Turnover rent calculator
Model the deal before you sign it. Natural versus fixed breakpoints, what the percentage actually costs at your realistic sales, and where your occupancy ratio lands.
How percentage rent works
Turnover rent means your rent has two parts: fixed base rent, plus a percentage of gross turnover above a threshold called the breakpoint.
Natural breakpoint = base rent ÷ turnover percentageTurnover rent = percentage × (turnover − breakpoint), floored at zeroOccupancy cost % = (base + turnover rent + other charges) ÷ turnover
A natural breakpoint means turnover rent only starts once the percentage would have produced the base rent anyway. A fixed breakpoint negotiated below that point makes turnover rent start earlier — sometimes much earlier — at the same headline percentage. That single difference is usually worth more than the percentage you negotiated.
What counts as "gross turnover" is defined by your lease, and it decides whether VAT, refunds, staff-discounted sales, gift card redemptions, delivery-aggregator orders at gross order value and e-commerce fulfilled from the unit are inside the figure you declare. On a food unit with heavy delivery, that definition can move declared turnover by a fifth. Read the turnover rent guide.
Reviewed 18 August 2026 by Ahmed Nabil Selim. UAE tax rates, thresholds and deadlines change — confirm the position for your period before relying on it.
Turnover Rent Calculator — frequently asked questions
As a percentage of gross turnover above a breakpoint, in addition to base rent. Where the breakpoint is natural it equals base rent divided by the percentage — so AED 600,000 of base rent at 8% gives a breakpoint of AED 7.5 million, and 8% is charged on turnover above that. At AED 9 million of turnover, the turnover rent is 8% of AED 1.5 million, or AED 120,000, making total rent AED 720,000.
The turnover level at which the percentage rent would exactly equal the base rent — calculated as base rent divided by the turnover percentage. Above it, the tenant pays the percentage on the excess. A natural breakpoint is the tenant-favourable structure because turnover rent only begins once the percentage would have produced the base rent anyway. A negotiated fixed breakpoint set below that point makes turnover rent start earlier at the same headline percentage.
It varies too widely by category and centre for a single benchmark to be useful — jewellery, fashion and food-court units operate at genuinely different sustainable ratios. What matters is the method: include base rent, turnover rent, service charge, marketing levy, utilities and storage, express it as a percentage of net sales, and track it per store over time. A ratio climbing while sales are flat is the earliest reliable sign a lease has stopped working.
Want the real number, not the estimate?
A calculator works from the figures you type in. We work from your actual records, your licence and your contracts — and tell you what to do about the answer.
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