Equipment and evidence

I bought a laptop. Do I take it off all at once or spread it over several years (depreciation)?

Usually safe if you keep the documents

In short: It depends on how you keep your accounts. With the standard method (accrual accounting, IFRS), equipment that lasts more than a year is spread over its useful life (official term: depreciation). With the simpler cash method, allowed up to 3,000,000 AED of income, you record costs when you pay them, but long-lasting items still need care.

The basic rule

Taxable profit starts from the profit in your accounts. The price of a long-lasting item is not taken off all at once; the yearly share recorded in your accounts (depreciation) normally counts.

When it is different

Small items below your own reasonable capitalisation threshold are often expensed directly under accounting policy.
Private use of the laptop or phone reduces the business share.
There is no separate tax depreciation schedule in the UAE Corporate Tax Law: the accounting treatment is the starting point.

Documents to keep

Invoice
Asset register (date, cost, useful life)
Your capitalisation policy

How safe is it?

Usually safe if you keep the documents Low: timing differences, not lost deductions.

When to ask a professional

Ask when setting up your accounting basis and asset policy for the first time. Who can confirm it for your own case: an FTA-registered tax agent (a tax professional approved by the UAE tax authority), or the optional year-end review in SoloBooks.

If you pay no Corporate Tax this year (Small Business Relief): If you use Small Business Relief this year, you pay no Corporate Tax anyway, so this cost does not change your tax for that year. Keep the documents anyway: they back up your income figure, and they matter if you stop qualifying later.

Check it with the free calculator: Small Business Relief calculator →

Sources

Federal Decree-Law No. 47 of 2022 on the Taxation of Corporations and Businesses (consolidated, unofficial English translation) — Art. 20(1)–(2) and 28(1)
Ministerial Decision No. 114 of 2023 on Accounting Standards and Methods — Art. 2 and 4
FTA Corporate Tax Guide: Accounting Standards and Interaction with Corporate Tax — Property, plant and equipment and depreciation

Last verified: 19 October 2026

General information, not tax advice. Your situation may differ.

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