What is the corporate tax rate in the UAE?

UAE corporate tax is 9% on taxable income above AED 375,000. Income below this threshold is taxed at 0%. Freezone companies can qualify for 0% corporate tax on qualifying income if they meet substance requirements and don't elect for standard tax.

Do I need to register for VAT in the UAE?

VAT registration is mandatory if your taxable supplies exceed AED 375,000 annually. Voluntary registration is available at AED 187,500. The standard VAT rate is 5% on most goods and services.

How much does it cost to hire employees in the UAE?

Beyond salary, employers pay visa costs (AED 3,000-7,000 per employee), health insurance (AED 600-2,500/year), and end-of-service gratuity (21 days' salary per year for first 5 years). WPS compliance and payroll processing adds AED 50-200/employee/month.

What is WPS in the UAE?

The Wage Protection System (WPS) requires employers to pay salaries through approved UAE banks or exchange houses. It ensures timely payment and compliance with UAE labour law. Non-compliance can result in fines and visa processing blocks.

UAE Fuel Prices Rise Again in May 2026: What Businesses and Residents Need to Know

Quick Answer: UAE petrol prices jumped 8% from April to May 2026. Super 98 is now AED 3. 66/litre, Special 95 at AED 3

The UAE Fuel Price Committee announced May 2026 petrol prices on 30 April, and the numbers are the highest since early 2022. Super 98 petrol now costs AED 3.66 per litre, up from AED 3.39 in April. Special 95 climbed to AED 3.55 from AED 3.28. E-Plus moves to AED 3.48 from AED 3.20.

Diesel prices are unchanged for now.

The increases average 8-9% in a single month. That compounds a 15% rise seen across March and April combined. The driver is Brent crude, which hit $125 per barrel this week as the US military blockade of Iranian oil exports shows no sign of ending.

For UAE businesses with vehicles, fleets, delivery operations, or logistics exposure, the cost impact is immediate and real.

May 2026 UAE Fuel Prices at a Glance

Grade	April 2026	May 2026	Change
Super 98	AED 3.39/litre	AED 3.66/litre	+AED 0.27 (+8%)
Special 95	AED 3.28/litre	AED 3.55/litre	+AED 0.27 (+8.2%)
E-Plus (91)	AED 3.20/litre	AED 3.48/litre	+AED 0.28 (+8.75%)
Diesel	Unchanged	Unchanged	Unchanged

New prices take effect from 1 May 2026.

Why Prices Keep Rising

The UAE removed fuel subsidies in 2015 and linked retail prices to global oil benchmarks. The Fuel Price Committee adjusts prices monthly based on the previous month’s average crude prices. When Brent moves, UAE pump prices follow within weeks.

Brent crude crossed $125 per barrel in late April 2026. The primary cause is the ongoing US military blockade of Iranian oil exports, which has removed approximately 1.5-1.8 million barrels per day from global supply. Iran accounts for around 3% of world oil production. When that supply disappears suddenly, prices rise sharply.

The UAE itself exited OPEC in late April, giving it freedom to set its own production levels independently. Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (ADNOC) has indicated it will increase output, but that additional volume takes time to reach global markets. The near-term supply picture remains tight.

There is no clear timeline for when the blockade will end. US-Iran negotiations have stalled multiple times in April. Until a deal is reached or Iran’s oil returns to market, Brent is likely to remain above $110-115 per barrel as a floor. That points to further fuel price increases in June unless the situation changes.

What This Means for UAE Businesses

Delivery and Logistics Companies

An 8% fuel price jump hits fleet operators directly. A driver covering 300 km per day in a van averaging 12 litres per 100 km uses approximately 36 litres daily.

At April’s 95-octane price (AED 3.28): AED 118/day fuel cost At May’s price (AED 3.55): AED 127.80/day

For a fleet of 10 vehicles, that is roughly AED 980 more per month in fuel costs alone. For 50 vehicles, AED 4,900/month.

That gap needs to come from somewhere: higher delivery fees, reduced margins, or operational changes.

E-Commerce and Retail Businesses

If your business uses third-party delivery services (Aramex, DHL, FedEx, Fetchr), expect surcharges. Logistics providers update fuel surcharges quarterly or monthly. Many already raised surcharges in April. May will likely trigger another round.

Check your courier contracts. Most include a fuel surcharge clause that adjusts automatically based on published fuel price indices. Factor this into your pricing for the next 60-90 days.

Construction and Contracting

Heavy machinery (cranes, excavators, generators) runs on diesel. May diesel prices are unchanged. But diesel prices have also risen year-on-year and could follow petrol upward in June if crude stays elevated.

