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People set up or buy a company in the United Arab Emirates for a few recurring reasons: to sell into the Gulf from a licensed local base, to run international trading or consulting from a free zone, to hold shares, property or intellectual property, and to sponsor residence visas for owners and staff. The first decision is the licensing authority, not the emirate: there is no national register that every company joins, and the planned activity decides which authority can license it.
For foreign owners the usual vehicle is a free zone company, an FZE with one shareholder or an FZCO with several. Ready made, shelf and off-the-shelf companies in Dubai and the other emirates are these same forms, licensed some time ago and never used for trading.
| Form | Licensed or registered by | Typical use |
|---|---|---|
| Mainland LLC | The economic department of the emirate, such as the Department of Economy and Tourism in Dubai | Selling to customers anywhere in the UAE |
| Free zone FZE or FZCO | The zone authority, for example DMCC, JAFZA, RAKEZ or IFZA, each keeping its own register | International trade, services and holding from inside a zone, with premises and visas granted by the zone |
| Offshore company | The JAFZA Offshore or RAK ICC registrar, always through a registered agent | Holding shares or property and invoicing abroad; no activity in the UAE without the licences it needs |
The two financial free zones, DIFC and ADGM, run legal systems of their own. A free zone licence alone does not open the mainland market, so where the customers are usually settles the choice. The steps are on company formation in the UAE.
| Tax | Position in 2026 |
|---|---|
| Corporate tax | 0% on taxable income up to the AED 375,000 threshold and 9% above it, for mainland, free zone and offshore companies alike |
| Qualifying Free Zone Person | 0% on qualifying income and 9% on other income while every condition is met; a failure removes the status for that tax period and the four after it |
| Large multinational groups | A 15% domestic minimum top-up tax for groups in scope, from 1 January 2025 |
| VAT | 5%; compulsory registration once taxable supplies and imports pass the AED 375,000 threshold, voluntary above the AED 187,500 threshold |
| Dividends and other UAE income of non-residents | Withholding tax at 0% where the income is not attributable to a UAE permanent establishment (Corporate Tax Law, Articles 13 and 45); the Cabinet may set other rates |
| Tax treaties | 137 double taxation agreements concluded, according to the Ministry of Finance, most of them in force |
“Zero tax in a free zone” is the usual misreading. Free zone companies sit inside the corporate tax system and register and file like any other; the nil rate belongs only to a Qualifying Free Zone Person, and only on qualifying income. A treaty claim normally rests on a tax residency certificate from the Federal Tax Authority.
Ownership is open. A free zone company carries no foreign ownership restriction, and since Federal Decree-Law No. 26 of 2020 a foreign investor may hold the whole of a mainland company outside the activities of strategic impact, such as defence, banking, insurance and telecommunications. Shareholders need neither residence nor nationality. On the mainland, u.ae still lists a local service agent, a UAE national holding no shares, for civil (professional) establishments wholly owned by non-GCC nationals.
Officers are set by each authority rather than one federal rule. One duty is shared by the mainland and the commercial free zones: under Cabinet Decision No. 109 of 2023 each company keeps a register of its beneficial owners, meaning anyone with 25% of the capital or votes or control by other means, lodges it with its licensing authority, and names a natural person resident in the UAE who is authorised to disclose that data. The register is not public. DIFC and ADGM run their own, equally private, regimes.
In the UAE the account follows the licence. At least one large bank will not open an application before the trade licence exists, and several digital routes expect a signatory who lives in the UAE and holds an Emirates ID, which itself comes after the licence and a residence visa. No deposit protection scheme operates, because the Central Bank law allows such a fund but none has been set up. Detail is on bank accounts for UAE companies.
Form a new company when the zone, the licensed activities and the shareholding should be your own choice from the start; free zone formation runs largely online with the zone authority.
Buy a ready-made or shelf company when you need what a company only acquires over time: an incorporation date some way back, a live licence and establishment card, premises under lease, a corporate tax registration with returns filed and, for some free zone companies, an account the bank is willing to keep. It is rarely a shortcut, since the authority approves the share transfer and checks the buyer as it would a founder, and visas never pass with the company. The transfer is explained on ready-made shelf companies in the UAE and the idea in general in our guide to off-the-shelf companies; UAE free zone entities appear on shelf companies with bank accounts, for a buyer the bank accepts.
Each vehicle has a page of its own: free zone companies, covering the choice of zone and mainland sales, and offshore companies, covering RAK ICC and JAFZA Offshore. Russian-speaking readers will find the same ground on companies in the UAE (in Russian).
We supply ready-made UAE companies and form new ones: we draft the papers for a formation or a share transfer, handle the filings with the licensing authority and help put together the bank application. If we know a suitable bank through a working contact, we can introduce you to it; the bank makes its own decision.
No. A shelf company has been licensed and kept dormant, so it has no customers, invoices or turnover to show. What it carries is a compliance record: its date of incorporation, each licence renewal, its corporate tax registration and the returns filed for past periods. That record is not trading history; a company that has really traded is an operating business.
The legal route is much the same, a share transfer the licensing authority approves or registers. What differs is what comes with the shares. A shelf company brings its licence, establishment card, premises and filings, without staff, contracts or debts. An operating business brings those too, plus its tax history and any missed filings, which stay with the company after the sale and call for a full review before signing.
Only if it qualifies, period by period. The tax position belongs to the company and does not change with its owner: 9% above the AED 375,000 threshold in general, 0% on qualifying income for a Qualifying Free Zone Person meeting every condition. A company that failed a condition earlier stays outside the regime for that period and the four after it. Ask for the registration, the returns and any audited accounts.
It depends on the form. An offshore company at JAFZA or RAK ICC is formed, administered and transferred only through a registered agent. Free zone authorities deal with applicants through their own portals, and JAFZA calls its formation process fully digital. On the mainland the memorandum is attested by a UAE law firm, court or notary, and some civil establishments need a local service agent.
Yes, because the zone stays with the company. The activities on its licence are the ones that zone approved, its visa quota follows the premises it leases there, and the transfer runs through that authority’s procedure. IFZA, for example, generally does not permit share transfers in an FZCO in the first three months after licensing. Bank policies also vary by emirate and free zone.
Weighing a ready-made UAE company against a new one? Tell us the activity and where your customers are, and we will say which licensing authority fits and which ready-made companies are available now. We also answer on Telegram and WhatsApp at +48 663 247 166.