I still think something like a US LLC with a nominee director can work well with UAE residency, especially for digital nomads.
Then you just pay out "dividends" (not a salary), the UAE would never know or care if you don't have local clients.
Seems to me like a cleaner solution than registering a UAE branch and paying a high salary to avoid the CIT.
But that's if you want to live in Dubai or need a tax residency certificate. Otherwise, as a nomad, it might be easier to just go with something like Paraguay or Thailand.
The UAE is a regulatory nightmare. You see it already with how they introduced the corporate tax.
I know someone who used to︀ have a company in a very popular freezone. When he tried to close it, he︁ had to sign papers stating that he was taking over all of the company's liabilities︂ as his personal risk. Uhm, what's the point with a limited liability company again? And︃ before they closed it, they had some organizational change, which should have brought the fees︄ down (I don't remember exactly, something like 2 instead of 3 shareholders) - "No, once︅ you are on the higher fee level, we never lower our fees again"
That's the︆ kind of stuff you have to deal with. So even if you can still avoid︇ taxes by paying a high salary, I would think twice if there's not some other︈ way to set things up.
The UAE is a great country to live in -︉ and a terrible country to do business in. I mean, rents are still paid with︊ cheques...
Then you just pay out "dividends" (not a salary), the UAE would never know or care if you don't have local clients.
Seems to me like a cleaner solution than registering a UAE branch and paying a high salary to avoid the CIT.
But that's if you want to live in Dubai or need a tax residency certificate. Otherwise, as a nomad, it might be easier to just go with something like Paraguay or Thailand.
The UAE is a regulatory nightmare. You see it already with how they introduced the corporate tax.
I know someone who used to︀ have a company in a very popular freezone. When he tried to close it, he︁ had to sign papers stating that he was taking over all of the company's liabilities︂ as his personal risk. Uhm, what's the point with a limited liability company again? And︃ before they closed it, they had some organizational change, which should have brought the fees︄ down (I don't remember exactly, something like 2 instead of 3 shareholders) - "No, once︅ you are on the higher fee level, we never lower our fees again"
That's the︆ kind of stuff you have to deal with. So even if you can still avoid︇ taxes by paying a high salary, I would think twice if there's not some other︈ way to set things up.
The UAE is a great country to live in -︉ and a terrible country to do business in. I mean, rents are still paid with︊ cheques...
