REGULATORY AND PRACTICAL CHANGES
UAE Business Updates
Updates are news—not the Knowledge Center. A separate stream for time-sensitive UAE tax, accounting, compliance and company developments.
10 days published · 36 updates in the archive · last updated
Worth keeping in view
Three deadlines that apply to almost every UAE company, whatever today's news is.
Below AED 3 million, the 0% rate now runs to 2029
The revenue threshold is unchanged at AED 3 million, roughly USD 817,000. The relief is not automatic: it has to be elected in the corporate tax return, and an entity that fails to elect pays 9% while entitled to nothing.
Read the update →E-invoicing: below AED 50 million the start date is 1 July 2027
Above AED 50 million in annual revenue the obligation begins on 1 January 2027, and the deadline to appoint an Accredited Service Provider has already passed. Any business still invoicing from a spreadsheet has a year to change systems.
Read the update →Free zone: no audited accounts, no 0% rate
The low-cost zones that never asked for an audit closed that window between 2024 and 2026. Audited financial statements are a condition of Qualifying Free Zone Person status, so without them the rate reverts to 9%.
Read the update →This section carries, day by day, the UAE regulatory developments that matter to a company operating in the Emirates or preparing to establish one: corporate tax and Small Business Relief, Qualifying Free Zone Person status, VAT and e-invoicing, banking and anti-money-laundering supervision, real estate and residence. Every entry starts from an official act — Ministry of Finance, Federal Tax Authority, Central Bank of the UAE, DIFC, ADGM — and sets out what changes in practice, who it applies to and what to do now.
For the settled background on the recurring subjects, read the guides: setting up a UAE company, corporate tax, free zone versus mainland, VAT in the UAE, corporate bank accounts and due diligence and accounting and compliance.
· 2 updates
- Vape liquids: from 1 September excise is calculated on at least AED 1 per millilitre
- Global minimum tax: the UAE has now set out who must file the information return
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Vape liquids: from 1 September excise is calculated on at least AED 1 per millilitre
The Federal Tax Authority has set a minimum taxable value of AED 1 per millilitre on e-cigarette liquids. Where the retail selling price is lower, the tax is still calculated on that minimum. The rate stays at 100% and is not being changed.
Read the update →27 August 2026 · Corporate TaxGlobal minimum tax: the UAE has now set out who must file the information return
Ministerial Decision No. 133 of 2026 identifies the persons required to file the Pillar Two Information Return with the Federal Tax Authority. It introduces no new tax: it states who carries the filing obligation within an existing regime, for financial years beginning on or after 1 January 2025.
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- Work visas: since 15 August a police clearance certificate is required for eleven more nationalities
- The Federal Tax Authority ran 103,680 inspections in six months, up a fifth on last year
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Work visas: since 15 August a police clearance certificate is required for eleven more nationalities
The ICP has activated Phase 2 of the Police Clearance Certificate requirement for work visas, adding Bangladesh, the Philippines and Nigeria among others. Employers hiring those nationals must now budget for one more document and for weeks of waiting outside the UAE's control.
Read the update →25 August 2026 · Tax complianceThe Federal Tax Authority ran 103,680 inspections in six months, up a fifth on last year
In the first half of 2026 the UAE tax authority carried out 103,680 market inspection visits, against roughly 86,000 in the same period of 2025. These are not door-to-door corporate tax audits: they target excise goods. What they do show is how fast on-the-ground enforcement capacity is growing.
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- The transfer pricing disclosure form is due with the 30 September return once related-party dealings pass AED 4 million in a single category
- Dubai Land Department: the trade press reports a decree on property investment vehicles, but the text has still to be verified
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The transfer pricing disclosure form is due with the 30 September return once related-party dealings pass AED 4 million in a single category
The Corporate Tax return for financial years ended 31 December 2025 is due on 30 September 2026. The transfer pricing disclosure form must be filed with it once related-party transactions exceed AED 40 million (approximately USD 10.9 million) in aggregate, or AED 4 million (approximately USD 1.1 million) in any single category among goods, services, financing and intellectual property. The two thresholds are alternative: breaching either one triggers the obligation.
Read the update →24 August 2026 · Real estateDubai Land Department: the trade press reports a decree on property investment vehicles, but the text has still to be verified
According to specialist property press, Decree No. 42 of 2026 reshapes the administrative framework of the Dubai Land Department (DLD), with data-sharing protocols between RERA and the DLD for the registration of investment vehicles and REITs, and multi-signature blockchain for the digital issuance of title deeds. The source is a trade publication, not Dubai's official gazette: until the text appears among the legislation published by the Dubai Land Department, none of these provisions can be treated as a binding obligation.
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- From 26 August, letting a Dubai home by the room requires a Municipality permit
- Gulf VAT: import tax may be collected at the first port of entry into the region
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From 26 August, letting a Dubai home by the room requires a Municipality permit
Dubai Law No. 4 of 2026 takes effect on Wednesday 26 August. From that date no residential unit may be let by the room, by the bed space or with internal partitions without a permit from Dubai Municipality, and subletting from one tenant to another is prohibited. Operators already in the market have twelve months from commencement — until 26 August 2027 — to regularise.
