Where the number comes from
An ICV score is calculated from your audited financial statements, using the template the certifying body issues. That single fact drives everything else — your score is decided by how the underlying figures were prepared, recorded and classified long before anyone opens a tender document.
Because it is tied to a specific set of financial statements, the certificate has a shelf life and has to be renewed on that cycle. A certificate that expires in the middle of a live tender is a self-inflicted wound.
The main contributors
- Spend with suppliers inside the UAE, and goods manufactured here
- Investment in the country — fixed assets held and used in the UAE
- Emiratisation — UAE nationals in your workforce
- Contribution of expatriate staff based in the country
- Revenue earned from outside the UAE, which is treated differently again
The weighting between these is set by the programme, not by you. What is in your control is whether your accounts let each one be identified and evidenced cleanly.
Where scores are usually lost
Rarely because a business genuinely has low in-country value. Far more often because the accounts cannot demonstrate the value that is there:
- Local and foreign supplier spend not separated in the ledger
- Fixed assets held outside the UAE mixed in with those held here
- Payroll not split in a way that supports the Emiratisation and expatriate figures
- Financial statements finalised too late to feed the certification window
- Group entities assessed separately in a way that works against each other
The practical sequence
Close and audit the financial statements. Map the ledger to the template categories. Calculate the score and see it before it is submitted. Fix what can still be fixed. Then certify — and put the renewal date in the same calendar as your tax deadlines, because it belongs there.
Last reviewed: 20 September 2026. This article is general guidance on published UAE tax rules as at the review date above. It is not advice for your specific circumstances, and the rules change. Confirm your own position with us before acting on anything here.