UAE CT applies to juridical persons incorporated in the UAE and juridical persons effectively managed and controlled in the UAE, as well as to foreign juridical persons that have a permanent establishment in the UAE.
Individuals will be subject to CT only if they are engaged in a business or business activity in the UAE, either directly︀ or through an unincorporated partnership or sole proprietorship.
Will a sole proprietorship or civil company︁ be treated as a juridical person for CT purposes?
No, but individuals who conduct business︂ in the UAE through a sole proprietorship or civil company may be subject to CT︃ where a relevant business or business activity is undertaken.
So if there are no activities︄ performed in UAE there is no need to register an unincorporated partnership for UAE CT︅ Tax.
So you can create a partnership between a foreign LTD and a natural person︆ in UAE.
LTD with an outsourced director will manage the partnership and be eligible for︇ a fixed fee or 0.01% of the profits, while the passive natural person partner will︈ get 99.9%.
Managing partner of the Partnership could contribute to the management and representation functions︉ of the Partnership e.g.,:
- provide a legal entity under which the Partnership shall act in︊ relations with third parties;
- review and accept/reject the contracts with 3rd parties
- manage the Partnership's︋ assets;
- make other management and representation decisions and activities
The natural person as the partner︌ of the Partnership will contribute with capital or activities aimed at actual and successful provision︍ of the services to the customers, including finding the customers and preparing and providing the︎ services.
This could be close to zero tax setup and effectively zero tax, with only️ needing to visit UAE once every 6 months to retain tax residency.
One legal entity could have 100x partnerships (e.g., with slightly different wordings, for different projects) with the same person at no added fees.