UAE Residency Overview
The UAE, United Arab Emirates, is the destination of preference for many global businesses and wealthy individuals to benefit from the country’s 0% tax regime.
Safe and politically stable country which offers a prudent business environment and financial stability.
UAE Residency Overview
The United Arab Emirates provides residence visas for foreign owners and management of UAE Freezone and Mainland Companies as well as for investors, providing for the opportunity to live in the UAE, becoming a tax resident of a 0% tax regime for individuals.
It is not required to continuously stay in the UAE in order to maintain a residence visa. Visiting the UAE at least every 180 days is sufficient to keep the UAE Residence Visa.
Benefits of UAE Residents
Residents of the UAE are enjoying many benefits. It is important to understand that a holder of a UAE Residence Visa is not automatically considered as a resident of the UAE, which is only the case when the holder of a UAE Residence Visa does actually live in the UAE.
Some of the benefits that UAE residents are enjoying:
- Entering the country through e-gates at the airports, without waiting in passport control lines (requires additional e-gate card);
- Opening personal bank accounts in the UAE;
- Applying for personal loans from UAE banks, including car loans;
- Applying for UAE driving licence;
- Getting a local mobile phone subscription (contrary to pay-as-you-go);
- Access to government health services and local health insurance;
- Registering children in government schools and private schools;
- Working in the UAE (with the need for an additional working permit);
- Ability to act as a sponsor for the foreign resident’s family;
- Traveling visa-free to many destinations;
- Zero taxation on any kind of personal income;
- Full repatriation of the capital and profits;
- No social contribution payable;
- No transmission of financial and fiscal data to any other country;
- The Emirates ID serves as official person identification document within the UAE, no need to carry your passport with UAE visa with you;
- Using the Emirates ID Card for many types of transactions (fuel at certain companies’ fuel stations, insurance services, health services, and many more);
- Foreign residents holding an Emirates ID are not obliged to live in the Emirate that issued the ID but can reside in any Emirate of the UAE.
A UAE Residence Visa is required to become a resident of the United Arab Emirates.
The United Arab Emirates is a safe and politically stable country which offers a prudent business environment and financial stability. The UAE provides first-class banking services, including credit facilities, and has established itself as a global financial centre.
The country’s wealth has, for decades, not only relied on oil, as often assumed. In Dubai, for example, income from oil and oil-related business account for less than 10% of its GDP.
Dubai has excellent flight connections to literally anywhere in the world.
UAE companies benefit from 0% corporate tax and 0% withholding tax. If a UAE company is involved in local business, 5% VAT applies on most products and services and an additional tax applies on specific product groups such as, for example, tobacco products, alcoholic drinks and sugared drinks.
Individuals who are fiscal residents of the United Arab Emirates benefit from 0% tax on income, 0% tax on wealth and 0% tax on dividends.
The UAE does not have any restrictions on capital and profit repatriation.
Companies may be incorporated in the UAE as Onshore Companies (also called Mainland Companies), Freezone Companies and Offshore Companies. Please note that Offshore companies do not qualify for residence visas (also called investor visas) and thus do not qualify for fiscal residence.
There are three alternative criteria that qualify for residence visas and thus for fiscal residency:
- Incorporating a Freezone company, or
- Incorporating an Onshore company, or
- Investment in real estate valued at more than AED 1 million (approx. $270,000)
Our clients require complete solutions to obtain fiscal residency in the UAE; they do not just want to incorporate a company and then deal themselves with all the specific (and sometimes tricky) details to obtain UAE residency and subsequently UAE fiscal residency (tax residency).
Shanda Consult thus focuses on a holistic package service that includes all aspects and all necessary single steps enabling our clients to become a fiscal resident (tax resident) of the United Arab Emirates.