Defines UAE tax residency: a juridical person incorporated or recognised in the UAE (not a foreign branch) or resident under a tax law; a natural person with usual residence and centre of interests in the UAE, present 183 days in 12 months, or 90 days as a UAE or GCC national or residence-permit holder with a UAE home or job.
Cabinet Decision No. 85 of 2022 sets the domestic tests for being a tax resident of the UAE and creates the Tax Residency Certificate the Federal Tax Authority issues to prove it. It was issued on 2 September 2022, took effect on 1 March 2023 and remains in force. Before it there was no statutory definition of UAE tax residence; the FTA issued certificates on administrative criteria. The decision matters most to companies and individuals who need to claim treaty relief abroad, since Article 6 defers to the residency tests in any applicable double tax agreement and leaves the Minister to prescribe the certificate for treaty purposes.
Article 3 makes a juridical person a tax resident if it was incorporated, formed or recognised under UAE legislation, which covers mainland, free zone and financial free zone companies but not the UAE branch of a foreign company, or if a UAE tax law treats it as resident. The second limb picks up the Corporate Tax Law's rule that a foreign-incorporated entity effectively managed and controlled in the UAE is resident.
Article 4 gives a natural person three alternative routes. The first is qualitative: the UAE is the person's usual or primary place of residence and the centre of their financial and personal interests, or they meet criteria the Minister sets. The second is a day count: physical presence in the UAE for 183 days or more in the relevant twelve consecutive months. The third is a shorter count for those with a connection: 90 days or more in twelve consecutive months, provided the person is a UAE national, holds a valid UAE residence permit or is a GCC national, and either has a Permanent Place of Residence in the UAE, meaning a place available to them at all times, or carries on employment or a business here. A residence permit for this purpose excludes temporary entry permits for tourism, sport or medical treatment.
Article 5 allows anyone meeting Article 3 or 4 to apply to the FTA for a Tax Residency Certificate in the form the FTA specifies, and the FTA may approve it if satisfied the conditions are met. Article 7 lets the FTA demand information about any person from every government entity, which must cooperate. Article 8 leaves the detailed conditions and criteria to ministerial decisions and gives the FTA power to issue clarifications; the implementing conditions are in Ministerial Decision No. 27 of 2023.
Companies and other juridical persons incorporated or recognised in the UAE, foreign entities treated as resident under a UAE tax law, and natural persons living, working or spending time in the UAE who need to establish UAE tax residence, in particular those applying for a Tax Residency Certificate for treaty relief.
| Article 1 | Defines a Residence Permit as a permit to reside or work in the UAE, excluding temporary entry permits for travel, tourism, sport or medical treatment, and a Permanent Place of Residence as a place in the UAE available to the natural person at all times. |
| Article 3 | A juridical person is a UAE tax resident if incorporated, formed or recognised under UAE legislation, excluding the UAE branch of a foreign juridical person, or if a UAE tax law treats it as resident. |
| Article 4(1) | A natural person is a tax resident if their usual or primary place of residence and the centre of their financial and personal interests are in the UAE, or they meet criteria set by ministerial decision. |
| Article 4(2) | A natural person is a tax resident if physically present in the UAE for 183 days or more within the relevant twelve consecutive months. |
| Article 4(3) | A natural person present for 90 days or more in twelve consecutive months is a tax resident if they are a UAE national, hold a valid UAE residence permit or are a GCC national, and either have a Permanent Place of Residence in the UAE or carry on employment or a business here. |
| Article 5 | A person meeting Article 3 or 4 may apply to the FTA, in the form it specifies, for a Tax Residency Certificate, which the FTA may issue if satisfied the requirements are met. |
| Article 6 | Where an international agreement sets its own tax residency conditions, those apply for the purposes of that agreement, and the Minister prescribes the form of certificate issued for treaty purposes. |
| Article 7 | The FTA may request information, data and documents about any person from all UAE government entities, which must cooperate fully. |
| Article 9 | Published in the Official Gazette and effective from 1 March 2023. |
Tax Residency Certificates are routine work for us: a client's holding company needs one to claim a reduced withholding rate under a treaty, or a shareholder who has relocated to Dubai needs one to close a residence enquiry from their former tax authority. For companies the test is simple, since any entity we incorporate in RAKEZ, DMCC, IFZA, the mainland or through our DIFC and ADGM providers is resident under Article 3, but we remind clients that a branch of a foreign company does not qualify. For individuals we collect the entry and exit record from the immigration system and match it to the 183-day or 90-day test before filing, and for the 90-day route we document the tenancy or employment. Where the treaty partner applies its own tie-breaker we tell the client that Article 6 means the certificate is evidence, not a conclusion, and we prepare the supporting file accordingly.
Tax Residency Implementation Decision
Explains the natural-person residency tests: usual or primary place of residence means where the person habitually spends most time, centre of financial and personal inte…
Corporate Tax Law
Imposes federal corporate tax on the taxable income of UAE companies and businesses at 0% up to a Cabinet-set threshold and 9% above it, with 0% on the qualifying income …
Tax Procedures Law
The common procedural code for all federal taxes: registration, record keeping, returns, voluntary disclosures, FTA audits and assessments, tax agents, administrative pen…
Tax Procedures Executive Regulation
Implements the Tax Procedures Law: which accounting records must be kept and for how long (generally five years, seven for real estate records), form and language of docu…
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