Business Setup in Dubai: Mainland LLC, Free Zone or Offshore

Business setup in Dubai usually means choosing one of three routes, and the mainland route runs through the Dubai Department of Economy and Tourism (DET). The others are a free zone company, licensed by its zone authority, and an offshore company that holds shares or property. Since 1 June 2021 a foreign founder can own 100% of a mainland company in most activities. Corporate tax is 0% on taxable income up to AED 375,000 and 9% above it.

We choose the route and zone with you, check the activity against Dubai's restricted list, reserve the trade name and file with DET or the zone. After the licence we handle corporate tax registration, the beneficial owner filing, visas and the bank introduction. Each case is quoted once we know the activity, route, office and number of visas.

Quick facts	Value
Local company form	LLC (limited liability company), equivalent of an LLC / private limited company
Mainland licensing	DET through the Dubai Business Registration and Licensing Corporation (DBLC)
Foreign ownership	100% in most activities since 1 June 2021
Minimum share capital	No statutory minimum for a mainland LLC
Corporate tax	0% up to AED 375,000 of taxable income, 9% above
Small Business Relief	Revenue up to AED 3 million, tax periods ending on or before 31 December 2029
VAT	5%, registration mandatory above AED 375,000
Personal income tax	None
Withholding tax	0% on UAE-source income of non-residents
Corporate documents (mainland)	Legalisation chain, not apostille

Why Set Up a Business in Dubai

Ownership. The general 51% Emirati partner rule ended on 1 June 2021 (Federal Decree-Law No. 26 of 2020), so most activities are open to foreign owners.

Mainland access from a free zone. Since March 2025, DET can give a Dubai free zone company a branch licence or a permit for mainland Dubai, unless it is a DIFC financial firm.

The trade-offs. Every mainland LLC must appoint an auditor, and e-invoicing becomes mandatory in 2027. Comparing hubs? See Saudi Arabia, Singapore and Hong Kong.

Mainland, Free Zone or Offshore: Choosing Your Route

The route decides where you can sell, how you are taxed and how many visas you can obtain. Start from your customers: UAE buyers point to the mainland, foreign buyers and goods in transit to a free zone, and holding to an offshore company. A foreign company can instead open a branch, which has no separate legal personality.

Feature	Mainland	Free zone	Offshore
Licensed or registered by	DET through DBLC	The zone authority	Registered by JAFZA or the RAK ICC Registrar (no trade licence)
Usual legal form	LLC or single-owner LLC	FZE, FZCO, FZ-LLC or a zone company	Limited company (JAFZA) or company limited by shares (RAK ICC)
Selling to UAE customers	Directly	Indirectly, via a local distributor or its own mainland branch or company; DET licences or permits cover Dubai only	Not without a separate licence (JAFZA)
Corporate tax	0% up to AED 375,000, 9% above	Qualifying Free Zone Person (QFZP): 0% on qualifying income, 9% on the rest; other free zone companies as mainland	Resident Person; registers with the Federal Tax Authority (FTA)
Office	Leased premises on Ejari from 100 sq ft, or a virtual site in the Instant Licence's first year	Set by each zone, from flexi desks to private offices	Registered agent and registered office
Residence visas	Set by premises size and activity	Set by the package or office	JAFZA: possible if it owns designated freehold property
Audit	Every LLC	Zone rules; every QFZP	JAFZA: audited accounts

Mainland company: direct access to the UAE market

A mainland company holds a DET licence and needs no intermediary to sell to mainland customers. LLC company formation in Dubai is the usual path: the limited liability company (LLC), the local equivalent of a private limited company. Dubai mainland company formation covers the LLC, DET licensing, Ejari and when a local service agent is needed.

Free zone company: full ownership inside a zone

Free zone authorities act as registrars under their own regulations and activity lists. Dubai's zones include DMCC, JAFZA, IFZA, Meydan Free Zone, Dubai Airport Freezone, DIFC and Dubai Internet City. Our guide to free zone company setup compares the zones and their access to the mainland.

Offshore company: holding, not trading

An offshore company is formed under the JAFZA Offshore Companies Regulations 2023 or the RAK ICC Business Companies Regulations 2018. A JAFZA offshore company may hold shares in UAE companies, designated freehold property and a UAE bank account. Any business activity needs a licence. Offshore company formation in the UAE explains both regimes.

