What changed in United Arab Emirates

For most online businesses, mainland plus Small Business Relief beats chasing the 0 percent free zone rate

Moving your company

Mandatory e-invoicing arrives in phases from 2026, most small companies land in the July 2027 wave

Moving your company

The UAE's 15 percent minimum top-up tax almost certainly does not apply to your company

Moving your company

ILOE is your own subscription once you are on a UAE employer's payroll, and the fines for skipping it are yours too

Unemployment rights

You have exactly 1 year to apply for voluntary AOW and Anw continuation, and it is easy to miss

Social security

AOW, Anw and Wlz insurance end on the day you emigrate, not on any day-count threshold

Social security

There is no NL-UAE social security treaty, so nothing coordinates your Dutch and UAE positions

Social security

Your Dutch employer has real treaty PE protection that you, as the individual, do not get

Permanent establishment risk

Whether the MLI switch-over clause cancels your Dutch exemption on tax-free UAE salary is genuinely unresolved

Personal income tax

Five different day counts run through this corridor, and they do not line up

Personal income tax

For a genuine move to Dubai with zero Dutch workdays, your Dutch employer's payroll obligation largely falls away

Employer payroll obligations

A company established in the Netherlands for 5 years stays a deemed Dutch company for 10 years after its management moves

Leaving home: exit tax and ties

Dubai is not a pension-tax-free destination for Dutch pensions, annuities or lump sums

Pension

Staying on as statutory director of your Dutch BV keeps the gebruikelijk loon rule alive from Dubai

Personal income tax

Your conserverende aanslag on substantial-interest shares does not expire after 10 years, it is lifelong

Leaving home: exit tax and ties

If the Belastingdienst says you never really left, you have no treaty tie-breaker to fall back on

Tax residency

Your company can get NL-UAE treaty protection through place of effective management, but there is no automatic tie-breaker if both sides claim it

Moving your company

The NL-UAE tax treaty does not cover you as an individual unless you hold Emirati nationality

Tax residency

VAT on crypto conversion is exempt and settled, and disclosure is the direction of travel

Crypto tax and legal status

High-volume trading can cross into UAE corporate tax, with no published guidance on where the line falls

Crypto tax and legal status

Personal crypto gains are taxed at 0 percent, because there is no personal tax base to begin with

Crypto tax and legal status

The UAE has four crypto regulators, and which one owns your activity depends entirely on geography

Crypto tax and legal status

Running your home-country company's management from the UAE risks pulling it into UAE residency

Moving your company

0 percent only on Qualifying Income, not on your first AED 375,000, and Small Business Relief ends with FY2026

Moving your company

Mainland versus free zone is the first fork for a relocated company

Moving your company

Register a DIFC or Abu Dhabi non-Muslim will if you hold UAE property or accounts

Leaving home: exit tax and ties

The real inheritance risk here is succession law, not tax

Leaving home: exit tax and ties

No wealth tax, no inheritance or gift tax, and no exit tax on becoming or leaving a UAE resident

Leaving home: exit tax and ties

Dual nationality is permitted, but only through the narrow 2021 nomination route

Permanent residency and citizenship

Naturalisation is practically closed, there is no applicant-initiated path

Permanent residency and citizenship

A retirement visa exists from age 55, but the property-versus-savings math needs checking locally

Residency routes

The Green Visa is a lighter 5-year self-sponsored route below the Golden Visa's threshold

Residency routes

Residency here is a renewable permit, never a permanent status

Residency routes

The Golden Visa is the anchor route, built on AED 2,000,000 and renewable, not permanent

Residency routes

Working with company data from the UAE needs a transfer check if it touches EU personal data

Data protection

UAE labour law does not reach you if your employer is genuinely foreign

Employment law

Health insurance is now a federal mandate in every emirate, and tourists still fall outside it

Healthcare coverage

Your foreign employer has no UAE payroll withholding to worry about

Employer payroll obligations

Signing contracts or making management calls from the UAE can create a taxable presence for your foreign employer

Permanent establishment risk

The UAE has an extensive tax treaty network, but Germany and the US are notable gaps

Personal income tax

Freelancing stays outside Corporate Tax registration until turnover crosses AED 1,000,000, and the 375,000 band still applies above it

Personal income tax

Past 90 or 183 days with real ties, you become a UAE tax resident, and the certificate rules get specific

Tax residency

A short visit alone does not make you a UAE tax resident

Tax residency

The Virtual Working Programme is the compliant way to live in the UAE while working for a foreign employer

Right to work

Working remotely on a tourist or visit visa sits in a grey zone, not a sanctioned status

Right to work

Past your visa's validity, overstay costs a flat AED 50 a day from day one

Immigration and visa

Your nationality alone is not enough for visa on arrival since the 2026 expansion

Immigration and visa

Most corridor nationalities get 90 days in the UAE without arranging a visa in advance

Immigration and visa

GCC nationals move freely into the UAE, no visa needed

Immigration and visa

As a non-GCC national working in the UAE, you owe no state social security contributions

Social security

Working in the UAE means no personal income tax at all

Personal income tax

Your mandatory health insurance falls away when your visa does

Healthcare coverage

Your UAE health insurance was built for care inside the UAE, not abroad

Healthcare coverage

Past 6 months abroad, your employer can no longer lawfully keep you on the UAE books

Employer compliance

Permanent establishment risk is lower for pure remote work without authority, but it is not zero

Permanent establishment risk

Signing contracts or making management decisions abroad creates real tax exposure for your UAE employer

Permanent establishment risk

UAE notice and termination rules are meant to follow your contract abroad

Dismissal protection

UAE mainland labour law has no clean statutory answer for work performed entirely abroad

Employment law

Your UAE corporate tax exposure as a freelancer does not pause just because you are working abroad

Personal income tax

The UAE has no exit tax, whatever this trip turns into

Personal income tax

A long stay abroad risks dual tax residency, the UAE and your destination both

Tax residency

Past 6 months abroad, you lose the residence-permit tie the 90-day tax test needs

Tax residency

A temporary trip abroad does not automatically end your UAE tax residency

Tax residency

Sick pay still applies on paper, but enforcing it gets harder the longer you are away

Sick leave

UAE sick pay keeps applying because it is tied to your contract, not your location

Sick leave

A lapsed visa breaks your ILOE claim eligibility along with everything else

Unemployment rights

ILOE keeps accruing while you work abroad, but the payout itself does not travel with you

Unemployment rights

As a non-GCC expat, your only real disability and injury backstop is employer liability insurance, not a state scheme

Insurance

Whether you can voluntarily keep your GPSSA pension going without a UAE employer is not confirmed

Pension

Moving to a non-GCC foreign employer generally stops your GPSSA pension accrual

Pension

Your GPSSA pension keeps accruing as long as you stay on a UAE employer's payroll

Pension

Your end-of-service gratuity keeps building while you work abroad

Pension

The EU, EEA and Switzerland do not coordinate with your GPSSA contributions

Social security

GPSSA coordination covers you while working in another GCC state

Social security

As a non-GCC expat, employee or self-employed, you have no UAE state social security to lose by working abroad

Social security

Past 6 months abroad, your UAE residence visa auto-cancels

Immigration and visa

A trip under 6 months keeps your UAE residence visa alive

Immigration and visa