If you are tendering for contracts in May, include a fuel cost escalation clause if your project runs more than 3 months. Fixed-price contracts without escalation clauses are a risk at current fuel levels.

Food and Beverage Businesses

Restaurant and catering businesses with delivery operations face the same per-kilometre cost increase as logistics companies. If your delivery radius is wide or you offer free delivery under a minimum order value, review those thresholds now.

A 10% increase in your delivery fuel cost on orders below AED 80-100 may make free delivery uneconomical. Increasing the minimum order for free delivery or adding a small delivery fee is a practical response.

What This Means for Residents

How Much More You Are Paying Per Tank

A typical mid-size sedan (Nissan Altima, Toyota Camry) has a 60-litre tank:

Grade	April 2026	May 2026	Extra Per Fill
Special 95	AED 196.80	AED 213.00	AED 16.20
Super 98	AED 203.40	AED 219.60	AED 16.20

If you fill up twice a month, May costs you AED 32-35 more than April for the same driving. At 52 fill-ups per year, the annual cost of current fuel levels is roughly AED 840 more per vehicle than if prices had stayed at January 2026 levels.

Commuters

Dubai, Abu Dhabi, and Sharjah Metro networks are unaffected by fuel prices. If your daily commute is driving-based and you have access to a metro station, the current fuel environment makes the calculation stronger in favour of public transport.

Abu Dhabi has expanded its bus network in 2025-2026. The RTA in Dubai has increased metro frequency on the Red and Green lines. If you are driving a route with a viable public transport alternative, the monthly saving is now AED 200-400 depending on commute distance.

Individuals With Car Loans

Your monthly car payment does not change, but the total cost of ownership has increased. If you are considering a new vehicle purchase in 2026, factor May fuel prices into the total cost comparison between petrol, hybrid, and electric options.

Electric vehicles charged at home (DEWA/ADDC tariff) average approximately AED 0.23-0.38 per kWh depending on your consumption band. For a car consuming 18 kWh per 100 km, that works out to AED 0.04-0.07 per km versus AED 0.20+ per km on petrol at current prices. The running cost gap between EV and petrol has widened materially over the past six months.

Practical Steps for Businesses to Reduce Fuel Exposure

1. Audit your current fuel spend. If you have a fleet, pull the last 90 days of fuel expense data and calculate cost per kilometre per vehicle. That baseline lets you measure the impact of May prices and identify the highest-consuming vehicles.

2. Introduce route optimisation. Basic route planning software (Circuit, OptimoRoute, Google Maps business) can reduce driving distance by 10-20% with minor adjustments. That saving now has a higher AED value than it did six months ago.

3. Consolidate deliveries. Where possible, batch deliveries by area on the same day rather than running multiple partial-load trips. Fuel cost is a fixed cost per trip, not per item delivered.

4. Negotiate fuel card arrangements. Some petrol stations (ENOC, ADNOC) offer corporate fuel card programmes with volume discounts or cashback. For fleets consuming more than AED 5,000/month in fuel, these can yield 2-5% savings.

5. Review delivery fee structures. If you absorb delivery costs, model the impact of the current fuel price at your current volume. If the fuel cost increase exceeds 5% of your total delivery cost per order, the numbers likely justify a pricing adjustment.

Will Prices Fall in June?

Fuel prices in the UAE are a direct function of global crude. They will fall when Brent falls. The current high-price environment has three main risks:

If the Iran blockade continues or escalates: Brent stays above $120 and UAE prices likely rise further in June.

If a US-Iran deal is reached: Iranian supply returns to market, Brent falls sharply (analysts suggest a $15-25/barrel drop), and UAE prices drop accordingly in July or August.

If ADNOC and other Gulf producers ramp output significantly: Additional supply could cap prices even without a deal, but this takes 3-6 months to have a meaningful effect.

The most likely scenario for May is that diesel will follow petrol upward in June if Brent stays elevated. Budget accordingly.

Putting This in Business Context

Fuel costs rarely appear on a UAE business’s P&L as a single line item. They show up in logistics, delivery, utilities, maintenance, and PRO travel. This makes fuel price increases easy to overlook until they accumulate.

For businesses doing financial planning for Q2 and Q3 2026, assume fuel costs 10-15% higher than Q4 2025 levels when building expense forecasts. Baked into delivery costs, courier surcharges, and fleet expenses, that differential is material.

For more context on how the UAE economy is absorbing the current oil market shock, see our analysis of UAE OPEC exit and its business implications and the oil price impact on UAE business costs.

The numbers announced today are the new baseline. Planning around them now is more productive than waiting to see where June goes.