Anyone with experience of a UAE FZ company?

[kekmaw]

I'm looking to setup a holding/consultancy company in a Free Zone in UAE to own my main business and for me to be able to reduce the effective tax rate of that company by doing the management with the Holding company as a consultancy service.

To my question.
Has anyone here any experience with a FZ company in UAE?
I'm interested to know more about what it might cost me to set it up. I'm not talking about the numbers on paper, because I'm quite aware of that it will likely cost me €10-12k the first year. What I'm wondering if I should expect other fees and requirements that might not be to obvious or written about on the internet?

 

[negon]

All what you find in the UAE is so expensive that it makes no sense‌ for the average Internet business to establish a virtual business there.

 

[kekmaw]

Depends on where you're at I guess.
For me, a country that is not⁠ blacklisted with great banks + no public records makes alot of sense.
It also gves⁤ you VISA to allow you to be a resident of a country with no tax.⁣ Which just makes life easier.

Basically I see it as the best option to keep⁢ my home country off my back.

 

[dotbloup]

I have tried a registered agent from the UAE and it was a scam. It‌ was Sfm offshore. I contacted the investment board of Dubai and while they mentioned they‍ looked after financial issues they told me to contact the Police. I had to report⁠ in arabic and i gave up.

I think that for you it would be better⁤ to consider Gibraltar because the company register isn't really public from the internet.

 

[negon]

Did you try to live⁣ there 😀 I would never give up where I live just to move to Dubai one⁢ week vacation was sufficient for the rest of my live.

Company formation, banking and all︀ that stuff including maintaining the company is insane expensive, I agree if you are doing︁ 2 or 3 million euro a year it may be worth to consider but how︂ many here are doing this kind of money, unfortunately I'm not old)(#

 

[negon]

WoW what an experience,⁤ so you lost your money?

 

[kekmaw]

What's your idea of how much it costs every⁢ year?
Because I'm not even near €1M a year but I expect it to cost︀ €12k to set everything up and €6-7k every year after that. Am I missing something?︁
Structuring my business like this would reduce the profits of my other company with about︂ €150k a year as that is what this UAE company would charge for its services︃ so I'm saving alot on taxes.

 

[JohnLocke]

Sorry if I'm wrong, but didn't you claimed to be⁢ an agent providing such services in another thread?

 

[kekmaw]

Haha no, I'm certainly not an agent,‍ so you have me confused with someone else.

 

[JohnLocke]

okay sorry for that 🙂

 

[orangeye]

Several of my good friends live in Dubai. They established a company there and live‌ in luxury without to pay a single $ in taxes. When I visit them I'm‍ amazed about the wealth they live in but I would never like to live there.⁠ The price to avoid to pay tax is to high if you have to live⁤ in places like Dubai the rest of your live.

For me it seems to be⁣ a great part of the world if you want to start up some shady business⁢ which you can't do anywhere in Europe or the USA or if you are in︀ total tax evasion because Dubai give a s**t about other governments and they silly tax︁ regulations 😀

 

[JohnSeed]

UAE if you are single and don't have any liabilities or strong relations to family.‌ People tend to take 3 -5 years their and then travel back home loaded with‍ money!

 

[moneymaster]

I would like to know the same @dotbloup and how⁢ did the story end?

 

[adoffshore]

UAE sounds not to bad to me if I could find some agent I trust‌ and felt comfortable with.

 

[moneymaster]

It's to expensive compared to Cyprus or most other offshore jurisdictions!

 

[suzy]

Second that... not too bad⁣ if possible to move there!

 

[icecold]

Where did you end up, do you mind to share⁢ with us?

 

[kekmaw]

Flying down to Dubai within 10 days to set it up.
A slight‌ change is that I won't use a Cyprus company to sell the actual books, I‍ will use either a UK or a US company for that instead. Way cheaper and⁠ since a big chunk of the profits will be sent right to the UAE company⁤ with a price transfer agreement between the companies.

 

[JohnLocke]

Thank you for your share 🙂

So how does the UK company comes into play in‌ your UAE offshore company setup? I mean the money flow?

 

[kekmaw]

This is how I will structure it:

UAE FZE Company is the creator and owner⁠ of the assets, the IP. This is where I hire the people that does work⁤ for me and everything like that. This company is also the holding company of my⁣ US or UK company (which ever I end up with).

The US/UK company will act⁢ as a distrubution company and the only purpose of that company is simply to sell︀ the books sicne that company will not have any withholding tax on the royalties. That︁ company will then move the majority of the money back to the UAE FZE company︂ with a transfer pricing agreement.

I'm not sure how much of the money that can︃ be moved with the agreement without being taxed yet, my CPA is working on this︄ though.

Btw, does anyone has experience in opening a remote bank account in UK or︅ US within the last couple of years?