IFZA the International Free Zone Authority is a Dubai free zone based in Dubai Silicon Oasis that licenses companies entirely through a network of authorised Professional Partners rather than selling directly. That single fact shapes everything about setting up there: you will not find a price list on IFZA’s own website, and the quote you… Continue reading IFZA Free Zone Dubai: Licences, Costs and Setup

SPC Free Zone: Sharjah Publishing City Free Zone  is a Sharjah free zone that licenses companies from AED 4,999 and issues licences faster than almost any other jurisdiction in the UAE. It is a subsidiary of the Sharjah Book Authority, and despite the publishing name it licenses general trading, professional services, IT, e-commerce and marketing… Continue reading SPC Free Zone Sharjah: Costs, Visas and Setup

Your memorandum of association is the constitutional document of your UAE company. It records who owns the company, what it may do, who can sign on its behalf, how profits are divided, and what happens when a shareholder exits or dies. Most founders sign it without reading it, because at formation it looks like one… Continue reading What Your Memorandum of Association Actually Does

UAE corporate tax is charged at 0% on taxable income up to AED 375,000 and 9% on taxable income above AED 375,000. It applies to financial years starting on or after 1 June 2023 under Federal Decree-Law No. 47 of 2022, and every taxable person must register with the Federal Tax Authority — free zone… Continue reading UAE Corporate Tax: Who Pays and How Much

Small Business Relief lets a UAE business with revenue of AED 3 million or less be treated as having no taxable income for that tax period. It is elective — you claim it in your tax return, and it is not applied for you — and it has been extended by Ministerial Decision No. 131… Continue reading UAE Small Business Relief: Who Qualifies

A Qualifying Free Zone Person (QFZP) pays 0% corporate tax on its qualifying income and 9% on income that does not qualify. Holding a free zone licence does not make you a QFZP: the status is a test you have to pass in every tax period, under Federal Decree-Law No. 47 of 2022 and the… Continue reading Qualifying Free Zone Person: How to Keep 0%

The UAE VAT rate in 2026 is 5%, and both registration thresholds are unchanged: mandatory registration at AED 375,000 of taxable turnover, voluntary registration from AED 187,500. No rate or threshold change took effect in 2025 or 2026, whatever you may have read. What changed is the legislation around those figures. Federal Decree-Law No. 16… Continue reading UAE VAT in 2026: Thresholds and What Changed

Eligibility for a UAE golden visa depends entirely on which route you apply under, and the routes are not open-ended. The UAE Government publishes the official list, and it currently covers investors in public investments, real estate investors, entrepreneurs, specialised talent, scientists and outstanding professionals, outstanding students and graduates, and humanitarian pioneers. If your circumstances… Continue reading UAE Golden Visa: The Qualifying Routes

Real estate investment is one of the routes on the UAE Government’s published golden visa list, but the detailed conditions are not national. They are set by the authority in the emirate where your property is registered, and Dubai’s test and Abu Dhabi’s test are genuinely different documents. In Dubai, the General Directorate of Residency… Continue reading Golden Visa Through Property: Dubai and Abu Dhabi