Middle East · Free Zone / Mainland LLC
Register a company in United Arab Emirates
Non-residents wanting 100% ownership, no personal income tax, and potential 0% corporate tax on qualifying free-zone income — if they can clear banking and substance hurdles.
- Government fee
- $4,000
- Package ~AED 12,500–30,000+ (license + registration)
- Corporate tax
- 9%
- headline
- Min. capital
- ≈ none
- effectively none
- Setup time
- 3–10 days
Deep dives
Everything on United Arab Emirates, in depth
At a glance
How United Arab Emirates scores for a non-resident
Relative edge
No personal income tax and a conditional 0% free-zone rate — a Gulf hub with 100% ownership.
Relative watch-out
Bank accounts are the real bottleneck, and the cost is an opaque annual package.
Scores are Lanzamo's editorial judgement (0–100, higher = better for a non-resident founder), built on the verified data on this page — guidance, not advice.
The essentials
For non-resident founders
Can you run it from abroad?
The headline fee rarely decides it — these are the things that actually trip up a founder forming United Arab Emirates from another country.
100% foreign ownership
Free zones have always allowed 100% foreign ownership; since the 2021 reform, mainland companies also permit 100% foreign ownership for most activities. Non-residents can be sole owners.
Fully remote setup
Many free zones (Meydan, IFZA) support fully remote setup via online portals and video KYC, with licenses commonly issued in ~2–7 working days. The friction is downstream: residence-visa steps and especially bank-account opening often need an in-person UAE visit.
Resident director required
No local Emirati partner or resident director is legally required for most activities (free zones never required one; mainland mostly dropped it in 2021). A registered office / flexi-desk in the zone is part of the package. A UAE residence visa is needed to get an Emirates ID, which banks often want.
Banking for non-residents: Hard
Setup is fast, but corporate bank-account opening is the real bottleneck: strict KYC/AML, frequent in-person visits, source-of-funds scrutiny and minimum balances often AED 100,000–250,000. DMCC and Meydan are viewed more favourably; fintech/EMI accounts ease but don't remove the friction.
Accounting burden: Moderate
Since the 2023/24 corporate-tax regime, all entities must register for corporate tax, keep accounting records and file an annual return; VAT-registered entities file periodic VAT returns. Audited statements are required to claim/keep the 0% free-zone rate.
Why founders pick United Arab Emirates
- 100% foreign ownership with no required local partner or resident director
- No personal income tax, and a Qualifying Free Zone Person can reach 0% corporate tax on qualifying income
- Fast, largely remote license issuance and effectively no minimum capital
- Strong global-hub positioning between Europe, Asia and Africa, with broad tax treaties
Watch out for
- Corporate banking for non-residents is the hard part — in-person visits and AED 100k–250k balances are common
- The 0% free-zone rate is conditional (substance, qualifying income, audit) — easy to lose
- Cost is an opaque, variable annual package (license + visa + office), not a small fixed fee
- New compliance load (CT registration, accounting, often an audit) has eroded the old 'zero-paperwork' image
Is United Arab Emirates the right base for you?
Put United Arab Emirates side by side with a U.S. LLC and 11 other jurisdictions — government fee, tax, capital and the resident-director catch — and decide with the full picture.
Official sources
Go straight to the authorities — these are the free, definitive sources for United Arab Emirates.
Data reviewed June 2026.
Frequently asked questions
Can a non-resident register a company in United Arab Emirates?
Free zones have always allowed 100% foreign ownership; since the 2021 reform, mainland companies also permit 100% foreign ownership for most activities. Non-residents can be sole owners.
How much does it cost to register a FZ-LLC / LLC in United Arab Emirates?
The government fee is about $4,000 (Package ~AED 12,500–30,000+ (license + registration)). There is no flat government incorporation fee — cost is a bundled package set by each free zone authority (or the emirate's DED on the mainland). Representative 2026 free-zone packages run ~AED 12,500 (Meydan single-visa) to AED 30,000+ (premium zones like DMCC); visas add ~AED 3,800–4,800 each. This is a package price, NOT a pure registry fee. Budget roughly $3,500/yr in mandatory government filings. Annual license renewal is the main recurring cost, roughly comparable to (often a bit below) the first-year package — typically ~AED 10,000–20,000+/yr depending on zone, activities and visas. Corporate-tax registration/filing and accounting records are now also required.
Do I need a resident director to form a company in United Arab Emirates?
No resident director is required. No local Emirati partner or resident director is legally required for most activities (free zones never required one; mainland mostly dropped it in 2021). A registered office / flexi-desk in the zone is part of the package. A UAE residence visa is needed to get an Emirates ID, which banks often want.
What is the corporate tax rate in United Arab Emirates?
Federal corporate tax (from financial years starting on/after 1 Jun 2023): 0% on taxable income up to AED 375,000 and 9% above. A Qualifying Free Zone Person can pay 0% on qualifying income, but only if it meets strict conditions (economic substance, qualifying income, audited financials, de-minimis limits) — the 0% is conditional, not automatic. No personal income tax.
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