Establish a Company in Dubai – Understand and implement the company formation process, the right procedure, Mainland or Freezone, costs, and advantages & disadvantages safely and quickly, and avoid mistakes

The 5 most important facts about setting up a company in Dubai in advance:

1. Do I have to live in Dubai to set up a company?
   Clearly no. Depending on the type of formation, see below, at least 1 visa is already included. This means that the possibility of living in Dubai as a shareholder (company co-owner) or employee (company employee) exists immediately with your own Dubai company and a company in the emirate! This is a huge advantage if you want to emigrate OR want to have a second home here.
2. No taxes in Dubai – really 100% tax-free?
   Yes, yes, and yes. However, as always, there is a small „but“. The very first thing you need to understand: Dubai, or rather the government, has no interest in proportional taxation, as this is the biggest obstacle to growth. Due to the corporate tax regulation changed in April 2023, all free zones remain tax-free until 2026 for up to 3 million Dirhams (AED). What follows after that is still unclear. Unlike in almost all countries in the world, everything here is done via fees (costs). Why is that? The government of Dubai wants superlative growth. But growth does not come from the „small“ ones who hardly generate any revenue and have only a small income. Therefore, the initial costs of over 5,000 are relatively high compared to setting up a company in Germany for 30 at the trade office. However, from an annual turnover of just 8,000 Euros, it is already worthwhile, as no further taxes are incurred – see also point 5. One more note: Introduction of corporate tax from 2023 for Mainland Companies. It is planned to tax local Mainland companies with active revenues and customer relationships in the UAE at 9% – corporate tax and NO income tax. However, this also only applies from AED 375,000 (approx. Euro 90,000) annual turnover. It is still cheaper than in most countries. Freezones in the Dubai Free Trade Zone are not affected by this. Further information (click here)
3. What does it cost to set up a company in Dubai (company formation / owning your own company in Dubai)?
   Company formation starts at approximately 5,500 Euros including one visa for the General Manager (managing director and owner) and can rise to over 20,000 Euros for a proper Mainland LLC, depending on the license. The annual fees for the license are usually similar to the one-time costs BUT otherwise no taxes or fees are incurred = 0% taxes.
4. How long does company formation, the visa process, and processing take?
   Company formation can be done from any country in the world and takes 3-5 working days. Since Dubai and the entire UAE are very digital, you do not have to be on site for this. All necessary documents can be uploaded online or transmitted directly via forms on websites.
   The visa process after entry begins with the e-visa which designates you as a shareholder or employee. This is stamped at DXB airport and thus you are no longer a tourist. The stamped e-permits are then followed by the visa process within an authority in 3 steps: Application Form + Medical Health Check / Test + Fingerprint / Biometrics. All documents are then brought to the authority that is commissioned for company formation. More on this later…
   From now on, you are already a resident and your visa is glued to the last page of your passport. This is followed by the printing of the Resident ID (identity card) which can take 5-7 working days. After receipt, you can enter and exit at any time! Business in and out of Dubai can be started immediately.
5. Building tax-free assets without accounting and high costs?
   Sounds too good to be true? But it is! All private and business income, including capital gains (deposits, trading, stocks, ETFs, crypto Bitcoin, real estate trading) are completely tax-free in Dubai under certain conditions, and therefore there are no accounting requirements. In the case of a Mainland, there is a simple accounting software, which, however, is by no means comparable to the effort in Europe. An annual audit requirement (comparable to a balance sheet) also does not exist when forming a company with us.

Direkt beraten lassen