Which activities need an Emirati partner?

Only those on a short Dubai list, among them defence, telecommunications, banking and commercial agencies. Read the official foreign ownership restrictions list before choosing the mainland.

How to Start a Business in Dubai: Step by Step

Company registration in Dubai can run online. Mainland applications go to DET through the Invest in Dubai portal or its service centres, and the company joins the Dubai commercial register. Free zone companies go on their zone's register instead. Acting as formation agent, we handle the filings below.

Define the business. What the company will do decides its licence type, any regulator approval and whether full foreign ownership is open.
Pick the route and zone. Zones differ in activity lists, office rules and visa allocations.
Name the company. The trade name must suit the activity on the mainland and, in a free zone, include the legal form.
Obtain initial approval and register the premises. On the mainland that means an Ejari lease or the Instant Licence's virtual site; in a free zone, an office or desk under the zone's rules.
Sign the constitutional documents. DET issues an LLC's MoA; a free zone company signs its documents under the zone's own regulations.
Collect approvals and the licence. Regulated activities need their regulator first; DET or the zone then issues the licence.
Start the post-licence clocks. The registrar wants beneficial owner details within 60 days, and the FTA wants the corporate tax registration within three months of incorporation. Visas and the bank account come after the establishment cards.

How to start a business in a Dubai free zone

Each zone runs its own registration. The UAE portal's sequence is zone and activity, legal form, a trade name that shows the form, then the online application.

Who issues the licence on each route?

DET licenses mainland companies through DBLC, and each free zone licenses its own; an offshore company is registered, not licensed. Our guide on how to get a business licence in Dubai explains each licence type, freelance permits and renewal.

Documents Required for Business Setup in Dubai

For a mainland licence, Invest in Dubai's mainland guide asks for passports, or Emirates IDs for residents, and a residence visa or entry permit for owners from outside the GCC. Articles of Association are needed unless the LLC has one owner.

Free zones keep their own checklists: usually passports (valid six months at JAFZA), a business plan and KYC forms naming the beneficial owners.

For the mainland, corporate shareholders' documents need legalisation through the UAE embassy and the UAE Ministry of Foreign Affairs, plus an attested Arabic translation; an apostille is not enough.

What are the requirements to start a business in Dubai?

You need a permitted activity, an approved trade name, a legal form, registered premises or a zone desk, and owners with valid passports. The mainland adds the visa and legalisation points above, and regulated activities need their regulator's approval.

Timeline and What Our Package Covers

DET publishes official times for single steps, not for the whole setup. Plan around the steps without one: external approvals, document legalisation, visas and the bank account.

Step	Official time or deadline
Trade name and licence (DET)	10 minutes each once complete; Instant Licence 5 minutes
Free zone licence	Up to 14 working days once approved (u.ae)
Beneficial owner filing	Within 60 days of licensing
Corporate tax registration	Within three months of incorporation

Our company setup in Dubai package covers:

Route, zone and activity check, including the restricted list
Name reservation, initial approval, the MoA and the licence application
Premises: Ejari registration, the Instant Licence virtual site or the zone desk agreement
Establishment cards and residence visa applications
Tax registration on EmaraTax and beneficial owner details for the registrar
Introduction to a UAE bank, with the KYC file prepared

What decides the total for a Dubai company?

What business setup in Dubai costs is a list, not a number. The route and zone come first, then the licence type, the number of activities and any external approvals. The office type, the number of visas, document legalisation and the yearly audit add to it. Our written quote lists each item.

Choosing business setup consultants in Dubai: what to check

Older agent guides repeat rules that have changed.

Mainland licences come from DET through DBLC; guides naming the "DED" are out of date
No 51% Emirati partner is needed outside the restricted list
Small Business Relief: tax periods ending on or before 31 December 2029, not 2026
Free zone 0% applies only to a QFZP, on qualifying income

Tax Overview for Dubai Companies

Corporate tax: 9% (rate applicable in 2026) on taxable income above AED 375,000, and 0% up to that amount (Federal Decree-Law No. 47 of 2022). The Ministry of Finance corporate tax page carries the law and decisions.

