Knowledge base

The Domestic Minimum Top-up Tax (DMTT) is a UAE tax topping up the effective tax rate to 15%, introduced by Cabinet Decision No. 142 of 2024 and applicable for financial years beginning on or after 1 January 2025. It applies only to multinational groups with consolidated annual revenue of €750 million or more in at least two of the preceding four financial years. This implements the OECD/G20 Pillar Two global standard (GloBE Model Rules). For the vast majority of small and medium-sized businesses, this tax does not apply — the €750m threshold filters out everything except the largest-scale groups.

The Finfluencer License is mandatory registration with the Securities and Commodities Authority (SCA) for any individual providing financial recommendations via social media who has 1,000 or more followers.

GPSSA (General Pension and Social Security Authority) is the federal pension fund for UAE nationals working in the government and private sectors in every emirate except Abu Dhabi (which has its own Abu Dhabi Pension Fund). Important: this system covers UAE nationals only — foreign employees do not receive a pension, they receive an end-of-service gratuity instead. Since 31 October 2023, two regimes apply in parallel: the old regime (Federal Law No. 7 of 1999, 20% contributions) for those registered with GPSSA before that date, and the new regime (Federal Decree-Law No. 57 of 2023, 26% contributions) for anyone entering the UAE workforce for the first time on or after that date.

The R&D Tax Credit is a non-refundable UAE tax credit on qualifying research and development expenditure, introduced by Cabinet Decision No. 215 of 2025 and Ministerial Decision No. 24 of 2026, applicable for tax periods beginning on or after 1 January 2026. The credit rate is tiered: 15%, 35%, and 50%, depending on both the level of R&D expenditure and the average number of staff dedicated to R&D. The maximum credit is AED 2 million per tax period (50% of the maximum qualifying expenditure of AED 5 million). The credit is applied against Corporate Tax liability and, where applicable, Top-up Tax (DMTT).

The UAE is not a party to the 1961 Hague Apostille Convention, so foreign corporate documents — powers of attorney, memoranda of association, board resolutions — cannot be legalised with a single apostille; a full consular legalisation chain is required.

Temporarily freezing (suspending) a trade licence in the UAE is an official and legal mechanism available in most major jurisdictions: DET (mainland Dubai), DMCC, JAFZA, and several other regulators. It is not a free loophole — freezing is a paid procedure with its own government fee, generally lower than the full annual renewal cost but never zero. Conditions and timelines vary sharply by regulator: DET only allows freezing a licence after it has already expired, for up to 3 years (1 year for a Sole Establishment); DMCC, by contrast, allows freezing a still-active licence for 12, 24, or 36 months. In all cases, Corporate Tax and VAT obligations to the Federal Tax Authority (FTA) remain in full force — freezing the licence does not exempt the company from filing returns.

Corporate tax (CT) is a federal tax on profits of legal entities and natural persons from business activities in the UAE, introduced by Federal Decree-Law No. 47 of 2022. In force from 1 June 2023. For the first time in UAE history, a direct profits tax applies to the vast majority of commercial entities.

The UAE occupies a unique position in the global virtual asset regulatory landscape. It is the only country in the world to have established a dedicated regulatory authority exclusively for virtual assets — VARA in Dubai — as early as 2022, long before most jurisdictions had begun drafting any coherent rules.

Health insurance for employees is mandatory for all employers in all 7 UAE emirates. Dubai and Abu Dhabi have enforced this since 2006-2014. From 1 January 2025, a federal basic health insurance scheme extended the obligation to the Northern Emirates. Without an active policy, GDRFA will not issue or renew a residence visa.

Until 2021–2023, the choice between mainland and free zone in the UAE fitted a simple table: a free zone meant 100% foreign ownership, zero taxes, limited access to the local market; mainland meant market access but a mandatory 51% local partner and, theoretically, taxes. Hundreds of articles were written on this framework. The problem is that it has become outdated across every key parameter.

For three years — from 2021 to 2024 — one universal investment logic operated in the UAE. Buy off-plan at the start of sales, register a company in a free zone for the sake of 100 percent ownership, hold the assets for the minimum necessary period, and lock in profit.

Federal Decree-Law No. 20 of 2025 took effect on 15 October 2025. It amended Federal Decree-Law No. 32 of 2021 on Commercial Companies — the UAE's primary corporate law. The main changes: companies can now transfer between jurisdictions without liquidation (re-domiciliation), LLCs can issue multiple share classes, drag-along and tag-along rights are now statutory, and free zone companies conducting mainland activities are expressly subject to the CCL.

The most underestimated tax and technological topic in the UAE as of April 2026 is not a new tax rate, but mandatory electronic invoicing.

he main mistake entrepreneurs make is placing DIFC in the same category as traditional free zones, where the main question comes down to the cost of the license, office, and speed of registration. DIFC is not just a territory with tax and corporate benefits, but an independent legal and regulatory ecosystem.

Three key distinctions make UAE payroll fundamentally different from most countries.

Detailed analysis of the latest changes in the tax legislation of the UAE — amendments to the Executive Regulations on Tax Procedures effective from 1 April 2026, VAT, Corporate Tax, Domestic Minimum Top-up Tax, R&D Tax Credit, eInvoicing, Excise Tax, and practical consequences for business.

Emiratisation (توطين) is the UAE government's national policy requiring private sector companies to employ UAE nationals in skilled positions in accordance with mandated percentage quotas. The programme is administered by the Ministry of Human Resources and Emiratisation (MoHRE) and is supported by the Nafis federal financial incentive programme.