We check what a Dubai company means for your tax.
Forming a company in Dubai changes your tax picture in ways that depend on your specific situation — your home country, where you live, where the work happens, what you sell. We examine all of that for you, country-specific, and tell you concretely what it means. Five minutes, sourced, written in plain English.
What we check
Forming a company in Dubai doesn't make your tax disappear — it changes where you owe it, and on what. The answer for your specific case depends on where you live, where the work actually happens, and what your home country's rules say about foreign companies. We check all of that for you — concretely, with citations — so you know what forming in Dubai actually means before you do it.
Start your check
A few questions about your situation
Best guesses are fine — we'll explain anything unclear in the report.
What we check for you
Six things we examine in your specific case
These aren't generic. Each one is examined against your home-country's specific rules and your specific situation — so the answer is yours, not a template.
- 01
Where your Dubai company would actually be taxed
The country printed on your trade licence isn't always the country that taxes your revenues. We examine where the company is taxed on each layer — UAE corporate tax (9% / 0% QFZP), your home country's claim under PoEM/management-and-control rules, and CFC regimes that reach into foreign entities (UK's CFC charge, US Subpart F + GILTI, Australia's CFC, Canada's FAPI).
- 02
Where you would be taxed personally
Tax residence is about where you actually live, not what's on your passport. We examine the 183-day rule, the centre-of-vital-interests test, the Statutory Residence Test (UK), substantial-presence (US), and the treaty tie-breaker that decides between two competing claims. The answer for you depends on what you actually do — we walk through it.
- 03
Whether your specific setup qualifies for the UAE 0% rate
The QFZP regime (Cabinet Decision 100/2023) requires real substance and qualifying income. Many setups assume the 0% — they don't actually qualify. We examine your business model and tell you whether the 0% applies, where it applies, and where you'd fall back to 9%.
- 04
What your home country needs you to declare
Foreign-company ownership comes with declaration duties — even if no tax is due. UK: SAO and CT600 disclosures. Germany: Anlage AUS, § 138 AO Mitteilungspflicht. Austria: § 109 BAO. US: Form 5471, FBAR, FATCA. Missing these is its own offence, separate from the underlying tax. We list exactly what applies to you.
- 05
What the difference is between tax planning, avoidance, and evasion in your case
Forming a foreign company is legal. Running it without substance while pretending it has substance is not. The line between legitimate planning and tax evasion (UK fraud, US §7201, similar elsewhere) depends on substance, decision-making location and disclosure. We examine where your specific plan sits on that line and what it would take to keep it clearly on the legal side.
- 06
What you concretely need to do, in what order
Concrete, dated next steps for your specific path — before incorporation, in your first 90 days, before year-end, and as ongoing housekeeping. Substance requirements UAE-side, declaration duties home-side, documentation to keep.
Methodology
How we know what we know
The legal rules behind every check come from country-specific profiles maintained by our team. Each profile is timestamped and cites primary sources — not blog posts, not Wikipedia. Germany's profile cites gesetze-im-internet.de and BMF circulars. The UK profile cites gov.uk guidance. The US profile cites the relevant IRC sections.
When the AI writes your report, it's strictly bound to those rules. It applies them to your specific situation, generates the relevant scenarios, and personalises the action plan — but it cannot invent legal claims. Every finding in the report carries the source you can look up.
We update country profiles every quarter and re-run our review whenever a major reform passes (UK's non-dom abolition in April 2025, US OBBBA 2026, Italy's flat-tax doubling in 2024, and so on). The report you see carries the version stamp of the profile in use at that moment.
This is a personalised pre-analysis. It is not legal tax advice. Foundster does not provide tax advisory services — we offer UAE company formation and connect you with specialists for the home-country side. For binding decisions, your local advisor signs off.
Common questions
What you might be wondering
What exactly do you check in my case?
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Six things specific to your situation: where your Dubai company would actually be taxed (UAE, your home country, or both), where you'd be taxed personally, whether your setup qualifies for the UAE 0% QFZP rate, what you'd need to declare to your home tax authority, where the line between legitimate tax planning and tax evasion sits in your specific case, and concrete next steps. The answers are derived from your home-country's specific rules — not a generic template.
Is forming a Dubai company while living in the UK/US/Australia/Canada legal?
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Forming the company is legal everywhere we cover. Whether your operating model is legal depends on what you actually do. If you genuinely run the business from the UAE with real substance, you're on solid ground. If you keep running it from your home country and treat the Dubai entity as a paper structure, you're in CFC and PoEM territory — and at the extreme, that's tax evasion (UK fraud, US §7201, similar elsewhere), not planning. We tell you which side of the line your specific plan sits on.
Where will my Dubai company's revenues actually be taxed?
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It depends on three things: whether the UAE corporate tax applies (9%) or you qualify for the 0% Free-Zone carve-out, whether your home country can claim taxation under PoEM (place of effective management) or CFC rules, and what the treaty between your country and the UAE says when both claim the same income. The answer can be: only UAE, only home country, or both with relief through credit/exemption. We give you the specific answer for your case.
I'm a US citizen — what's special about my case?
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US tax law follows you everywhere. The US taxes citizens on worldwide income regardless of residency, so a Dubai company doesn't change your US filing obligation — you still file 1040s. GILTI/NCTI rules apply to US-owned foreign corporations (effective ~13.125% from 2026 under OBBBA). FATCA and FBAR disclosures are mandatory and missing them is its own offence. Renunciation triggers §877A if your net worth exceeds $2M. We spell out exactly what your obligations are.
I'm in the UK — does the post-April-2025 non-dom landscape change anything?
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Yes, if you're considering relocating. The non-dom regime is gone since 6 April 2025, replaced by a 4-year FIG regime for qualifying new residents. If you stay in the UK and form in Dubai, the Statutory Residence Test, CFC charge and HMRC's PoEM stance govern. We apply the post-April-2025 framework to your specific case.
How accurate is the analysis?
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The legal rules come from country profiles maintained by our team — citing primary sources (UK gov.uk, IRS IRC, German BMF circulars, etc.). The AI applies them to your situation but cannot invent rules; every finding has a source you can verify. We update profiles as legislation changes.
Do I still need to talk to a tax advisor?
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For binding decisions: yes. The check is a focused starting point — many users bring the report to their advisor as a brief, which saves expensive consulting hours. We're not a substitute for an advisor; we're what saves you time with one.
What if my country isn't covered in detail?
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We currently offer the Tax Check for the United States, the United Kingdom, Germany, Austria and Switzerland — the five jurisdictions where we maintain deep rule profiles with primary-source citations. If your country isn't on that list, please book a call with our specialist instead — we'll point you to a qualified advisor for your jurisdiction.
Why do you ask for an email to see the full report?
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Two reasons: we send you a copy you can save and share with your advisor, and we can offer a free 30-min specialist call if you'd like one. We don't spam, and unsubscribe is one click.
Get our examination of your specific case.
Not a generic blog post. Not "you should probably talk to someone." A specific report on what forming a Dubai company means tax-wise for you — where you'd be taxed, what you'd need to declare, and what concrete steps to take.
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