Tax optimisation · United Arab Emirates
Pay what the law requires, and not a dirham more
Reliefs elected correctly, structures reviewed against substance requirements, transfer pricing documented, input VAT recovered. Planning inside the rules, documented well enough to defend.
- Free zone qualifying income assessed properly
- Small Business Relief modelled, not assumed
- Transfer pricing policy and documentation
- Group structure and permanent establishment review
- Input VAT recovery on positions most firms miss
Speak to a specialist
Free 30-minute consultation. Written proposal within one business day.
The problem
Aggressive positions are cheap until they are examined
The UAE tax regime is young, and a great deal of confident advice circulating in this market does not survive contact with the legislation. Businesses are told that a free zone licence delivers 0% automatically. It does not: Qualifying Free Zone Person status demands adequate substance in the zone, audited financial statements prepared under IFRS, transfer pricing documentation, and non-qualifying revenue held below the de minimis thresholds. Miss one and 9% applies to everything, retroactively for that period.
Legitimate planning is a different exercise. It means electing Small Business Relief where the modelling supports it and declining it where forfeiting loss carry-forward costs more than the relief saves. It means pricing intra-group transactions defensibly and documenting them before anyone asks. It means recovering the input VAT you are entitled to. None of that is exotic. It is just work that has to be done before the return is filed rather than after a query arrives.
Time-limited: Small Business Relief applies only to tax periods ending on or before 31 December 2029 — three years later than the original 2026 cut-off, extended by Ministerial Decision 131 of 2026 — and the election must be made in the return itself; it cannot be reversed afterwards. Transfer pricing documentation becomes a requirement above AED 200 million in revenue.
Scope
What is included
Structure & reliefs
- Qualifying Free Zone Person eligibility and de minimis testing
- Small Business Relief modelled against loss carry-forward
- Group and holding structure review
- Permanent establishment risk for cross-border operations
- Double tax treaty position and tax residency certificates
Documentation & recovery
- Transfer pricing policy, local file and master file support
- Related-party disclosure preparation
- Input VAT recovery review
- Expense deductibility and disallowance review
- Written position papers to support what you have filed
How it works
Four steps
Review
Current structure, licences, intra-group flows and last filed positions.
Model
Options quantified in dirhams, with the compliance cost and risk of each stated plainly.
Implement
Elections made, documentation prepared, filings adjusted or disclosed.
Defend
Position papers retained so the reasoning is on file if the FTA asks in three years.
Pricing
What it costs
Published, fixed, and quoted in writing before we start. All fees exclude 5% UAE VAT.
| Service | Basis | Fee |
|---|---|---|
| Tax structure review | Project | from AED 5,000 |
| Free zone qualifying income assessment | Project | from AED 3,500 |
| Transfer pricing documentation | Project | On request |
| Annual review, included in Accelerate package | Monthly | AED 3,000/month |
Questions
Tax Optimisation & Structuring — frequently asked
Is tax optimisation legal in the UAE?
Arranging your affairs within the law to minimise tax is legal. Misrepresenting facts, creating structures without genuine substance, or mispricing related-party transactions is not, and the general anti-abuse provisions in the corporate tax law exist precisely to unwind arrangements whose main purpose is obtaining a tax advantage. Everything we recommend is designed to be disclosed, not hidden.
Does a free zone licence mean I pay 0%?
No. It means you may qualify for 0% on qualifying income if you meet every condition: adequate substance in the zone, audited IFRS financial statements, transfer pricing documentation, and non-qualifying revenue under the de minimis threshold. A mainland customer base or a virtual office arrangement will often break it.
How much can you actually save me?
It depends entirely on your structure, and any firm quoting a percentage before seeing your accounts is guessing. The recurring wins we see are unclaimed input VAT, Small Business Relief taken or declined on the wrong basis, and expenses disallowed that were in fact deductible. Sometimes the honest answer is that your position is already optimal.
What happens after Small Business Relief ends?
Relief now runs to tax periods ending on or before 31 December 2029, extended from 2026 by Ministerial Decision 131 of 2026. That buys three years, it does not remove the cliff: a company still relying on relief in 2029 faces its first real corporate tax bill in 2030. Businesses close to the AED 375,000 threshold should be pricing for 9% on the excess well before then.
Do I need transfer pricing documentation?
If you transact with related parties or connected persons, arm's length pricing applies regardless of size. Formal local and master file documentation becomes mandatory above AED 200 million in revenue, but the arm's length obligation itself does not have a floor, and disclosure is required in the return.
Can you get me a tax residency certificate?
Yes, where the entity or individual meets the conditions. It is usually needed to claim relief under one of the UAE's double taxation treaties, and the application is straightforward once substance and presence can be evidenced.
Next step
Thirty minutes, no obligation
Tell us where you are. We will tell you what is required, what it costs, and whether anything is already overdue — before you have paid us anything.
Prefer to see numbers first? Take the 3-minute assessment — package, indicative fee and your own filing deadlines, no contact details required.
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