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◆ Country spoke · UAE

Set up a company in the UAE, mainland or free zone, with one partner.

The UAE offers a genuinely attractive base for regional and global business, but the first real decision — mainland or free zone — shapes everything that follows: where you can trade, who can own the company, and how it is taxed. Choosing wrong is expensive to reverse. We help you decide, then set it up and keep it compliant.
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Structures
Mainland or free zone
Ownership
100% foreign ownership
Core taxes
Corporate Tax & VAT
Licensing authority
Emirate or free-zone authority
Set up a company in the UAE, mainland or free zone, with one partner.
[01]
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The first decision

Mainland or free zone

This choice shapes where you can trade, who can own the company, and how it's taxed — get it right before anything else is filed.
Consideration
Mainland
Free zone
Where you can trade
Across the UAE market directly, and on government contracts
Primarily within the free zone and internationally; onshore trade may need a local agent or distributor
Ownership
Full foreign ownership now permitted for most activities
Full foreign ownership
Best suited to
Businesses serving th e local UAE market directly
Regional HQs, holding structures, services and trading businesses
Setup
Licensed through the relevant emirate's authority
Licensed and registered through the specific free-zone authority
What it takes to operate
/
[02]

Beyond the licence

01
Trade licence
Issued by the relevant mainland or free-zone authority, plus registration of the entity.
02
Corporate tax
Registration under the UAE's federal corporate tax regime, with attention to free-zone entities and qualifying income.
03
VAT registration
Required once turnover crosses the threshold, then periodic VAT returns.
04
Bank Accounts
UAE banks apply heavy diligence to new entities — our preparation and relationships materially improve the odds.
05
‍
Ongoing accounting
Bookkeeping, economic-substance considerations, and the recurring filings each authority requires.
Our role
/
[03]

A market that's easy to enter stays easy to keep in good standing

We guide the mainland-versus-free-zone decision against your actual business model, handle licensing, registration, tax registration and banking, and then run the recurring compliance — so your UAE entity is built on the right foundation from day one.

Entity setup and registrations

01

Banking

02

Compliance

03
Tax rates, thresholds and licensing requirements in the UAE change and vary by emirate, free zone and activity. Treat the figures above as a starting point — we confirm the current position with you before anything is filed.

A full-spectrum finance
and compliance practice

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