Why Dubai
The honest case for setting up in Dubai - including the parts that changed, the taxes that now exist, and who it genuinely does not suit.
Dubai is an easy place to sell. Every firm in this market leads with the same four bullet points, and at least one of them has been out of date for years.
Here is the case as we would put it to someone we expect to still be a client in five years.
Tax
The part everyone oversimplifies.
You will read “0% tax” on most competitor sites. That was closer to true a few years ago than it is now.
What is still true
There is no personal income tax on salaries in the UAE. That is genuine, and for individuals it remains one of the strongest reasons people move here.
What changed
The UAE now has a federal corporate tax, and VAT has applied since 2018. Both have registration obligations, thresholds and filing deadlines. A company that ignores them accrues penalties regardless of how small it is.
None of that makes Dubai a high-tax jurisdiction – it does not. It does mean “tax free” is the wrong summary, and any adviser still using it is either careless or hoping you will not check. We register clients for both where applicable. See tax registration.
The real advantages
What actually holds up.
- Ownership. Full foreign ownership is available across a wide range of activities, in free zones and now much of the mainland.
- Position. Within a working day’s flight of most of Europe, Africa and South Asia, with the logistics infrastructure to match.
- Residency that follows the company. Forming a company can give you and your family a base to live in, which is unusual.
- Speed. Government processes here are genuinely fast when the file is complete.
- Talent. A workforce drawn from everywhere, and a straightforward process for sponsoring it.
Who it does not suit
Said plainly.
We would rather you decided against Dubai now than a year in.
- Anyone expecting no compliance obligations. There are fewer than in most jurisdictions, but they exist and they are enforced.
- Businesses whose customers are entirely elsewhere and who need no regional presence – the structure may cost more than it returns.
- Anyone relying on an offshore company for residency. It does not carry any. Why not.
- Anyone who needs a bank account guaranteed on a timetable. Nobody can promise that.
Questions
Asked before deciding.
For personal income, yes. For companies, no – corporate tax and VAT both exist, with thresholds and filing obligations. It is still a low-tax jurisdiction by international standards, which is a different and more defensible claim.
No. Plenty of shareholders are non-resident. You will need residency if you want to live here, and some banking arrangements are easier with it.
The licence stage is quick with a complete file. The corporate bank account is usually the long pole, and it is the step least within anyone’s control.
Compliance
What running a company here actually requires.
Low-obligation is not no-obligation, and the gap between the two is where penalties live.
- An annual licence renewal, with a valid Ejari behind it
- Corporate tax registration, and filing once registered
- VAT registration where turnover and activity require it, and periodic returns after
- Accounting records kept to a standard that supports those filings
- Economic substance and beneficial ownership reporting, where the activity and structure bring them into scope
- Visa and labour records kept current for every employee
None of this is burdensome by international standards. All of it is enforced, and none of it forgives a company for being small or new.
Cost of living
The part that decides whether a move sticks.
We are not going to quote figures we have not checked, but these are the categories people underestimate.
- Housing, commonly paid in a small number of cheques per year rather than monthly
- School fees, if the family is moving, which is often the largest single line
- Medical insurance, which is mandatory for residency and for dependants
- Transport, since the city is built around driving
- Annual renewals for the licence, visas and Ejari, which arrive together
The absence of personal income tax is real and material. It is not the same as the cost of living being low, and anyone selling the move on the first point alone is not being straight with you.
Timing the move
When you arrive changes how it goes.
None of this is a rule. All of it is worth knowing before you book.
- The school year. If children are moving, school places drive the timing more than anything else, and popular schools fill well ahead. Start that conversation before the company one
- Ramadan. Working hours are reduced and the rhythm of business changes. Government transactions continue, but plan around it rather than into it
- Summer. Many families travel and the city empties somewhat. Setting up is perfectly possible; getting decisions out of counterparties can be slower
- Public holidays. Several fall on dates confirmed close to the day, which is worth knowing if you are planning a launch around one
- Your licence anniversary. Whatever date you form on becomes your annual renewal date, for the life of the company
That last point is worth a moment. The date you incorporate is a date you will deal with every year afterwards, alongside Ejari and every visa. There is no wrong date, but there is value in not creating three separate dates spread across the calendar when they could sit together.
Before you fly
What to decide, and what to bring.
The things that are easy at home and difficult once you have arrived.
The single most common regret we hear is about documents. Attestation happens in the country that issued the document, so anything left unattested at home becomes a courier problem, a power of attorney, or a trip back.
- Attest what you have. Degrees, marriage certificate, birth certificates for children. Do it before you leave. The chain
- Settle the shareholding. Who owns what, and who will be the manager on the licence. Cheap now, expensive to amend
- Know what you will invoice for. That sentence decides the activity, which decides most of the rest. Why the activity governs everything
- Check for an open UAE file. A previous residency that was never cancelled will surface at the worst moment
- Bring the corporate documents if a company will be a shareholder, attested and current
- Do not sign a tenancy on the first visit before anyone has told you what it does to your visa capacity
Do those six things and the rest of it is administration. Skip the first one and everything else waits on it.
Talk to a consultant
Tell us what you need. We will tell you what it takes.
A short WhatsApp conversation is usually enough to scope a file. No forms, no call centre — you reach a consultant who handles the work.