Tax Planning in the UAE — LaWEra Group

"There is no tax in the UAE" has cost a lot of companies 9 % of their profit for several years. There is corporate tax since 2023, there is VAT, and there are the rules of the country you came from, which do not switch off when you land in Dubai. Tax planning, as we do it, is a calculation made before anything is signed: which form of company, which status, which flows between countries, and what each of the two tax authorities will expect to see.

Who comes to us

• A company is being planned, and the founder wants to know in advance whether it will pay 9 % or qualify for the free zone 0 % — and on what conditions.
• A company already running, sold on "zero", now finds that 0 % applies only to qualifying income and only to a Qualifying Free Zone Person.
• A group with entities in several countries is restructuring and needs to know what is lost at each border.
• A director has relocated and wants to understand where he is tax resident now, and what that means for filings at home.
• A parent company needs a UAE subsidiary to hold up under a home-country tax audit: management, staff, decisions genuinely in the UAE.

What we do, step by step

1. Map of flows. Who pays whom, for what, from which country. Without this map any structure is guesswork.
2. Form and status. Mainland, free zone, DIFC or ADGM. For a free zone company we test whether Qualifying Free Zone Person status is realistic: non-qualifying revenue no more than the lower of AED 5 million or 5 % of total revenue, mandatory audited accounts, and 9 % from the first dirham on everything that does not qualify — a QFZP has no AED 375,000 threshold. Details: mainland vs free zone and QFZP status.
3. Reliefs that actually apply. Small Business Relief for revenue of AED 3 million or less, for periods ending on or before 31 December 2029 — but not for a QFZP, not for members of multinational groups, and at the price of losing the carry-forward of that period's losses. The 0 % band on the first AED 375,000 of taxable income is for ordinary taxpayers. See Small Business Relief and corporate tax.
4. Substance. Economic Substance reporting no longer applies to financial years ending after 31 December 2022; what remains is the question every home-country authority asks: where is this company actually managed? We build the structure so that the answer is "in the UAE" and can be proven. Comparing the two financial centres: DIFC and ADGM.
5. Link to your home jurisdiction. Whether treaty relief is available, and on what terms, depends on the treaty between the UAE and your country. We prepare the UAE side — tax status, residence documentation — and hand it to your adviser at home; CFC rules, exit taxes and residence tests there are theirs to apply. Personal position: tax residence.
6. VAT. Registration is mandatory once taxable supplies exceed AED 375,000 in 12 months, voluntary from AED 187,500. See VAT in the UAE.
7. Written plan. Structure, status, flows, and a calendar of obligations in both countries.

What you get

• A calculation of the tax burden for each structural option, with UAE figures and a list of points to verify at home.
• A reasoned choice of company form and status, rather than "a zone with zero".
• The documentation needed to claim treaty relief and to evidence UAE management.
• A calendar: FTA registration, returns, audit, and the dates your home filings depend on.

What else we handle on tax

• Advice on corporate tax, VAT and excise tax.
• Registering the company with the Federal Tax Authority (FTA) — missing the deadline carries a AED 10,000 penalty.
• Transfer pricing: transactions between related companies.
• Support during FTA audits.

What we do and what stays with you

We calculate, propose options and prepare documents. You provide complete and honest inputs: real turnover, real counterparties, the real place where decisions are taken. A plan built on flattering numbers collapses at the first FTA query or bank review. Rates and conditions are set by law; we cannot make a company a QFZP if it has no qualifying income, and we cannot switch off your obligations at home. The home-country side we coordinate with your adviser there; responsibility for those filings stays with whoever makes them.

When we say no

• When the brief is "zero tax, whatever it takes". The 0 % rate exists only for a QFZP and only on qualifying income; the rest is 9 %.
• When the structure is to exist on paper, with no real activity in the UAE. It will pass neither the FTA nor the bank — nor a tax authority at home.
• When the plan relies on hiding income from a home-country authority. We work within the law of both countries.
• When a business is to be split into several entities to stay under Small Business Relief — the law calls that an abuse.
• When a group with consolidated revenue of EUR 750 million or more expects us to design around the 15 % minimum top-up tax. There is no way around it.

How to start

The first consultation is free. Message us on WhatsApp or Telegram at +971 58 600 98 87. Describe the flows: where the money comes from, where it goes, where the founder lives, whether there are companies in other countries. We will tell you which options exist, what each costs in tax and what the bank will want to see. To work through your situation first, use the guided check on the home page.

⚠️ This describes a service, not tax advice. UAE tax law changes, and conditions differ between free zones. We review each situation individually.