Small Business Relief. A resident company with revenue of AED 3 million or less, in the current and every earlier period, can elect to be treated as having no taxable income. Ministerial Decision No. 131 of 2026 extended it to tax periods ending on or before 31 December 2029. Qualifying Free Zone Persons and multinational group members are excluded.

Free zone 0%. The QFZP rate in the table above comes with conditions: substance, qualifying activities, audited accounts and non-qualifying revenue within 5% of revenue or AED 5 million, whichever is lower.

VAT: 5%. Registration is mandatory above AED 375,000 of taxable supplies in the past 12 months or the next 30 days, and voluntary above AED 187,500.

Other taxes. Withholding tax is 0%, and the UAE has concluded 137 double tax agreements. Groups with revenue of EUR 750 million or more in two of the four preceding years pay a domestic minimum top-up tax to 15% (Cabinet Decision No. 142 of 2024). E-invoicing goes live on 1 January 2027 for revenue of AED 50 million or more, and on 1 July 2027 for others.

Starting a Specific Business in Dubai

How can I start a real estate business in Dubai?

Brokerage or property services for Dubai clients point to a mainland licence, since a free zone company generally needs a mainland channel to sell there. Income from most immovable property does not earn the 0% free zone rate either. To hold property instead, a JAFZA offshore company may own designated freehold property, and its members may then apply for residence visas.

How to start a perfume business in Dubai

Let the customers decide. Selling to shoppers in Dubai needs mainland access: a mainland company, or a DET licence or permit for a Dubai free zone company. Importing and re-exporting fits a free zone, where goods stay free of customs duty until they cross into the mainland. Consumer sales do not earn the 0% free zone rate.

How to start a grocery business in Dubai

A grocery serves local shoppers, so it needs a mainland licence and Ejari-registered premises of at least 100 sq ft. Food activities need extra approvals, typically from the municipality.

How to start an e-commerce business in Dubai

Dubai CommerCity presents itself as a free zone for digital commerce only, and JAFZA lists e-commerce among its sectors. B2C sales do not earn the 0% free zone rate. Consumer-only sellers are outside the 2027 e-invoicing mandate for now. Home-based sellers can ask whether DET's eTrader licence is open to their nationality and residence.

How to start a small business in Dubai

Activities that need no outside approval can go on DET's Instant Licence, issued in five minutes with a year-one virtual site and the establishment cards. Real premises are needed from the first renewal. Freelancers apply to MOHRE for a permit instead.

Visas and Work Permits

Owners. The Green visa, valid five years and renewable, covers investors and business partners; an investment threshold applies and family sponsorship is allowed. The Golden visa runs five or ten years for investors and entrepreneurs, with no sponsor. Conditions are on the UAE portal's Green visa page.

Staff. A mainland hire starts with MOHRE approval and a 60-day entry permit, followed by the work permit, medical test, Emirates ID and a two-year GDRFA residence visa. Free zone staff get work permits and residence visas through the zone authority.

Emiratisation. It applies on the mainland, not in free zones. Firms with 20 to 49 staff in 14 targeted activities must employ at least two UAE nationals.

Banking for Dubai Companies

An Emirates ID, held or applied for, makes a person eligible to open a bank account, but requirements vary by bank. Banks see the company's beneficial owner data, and the Dubai Unified Licence is meant to standardise their KYC. DBLC reported in November 2025 that the unified licence cut average account opening from 65 days to five at seven banks.

Meydan Free Zone's own FAQ flags general trading combined with unrelated activities as a possible problem at banks, so keep the activity list coherent. We prepare the KYC file and make the introduction. The bank decides.

Compliance and Reporting Obligations

Obligation	Rule
Beneficial owners (25% or control)	Mainland and commercial free zones: filed within 60 days of licensing, changes within 15 days; DIFC applies its own UBO Regulations
Resident contact	Mainland and commercial free zones: a UAE-resident individual on file with the registrar for beneficial owner data
Corporate tax	Return and payment within nine months of the period end
Audit	Every mainland LLC (CCL); in a free zone, the zone's rules; audited statements for tax above AED 50 million revenue and for every QFZP
Licence renewal	Yearly; DET renewals run online, by SMS or at service centres and resubmit beneficial owner data; free zone licences renew with the zone

Nominees and disclosure. We do not provide nominee shareholders or nominee directors. Under Cabinet Decision No. 109 of 2023, a nominee is recorded together with the person behind them, and bearer share warrants are banned.