Read the update →23 August 2026 · VATGulf VAT: import tax may be collected at the first port of entry into the region
Amendments to the GCC Unified VAT Agreement move collection of import VAT to the first port of entry into the region and turn the 5% rate into a floor rather than a fixed rate. Businesses using the UAE as a logistics base for the wider Gulf need to review the documentary chain behind their shipments. Implementation in the UAE has not yet been formalised.
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- From 1 October, an invoice alone no longer supports input VAT recovery: a supplier file is required
- DIFC personal data: the reform has been through consultation, but it is not yet law
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From 1 October, an invoice alone no longer supports input VAT recovery: a supplier file is required
The Federal Tax Authority has set out, in Decision No. 13 of 2026, the checks a business must perform on its suppliers and on each supply received. From 1 October 2026, where a supply chain turns out to be connected to tax evasion and those checks are absent, input VAT is not recoverable. The exemption for small purchases falls away entirely once the relationship with that supplier exceeds AED 100,000 (roughly USD 27,000) over twelve months.
Read the update →22 August 2026 · DIFCDIFC personal data: the reform has been through consultation, but it is not yet law
The Dubai International Financial Centre put an amendment to its Data Protection Regulations out for public consultation, and the comment window closed on 18 July 2026. The final text does not appear to have been enacted: no obligation changes today. It is worth following because it touches artificial intelligence systems that process personal data, and the internal officer accountable for them.
Read the update → · 2 updates
- Firms serving onshore clients from DIFC or ADGM now also answer to the federal regulator
- Data between DIFC, ADGM and the Qatar Financial Centre: additional contractual safeguards fall away
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Firms serving onshore clients from DIFC or ADGM now also answer to the federal regulator
Since 1 January 2026 the Capital Market Authority has replaced the Securities and Commodities Authority. The new perimeter does not stop at the free zone boundary: it reaches financial activity carried out from the Dubai International Financial Centre and the Abu Dhabi Global Market towards clients resident elsewhere in the UAE. The test is no longer where the company sits, but where the client sits.
Read the update →20 August 2026 · Compliance / Financial free zonesData between DIFC, ADGM and the Qatar Financial Centre: additional contractual safeguards fall away
The three financial centres have added each other to their respective data protection adequacy lists. This is a simplification, not a new obligation: personal data can move between them without standard contractual clauses. The recognition applies only among the three, and covers neither federal UAE territory nor the European Union.
Read the update → · 8 updates
- Salaries are now due on the first day of the month, and the fifteen-day grace period is gone
- The UAE suspends all trade and financial transactions with Iran, and banks are tightening on everyone
- Services your company provides free of charge now have a value set by law
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Salaries are now due on the first day of the month, and the fifteen-day grace period is gone
Ministerial Resolution No. 340 of 2026 sets the first day of the month as the single payment date for private sector wages and abolishes the fifteen-day grace period. The Wage Protection System compliance threshold rises from 80% to 85%. Consequences begin on the second day of delay.
Read the update →19 August 2026 · Banking / AMLThe UAE suspends all trade and financial transactions with Iran, and banks are tightening on everyone
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs has suspended all commercial exchange and financial transactions with Iran until further notice. The measure does not stay confined to foreign policy: banks are already raising scrutiny on transfers and counterparties, including for businesses with no Iranian exposure at all.
Read the update →19 August 2026 · VATServices your company provides free of charge now have a value set by law
Directive 5 of 2026 sets out how VAT is calculated on services supplied for no consideration: unbilled intra-group services, employee benefits, private use of company resources. What used to be a matter of estimate is now a three-step formula.
Read the update →19 August 2026 · VATReceiving payment in crypto? You must fix three exchange platforms and keep them for the whole year
Directive 3 of 2026 sets out how digital currencies are converted into dirhams for VAT: the average of three exchanges chosen from a closed list approved by the tax authority, the same three for twelve months, at the exact time of the transaction. Anyone who has been picking the most favourable rate each time is offside.
Read the update →19 August 2026 · Banking / AMLUS sanctions hit UAE companies used by Iranian financial networks
According to specialist press, on 7 August 2026 the US sanctions authority designated UAE-based companies at the centre of Iranian laundering structures: trading companies, exchange houses, virtual asset operators. For most businesses the risk is not direct sanction, it is finding a designated entity among their counterparties.
Read the update →19 August 2026 · Banking / AMLA suspicious transaction can be held for ten days, and funds frozen for thirty
Regulation No. 1 of 2026 issued by the UAE Financial Intelligence Unit introduces an urgent report that stops a transaction before it is executed. Suspension runs to ten working days, freezing to thirty. Anyone without documentation on the source of funds spends that time looking for it.
Read the update →19 August 2026 · VATThe tax authority has a new instrument, and it binds the authority as well
In July 2026 the Federal Tax Authority created Directives on Tax Transactions: acts that, unlike clarifications, bind both the taxpayer and the Authority. Five have been issued. Anyone within their scope no longer has interpretative room.
