UAE free zone company (Qualifying Free Zone Person)

United Arab Emirates

A company licensed in a UAE free zone can pay 0% corporate tax on its qualifying income if it meets every condition to be a Qualifying Free Zone Person (QFZP). Everything else it earns is taxed at 9%, and if non-qualifying revenue breaches the de minimis limit the company loses the 0% rate for that year and the following four. It works for founders who genuinely live and run the business in the UAE, and it fails for anyone still running it from the UK.

Founders who have genuinely moved to the UAE, live there, and run the company from there.
B2B service, trading, holding, treasury, fund management or IP businesses whose customers are other free zone persons or foreign businesses and whose activities appear on the qualifying list.

Reviewed 2026-09-29. Research, not advice.