Substance and AML. Economic substance reporting covered only financial years ending on or before 31 December 2022. Financial firms and designated non-financial businesses register on goAML.

Business Setup in the Other Emirates

Abu Dhabi. ADRA, part of the Abu Dhabi Department of Economic Development (ADDED), has run mainland registration through TAMM since 6 January 2025. See business setup in Abu Dhabi.

Sharjah. SEDD licenses the mainland, open to 100% foreign ownership for commercial and industrial companies since June 2021. Sharjah's zones include SPC, SAIF, SHAMS and SRTIP. See business setup in Sharjah.

Ajman. Ajman Free Zone, Ajman Media City Free Zone and Ajman NuVentures Centre Free Zone license companies. See business setup in Ajman.

Ras Al Khaimah. RAKEZ licenses free zone and non-free zone entities, and RAK ICC registers offshore companies. See business setup in Ras Al Khaimah.

Company formation in the UAE covers the federation.

Forming a Dubai Company as a Non-Resident

In most activities a non-resident may hold every share of a Dubai company. For a non-resident founder, officer rules follow the route: mainland LLC managers can be of any nationality and live anywhere (CCL Art. 83), while each zone sets its own.

For a mainland licence, Invest in Dubai wants a valid tourist or visit visa before the application, and it allows virtual signing for registered stakeholders. IFZA states that incorporation needs no physical presence.

Not every role can sit abroad. Some zones require a UAE-resident manager, among them Ajman Free Zone, RAKEZ and the DIEZ zones (Dubai Silicon Oasis, Dubai Airport Freezone). Under Cabinet Decision No. 109 of 2023 (Art. 11(4)), every mainland and commercial free zone company gives the registrar a UAE-resident contact who can disclose beneficial owner data. A non-resident applying for a residence visa travels for the medical test and biometrics.

Frequently Asked Questions

Can a foreigner own 100% of a company in Dubai?

Yes, in most activities. Mainland companies have been open to full foreign ownership since 1 June 2021, and free zone companies are usually wholly foreign owned. Activities on Dubai's short restricted list, such as defence or Hajj and Umrah organising, still need an Emirati partner; our mainland guide lists them.

Does a Dubai company still need a local sponsor?

No local sponsor is needed outside the restricted list, since the general 51% Emirati partner rule ended on 1 June 2021. A local service agent contract is needed only for some licences, such as certain professional licences of civil establishments wholly owned by non-GCC nationals. DET asks for one only where the business type requires it, so we confirm this per activity.

Is Dubai tax free for companies?

No. For financial years starting on or after 1 June 2023, companies pay 9% corporate tax on taxable income above AED 375,000 and 0% below it. A resident company with revenue up to AED 3 million can elect Small Business Relief: no taxable income for tax periods ending on or before 31 December 2029. In a free zone, only a QFZP gets 0%, and only on qualifying income.

How long does business setup in Dubai take?

A complete DET file gets its licence in 10 minutes, but no authority publishes an end-to-end timeline. A free zone licence can take up to 14 working days once approved. External approvals, legalised corporate documents, visas and the bank account set the real pace.

Is there a minimum investment to start a business in Dubai?

There is no statutory minimum share capital for a mainland LLC, and JAFZA sets none for an FZE or FZCO. A business cannot start with no money, though: the licence, premises and visas carry government fees, and the Green visa has an investment threshold.

What is the most profitable business to start in Dubai?

We cannot rank profitability, because margins depend on your market. The rules decide only what is open: most mainland activities allow full foreign ownership. In free zones, manufacturing, logistics, trading qualifying commodities and holding shares for 12 months or more are qualifying activities for the 0% rate.

Get Started: Form Your Dubai Company

Tell us what the company will do, where its customers are and the visa count. We will recommend the route, list the documents and quote in writing.

Call +48 2222 5 2222 or email info@companyformation24.com to start.

Content prepared by Aleksandra Kowalska, Corporate Client Service. Approved by Tomasz Bielski, Managing Director.