Moving to Dubai in 2026: 0% tax, the Golden Visa and residency

The United Arab Emirates does not levy personal income tax. The rate applicable to income and dividends received by an individual is 0%³. This is the central fact, and it is accurate — but it is rarely read to the end.

Since 2023, however, the country has had a statutory definition of the tax residence of individuals. Article 4 of the applicable text uses, among other alternative criteria, a presence in the State of at least from 183 days⁴ over a period of twelve consecutive months.

The purpose of this definition is not to create a tax: it serves to issue tax residence certificates, the key document for relying on a treaty. An expatriate who does not establish residence within the meaning of this text cannot invoke the treaty against their home country.

Corporate tax

The absence of income tax does not mean the absence of tax. A corporate tax has been introduced: the rate is 9%⁵ above a taxable profit of AED 375,000⁶, or about about €95,000⁷, and zero below that.

This changes the equation for self-employed professionals. Operating in Dubai through a local structure now means being subject to this tax above the threshold, whereas the territory's historical promise was the total absence of direct taxation.

A relief tempers this finding for small structures. On an election made for each financial year, a resident person — company or sole entrepreneur — is deemed to have derived no taxable income: this Small Business Relief applies to turnover of up to AED 3,000,000⁸, a condition assessed for the financial year and for all previous years. Originally provided for until the end of 2026, it has been extended to financial years ending no later than 31 December 2029 (Ministry of Finance announcement of 7 August 2026). It excludes qualifying free zone persons and members of large multinational groups, and does not remove the obligation to file a return.

Special regimes exist for free zones, subject to conditions of substance and type of income. They are not automatic and require compliance with precise requirements.

These conditions are specified by the federal tax authority. A qualifying free zone person is taxed at 0%⁹ on its qualifying income and at 9%¹⁰ on the rest. It must have adequate substance in the zone, keep audited financial statements, comply with transfer pricing and not have opted for the standard regime. Its non-qualifying income is permitted up to 5%¹¹ of total turnover, within a limit of an amount of up to AED 5,000,000¹², whichever of the two is lower applying. A failure results in loss of the status for the period concerned and the following 4¹³ periods. This is the core of most of the structures presented to French entrepreneurs, and the point that must be checked against the text itself.

A value added tax also applies to consumption, which shifts part of the levy towards spending rather than income.

Residence in the Emirates rests on sponsorship: by an employer, by a locally owned company, or through a stand-alone permit. It is this logic that the Golden Visa broke.

A real estate investor holding a property with an acquisition value equal to or greater than from AED 2,000,000¹⁴ — about about €520,000¹⁵ — can obtain a residence visa of 10 years¹⁶.

The appeal of the scheme is not only its duration: it is autonomy. The holder is not tied to an employer and can sponsor their family. Other routes exist — talents, specialised professions, entrepreneurs, outstanding students — with their own criteria.

It is nevertheless necessary to distinguish three things that commercial marketing systematically conflates: the residence visa, tax residence within the meaning of Emirati law, and the end of French tax domicile. Obtaining the first produces neither the second nor the third.

Keeping the visa also requires not being absent from the territory beyond a certain continuous period, and ownership of the property must be maintained for the real estate route.

The maximum period of absence tolerated without loss of the permit, as well as the Golden Visa renewal conditions, do not appear in the official sources we were able to consult: we do not put figures on them.

Full ownership is open to foreigners only in designated zones — the freehold areas. Elsewhere, acquisition takes the form of a surface right or a long-term lease, which does not carry the same prerogatives.

The Dubai market is cyclical, with a greater amplitude than European markets. It is also largely fuelled by new construction, which exposes the off-plan buyer to a delivery and compliance risk that must be assessed developer by developer.

As the threshold of from AED 2,000,000¹⁴ is that of the Golden Visa, part of the supply is calibrated just above it. It should be verified that the acquisition value retained by the authorities matches that of the contract, and not a theoretical value.

Finally, service charges and registration fees represent a significant share of the total cost of ownership, and they do not appear in the gross yields advertised by sellers.

We publish neither the Dubai Land Department's registration fees nor average annual charges: they vary by project and we have no consolidated, dated official source.

Dubai is not a cheap destination. From the standpoint of a household budget, the absence of income tax is offset by high housing, schooling and healthcare costs.

We do not publish a typical monthly budget: we have not found an official Emirati series measuring a basket of expenses comparable to that of an expatriate.

Three items dominate. Housing, where rent is payable by quarterly or half-yearly cheques, which requires substantial cash on arrival. International schooling, which is almost compulsory and among the most expensive in the world. And health insurance, which is mandatory to obtain and renew a residence permit.

The honest calculation is therefore to compare income that is tax-free in Dubai, minus these three items, with income that is net of tax in France, where two of them are largely covered by the social system. The gap often remains favourable for high incomes, and it frequently reverses for middle incomes with children.

A fourth item deserves a provision: the return. Many stays in the Emirates last only a few years, and leaving means settling a lease, cancelling contracts and sometimes selling a property in a market that will not necessarily be at the same point in the cycle. Planning for this phase from the outset is part of the calculation.

1. Choose the residence route: employment, a local company, or a standalone permit backed by an investment;
2. obtain the visa, then the Emirates ID, which is required to open a bank account and for most administrative procedures;
3. take out the mandatory health insurance;
4. once the conditions are met, apply for the Emirati tax residency certificate: this is what will allow you to invoke the tax treaty;
5. document your departure from France — home, centre of economic interests — because this is where most of the case is decided.

The fourth point is the one most applicants discover too late. A ten-year visa is not a tax residency certificate, and without this certificate, the France–UAE tax treaty cannot usefully be invoked.

We do not publish processing times for the Golden Visa or for the tax residency certificate: we have no dated, quantified official source.

• The absence of income tax is real; the absence of any tax no longer is, since the introduction of corporate tax at 9%⁵ above the threshold.
• The residence visa, Emirati tax residence and the exit from French tax domicile are three separate questions.
• Full ownership exists only in designated zones: the exact nature of the right acquired must be verified.
• Keeping the permit requires actual presence and, for the real estate route, retaining the property.
• The Emirati passport gives visa-free access to about 185¹⁷, but naturalisation is in practice closed to ordinary foreign residents.

Finally, a French business owner who keeps most of their income tied to a French activity meets the centre of economic interests criterion of Article 4 B of the French General Tax Code (code général des impôts), regardless of the time spent in Dubai. This is the most frequent ground for tax reassessment for this destination, and no visa rules it out.