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Your compliance manager

Govern

Governance and board compliance

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Planning your UAE setup

Verify

Sanctions, PEP and adverse-media screening

Lexara

UAE rulebook library

Vault

Statutory records storage

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Dubai
DMCCDIFCJAFZADAFZADSODWCDICDMCDHCCIFZAMeydanDSCDPCDKPDOCDSPD3DIACDCCDMCDWTCGDP
Abu Dhabi
ADGMKEZADMCFZ2454ADAFZICADAAIAFZ
Sharjah
SPCSHAMSHFZASAIFSRTIPSHCC
RAK
RAKEZRAK DAORAKEZ
Ajman
ACMFZAFZAMC
Fujairah
FOIZFCCFFZ
UAQ
UAQIZUAQ FTZ

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Dubai Mainland (DED-DXB)Free zone tax status and compliance

Free zone

The Verdict

The Apex of Jurisdictional Legitimacy; Permanent Establishment Anchor.

I. Statutory Basis

As a Qualifying Free Zone Person, this jurisdiction requires strict adherence toCore Income-Generating Activities.UAE Federal Decree-Law No. 47 of 2022. Mainland entities are subject to the standard 9% rate on taxable income exceeding AED 375,000, serving as the definitive defense against global anti-avoidance (Pillar Two) scrutiny.

Compliance Roadmap

01

Article 34 Transfer Pricing Benchmarking for all intra-group service flows

02

Full Corporate Tax Registration and 9% Pillar Two alignment for large groups

03

MOHRE Labor Linkage: Ensuring headcount matches reported Core Income-Generating Activities (CIGA)

Audit Hotspots

Misclassifying Free Zone branch profits as Mainland income to avoid 9% CT

Failing to maintain contemporaneous TP documentation for management recharges

Inadequate substance proof during FTA unannounced physical inspections

Jurisdictional Connectivity

Check your DED-DXB setup

Scout scores Dubai Mainland against your activity, ownership and visa needs, with full setup costs, and compares it with every other free zone and mainland.

See costs and setup options
Global Parent

15%

DED-DXB

0%

Live Node
Dubai Mainland

9%

Forensic Brief

Qualifying Income requires physical CIGA within the zone boundaries. Article 18 mapping is mandatory to maintain 0% status.