How To Set Up A Business In UAE Tax-Free
Many entrepreneurs and corporations around the globe are opening offices in Dubai and other regions in the United Arab Emirates due to the Middle Eastern nation’s business-friendly environment. Although the area is a hot desert, Dubai is one of the most modern developments in the world, provides a growing business talent pool for global outsourcing, has limited bureaucratic involvement and has no tax requirements. Understanding how to set up a business in UAE is simple and can be done quickly.
Steps Toward Preparing for Registration
The first step in setting up an enterprise in the United Arab Emirates is deciding on the type of business structure. The types of companies that can be incorporated there include LLC, free zone and offshore. A free zone allows foreigners to be 100 percent owners without a sponsor from Dubai. Establishing an LLC in Dubai requires a local sponsor, who can help set up an office to lease and contact the Economic Development Office to apply for a trading license. Certain types of businesses such as health clinics require government permission before pursuing a trading license. LLCs can be run by foreign entrepreneurs, but can only be established through local sponsors that hold 51 percent or more of the company.
Almost any kind of legitimate industry is allowed in the country including trading, manufacturing and online services. Hiring an experienced business consultant from Dubai can help accelerate the process. Consider a creative consultant who has a track record dealing with local contracts and can provide full service in terms of set up. Make sure the consultant also has experience getting businesses approvals by the UAE government.
Certain services require a professional license issued by the Economic Development Department. The license is necessary for accountants, IT and management consultants and other professional positions. Additionally, a commercial license allows individuals to engage in trading imports and exports and various products.
Registering a Business in UAE
Aside from the application and signature form, the main documentation necessary for foreigners to establish a UAE business includes visas, a passport with 10 similar sized photos, financial statements, a reference letter and capital adequacy letter from a bank and a business plan that details how the business will be run. Other required items include UAE embassy documents such as a Memorandum of Association and a Certificate of Incorporation. The applicant must also provide board resolution documentation, four possible back up names for the business and an address where the office will be established. The owner must also appoint an attorney.
Officials will only proceed with the process if proof of an office space is given. After these documents are presented, administrators will review the materials in a process that takes up to three weeks. Once the business is approved by authorities, the owner must sign papers at a courthouse in Dubai. The owner must also open a company bank account in Dubai. Visas for the owner and staff members must then be processed. The business can then establish a P.O. Box and telephone number, along with a custom code.
Once the company is set up it is difficult and expensive to liquidate, so the business should be designed as a long term operation. Modifications to business operations, however, are simple and require a new license. While Dubai is the main commercial hub of UAE, businesses can be established in other Emirates of the nation as well. Learning how to set up a business in UAE may seem like a lot of initial planning, but after the registration stage the government has little involvement with the operation.