Does the UAE have stamp duty?

The UAE has no UK-style stamp duty land tax. Instead each emirate's Land Department charges a property transfer fee — 4% of the price in Dubai — plus a fixed trustee registration fee and admin. People often call this 'UAE stamp duty', but it is a transfer fee, not a tax band.

Who pays the DLD transfer fee?

The 4% Dubai Land Department transfer fee is legally split equally between buyer and seller, but in practice the buyer almost always pays the full amount. Always confirm in the sale agreement, since this is the single largest transaction cost.

Are there first-time buyer exemptions in the UAE?

No. Unlike some countries, the UAE transfer fee has no first-buyer relief and no tiered rates — it is a flat percentage of the price regardless of how many properties you already own or whether it is your home.

What is the trustee registration fee?

On top of the transfer fee, a registration trustee office charges a fixed fee — commonly around AED 2,000 for properties under AED 500,000 and AED 4,000 above that — plus 5% VAT. The tool adds this and the property registration admin to the total.

Do I pay extra if I take a mortgage?

Yes. A mortgage adds a registration fee of 0.25% of the loan amount plus a small admin charge, paid to the Land Department to register the lender's charge. Tick the mortgage box and enter the loan to include it.

UAE Stamp Duty / Transfer Tax Calculator

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The UAE Stamp Duty / Transfer Tax Calculator estimates the government and registration costs of buying property in the United Arab Emirates. The UAE has no traditional stamp duty land tax; instead the relevant emirate’s Land Department charges a flat transfer fee plus fixed registration costs. This tool totals those charges so you know the true cost of completing a purchase before you commit.

How it works

The headline cost is the Land Department transfer fee — 4% of the purchase price in Dubai (the DLD), editable here for other emirates. On top of that the tool adds:

a registration trustee fee, commonly around AED 2,000 for property under AED 500,000 and AED 4,000 above it, plus 5% VAT;
a fixed property registration admin charge; and
an optional mortgage registration fee of 0.25% × loan + AED 290 when the purchase is financed.

Total = (price × transfer%) + trustee fee × 1.05 + admin + mortgage registration

Unlike progressive stamp-duty systems, the UAE transfer fee is a single flat percentage with no tiered bands, no first-buyer exemptions, and no surcharge for additional properties.

Example

On a AED 1,500,000 Dubai apartment bought with a AED 1,200,000 mortgage: the 4% transfer fee is AED 60,000, the trustee fee is about AED 4,200 with VAT, registration admin AED 580, and mortgage registration roughly AED 3,290 — a total of about AED 68,000, or 4.5% of the price.

Notes

The 4% Dubai fee is legally a 50/50 buyer-seller split but is almost always paid in full by the buyer in practice — check your sale agreement.
Other emirates set their own rates, so adjust the transfer percentage for purchases outside Dubai. Everything is computed in your browser and never uploaded.