Every figure on this site comes from a published source, and this page explains how we get from that source to the number you read. Licence fees come from the free zone or the department of economic development that charges them, tax rates and thresholds from the national tax authority, visa costs from the immigration department, and minimum capital requirements from the investment authority. Where a range is shown, it reflects real variation between packages or emirates rather than uncertainty on our part, and the drivers of that variation are named. Every page carries the date it was last reviewed, because Gulf fees move by ministerial decision rather than on an annual calendar and a figure can change mid-year without announcement. Where a figure could not be traced to a published source, it is not published here at all rather than estimated and presented as fact.
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Setup costs in the Gulf are quoted very differently depending on who is asking. Agents bundle licence, visa, establishment card and their own margin into a single figure, which is why published “from” prices rarely match an invoice.
We work from the published schedules of the licensing authority or free zone concerned, and list each component separately: trade licence, immigration establishment card, visa quota, medical and Emirates ID, and the office or flexi-desk requirement. Where a free zone publishes only a package price, we say so rather than decomposing it ourselves.
Corporate tax in the UAE applies above a profit threshold, with a small business relief regime below it and a separate rate for large multinationals under the global minimum tax rules. VAT registration is mandatory above one turnover threshold and voluntary above a lower one. We give the threshold with every rate, because a rate without its threshold is the most common way these rules are misreported.
For Saudi Arabia we distinguish Zakat, which applies to GCC-owned entities, from corporate income tax on foreign ownership, and we note where a mixed-ownership company is assessed on both bases.
It does not give legal, tax or immigration advice, and it cannot tell you which structure suits your case. Activity lists, ownership rules and visa eligibility change by emirate, by free zone and by activity code.
Figures are indicative and exclude agent fees, translation, attestation and bank onboarding, which vary widely. Confirm any figure with the authority itself before committing.
Free zones revise their schedules without notice and often without an announcement. We re-check the published schedules on a rolling basis and revise the page when a figure moves. Every page carries the date of its last revision, drawn from the site’s version history, so you can see how recent the check was.
Figures and rules are taken from the following official sources: