UAE Salary Calculator — Take-Home Pay
The UAE has no income tax on salaries — but your payslip can still shrink: ILOE unemployment insurance for everyone, GPSSA pension for UAE and GCC nationals. See your real net, and what your package is worth once gratuity is counted.
There's no legal minimum share — 60/40 basic/allowances is the market norm. Basic drives your gratuity and ILOE category.
Net monthly take-home
AED 0
Enter your gross package.
| Income tax | AED 0 |
| ILOE unemployment insurance | — |
| Pension contribution | — |
| Net per month | — |
| Net as % of gross | — |
| Gratuity accruing per year (21 days of basic) | — |
Heard the "5% UAE income tax from 2026" rumour? It's false — no personal income tax exists and none has been announced (official u.ae position, re-checked August 2026). If a "deduction" on your payslip isn't ILOE, pension, or one of the narrow items allowed by Article 25 of the Labour Law, question it.
What can legally leave your payslip
- Income tax: zero. Salaries are untaxed for everyone.
- ILOE (mandatory job-loss insurance): AED 5/month if your basic is ≤ AED 16,000, AED 10/month above — optional in free zones. Skipping it costs an AED 400 fine and, worse, the 60%-of-salary payout if you lose your job.
- GPSSA pension — UAE nationals only: 11% of pension salary (capped at AED 70,000) under the new law for those first employed after 31 October 2023; 5% (capped at AED 50,000) under the old law. Employers add 12.5–15% on top.
- GCC nationals contribute to their home scheme (7–9.75% depending on country).
- Everything else is limited by law: total deductions can't exceed 50% of wages; medical insurance is the employer's obligation in all emirates since 2025; charging you for recruitment, visa or Emirates ID costs is illegal.
Frequently asked questions
Is there really no income tax in the UAE?
Correct — no personal income tax on employment income, confirmed on the official government portal. The 9% corporate tax applies to business profits, and a widely-shared claim about a 5% salary tax from 2026 is a fabrication.
What is ILOE and do I have to pay it?
The mandatory Involuntary Loss of Employment insurance (since 2023): AED 5/month for basic salaries up to AED 16,000, AED 10/month above. It pays 60% of your subscription salary for up to 3 months if you lose your job (capped at AED 10,000–20,000/month). Free-zone, DIFC and ADGM employees can join voluntarily. Not registering carries an AED 400 fine. Two conditions decide whether the payout is real: you must have paid premiums for at least 12 consecutive months without a gap, and you must file the claim within 30 days of the termination date.
How much pension do UAE nationals pay?
Under Federal Law 57/2023 (first employed after 31 October 2023): 11% employee + 15% employer, on pension salary capped at AED 70,000 in the private sector. Under the old law: 5% employee + 12.5% employer, capped at AED 50,000. The base is basic salary plus fixed contractual allowances — bonuses and overtime are excluded.
Can my employer deduct medical insurance or visa costs from my salary?
No. Basic health insurance is the employer's legal obligation in every emirate (nationwide since 1 January 2025), and Article 6 of the Labour Law forbids passing recruitment, work-permit, visa or Emirates ID costs to the worker. Lawful deductions (loans you agreed to, court orders, documented damage) are capped at 50% of wages in total.
Why does the basic/allowances split matter if there's no tax?
Because your end-of-service gratuity is calculated on basic salary only, and your ILOE category (AED 5 vs 10, and the payout cap) also follows basic. A package that's 50% basic accrues noticeably less gratuity than the same package at 70% basic. There is no statutory minimum share — it's set by your contract.
What's a typical salary in Dubai in 2026?
From the 2026 salary guides: mid-level accountants AED 20–27k, entry HR ~25k (senior 60–80k), mid-level data/engineering 35–45k (senior 80k+), sales & marketing directors ~70k. City-wide averages hover around AED 15–18k — but ranges by role beat any single average.
Sources
- Taxation — u.ae, official UAE Government portal
- Unemployment insurance scheme — u.ae / ILOE
- Pension contributions — GPSSA; Labour deductions — Federal Decree-Law 33/2021, Art. 25
Rates re-verified against official sources on 17 August 2026 — ILOE premiums and payout rules, GPSSA contribution rates and salary caps unchanged.
Employment guides
- Your salary is late — since 1 June 2026 wages are due on the first of the month, with no grace period. What counts as late and what to do about it.
- Notice, resignation and dismissal — the 30–90 day rule, pay in lieu, and when either side can end the contract on the spot.
- Probation period rules — 14 days from the employer, one month from you, and the exit that costs a work permit for a year.
- Claiming ILOE after job loss — what the AED 5 a month actually buys, and the 30-day window that voids most claims.
- Running the payroll instead? — the employer's side of the 1st-of-month rule, the 85% compliance threshold and what a work-permit suspension costs.
- What one hire actually costs — the official MOHRE fee list, mandatory insurances and the accruals behind a salary line.
Related tools
- UAE Gratuity Calculator — turn that annual accrual into your exact end-of-service figure.
- DEWA Bill Calculator — check the biggest monthly bill against your net.
- Working hours and overtime — the 25% and 50% uplifts are calculated on basic wage, so the split below decides them too.
- Sick leave: 15, 30, 45 — what full pay and half pay actually run on, and the ninety-day ladder costed out.
- Annual leave and leave salary — the basic-vs-total split again, this time deciding what your untaken days pay out.