubai Municipality
THE LEDGER, PRICED
What comes off the top of an AED 2,000,000 purchase.
Dubai’s 4% transfer fee is charged once, on the price. Its 5% housing fee is charged every year, on the annual rent. One is a cost of buying, the other a cost of holding.
Your figure. The transfer fee below is charged on this.
Your figure. The housing fee below is charged on this, not on the value.
- Dubai transfer fee, 4% of the valueOne-off, on purchase. Source: Dubai Land Department
- AED 80,000
- Dubai housing fee, 5% of the annual rental valueRecurring, municipal. Source: Dubai Municipality
- Charged on the rent, not on the price. Set the annual rent above to price it.
- Income tax on that rentNone in the UAE. In the United Kingdom the same income is charged at 20 to 45 percent. Source: HMRC, for the UK comparison
- AED 0
- Capital gains tax on disposalNone for property held by an individual.
- AED 0
WHAT WE READ HERE
- Sources indexed in United Arab Emirates
- 101
101 sources across the seven emirates. Dubai Land Department transaction data is the deepest public record of any market in the region.
Bring us a structure and we will price it.
The ledger above is the generic case. What it costs you depends on how you hold it, how long, and where you are resident. Smart Bricks prices that against the transaction record, not against a brochure.
This page is for information only and is not investment, legal, or tax advice. Fees and thresholds change; verify current rates with the Dubai Land Department and the relevant emirate authority before any transaction.