Read the update →19 August 2026 · Corporate TaxGlobal minimum tax: registration is open, with a deadline of 30 November
The EmaraTax portal is accepting registrations for the 15% domestic minimum top-up tax. It concerns UAE entities belonging to groups above EUR 750 million in consolidated revenue: few in number, but with a transitional deadline three months away.
Read the update → · 4 updates
- The AED 10,000 late corporate tax registration penalty can still be cancelled
- Property Golden Visa: with a mortgage, it is the equity paid that counts, not the purchase price
- UAE banks have stopped sending security codes by SMS and email
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The AED 10,000 late corporate tax registration penalty can still be cancelled
Businesses that registered for UAE corporate tax after the deadline were charged an administrative penalty of AED 10,000 (roughly USD 2,700). The Federal Tax Authority operates a waiver, conditional on filing the return — or the annual declaration for exempt persons — within seven months of the end of the first tax period. More than 68,600 taxpayers have already obtained it; around 22,000 remain potentially eligible.
Read the update →18 August 2026 · Real estateProperty Golden Visa: with a mortgage, it is the equity paid that counts, not the purchase price
The threshold for the property-investment Golden Visa is reported at AED 2 million (roughly USD 545,000) for completed units. Off-plan purchases require at least 50% of the price already paid. The point that produces most errors concerns mortgages: the requirement is measured on the equity actually contributed by the buyer, not on the headline purchase price.
Read the update →18 August 2026 · Banking / AMLUAE banks have stopped sending security codes by SMS and email
The Central Bank of the UAE has required licensed financial institutions to withdraw one-time passcodes sent by SMS and email by 31 March 2026, replacing them with biometric verification and in-app approval. Account holders whose UAE mobile number is no longer active, or who never configured the banking app, may find they have no way to authorise a transfer.
Read the update →18 August 2026 · WealthFiduciary structures: ADGM widens beneficial ownership, DIFC raises the family office threshold to USD 50 million
In the Abu Dhabi Global Market, the settlor, trustee, beneficiaries, protector and enforcer of an entity are now expressly identified as beneficial owners, with strengthened disclosure obligations. In the Dubai International Financial Centre, the Family Arrangements Regulations replaced the former Single Family Office regime and raised the aggregate net asset threshold required of the family to USD 50 million, against USD 10 million previously.
Read the update → · 3 updates
- Free zone distribution: the 0% rate now requires an independent auditor's report
- Corporate tax returns for calendar-year 2025 are due on 30 September 2026
- Dubai removes the minimum property value for the two-year investor visa
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Free zone distribution: the 0% rate now requires an independent auditor's report
Federal Tax Authority Decision No. 6 of 2026 requires a Qualifying Free Zone Person that distributes goods in or from a Designated Zone to obtain an Agreed-Upon Procedures report from an independent auditor and file it with the authority within 30 days of the corporate tax return deadline. Without that report the 0% rate on the distribution activity falls away. It applies to tax periods beginning on or after 1 January 2026.
Read the update →17 August 2026 · Corporate TaxCorporate tax returns for calendar-year 2025 are due on 30 September 2026
Entities with a tax period ending 31 December 2025 must file the corporate tax return and pay any tax due by 30 September 2026. Filing and payment share a single deadline and the Federal Tax Authority does not grant extensions. The return is required even where no tax is payable — including entities in Small Business Relief and entities that traded not at all during the year.
Read the update →17 August 2026 · Real estateDubai removes the minimum property value for the two-year investor visa
The Dubai Land Department has removed the AED 750,000 minimum property value for the two-year property investor residence visa where the applicant is the sole owner. Where a property is jointly owned, each owner's individual share must still be at least AED 400,000. The property must be located in Dubai and hold a Dubai title deed. A residence visa is an immigration status and does not by itself determine tax residence.
Read the update → · 9 updates
- Small Business Relief extended to the end of 2029
- E-invoicing: the first appointment deadline has already passed
- Property sale proceeds must go to a UAE account in the title deed holder's name
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Small Business Relief extended to the end of 2029
The Ministry of Finance has extended Small Business Relief to tax periods ending on or before 31 December 2029. The revenue threshold is unchanged at AED 3 million, roughly USD 817,000. The relief is not automatic: it must be elected in the corporate tax return, and the election carries a cost.
Read the update →16 August 2026 · VATE-invoicing: the first appointment deadline has already passed
Businesses with annual revenue of AED 50 million or more were required to appoint an Accredited Service Provider by 31 July 2026. The pilot phase opened in July 2026 on a voluntary basis and the full obligation starts on 1 January 2027. Any business above the threshold that has not appointed a provider is already late.
Read the update →16 August 2026 · Real estateProperty sale proceeds must go to a UAE account in the title deed holder's name
Dubai Land Department rules require sale proceeds to be transferred to a UAE bank account held by the person or persons named on the title deed. Name data must match across passport, title deed and bank account. Small discrepancies can stop a transaction at closing.
Read the update →16 August 2026 · Corporate TaxThe revised tax penalties regime applies from 14 April 2026
Cabinet Decision No. 129 of 2025 amends the administrative penalties framework for tax violations, with effect for violations committed after 14 April 2026. It changes how several penalties are calculated. It is not a general amnesty and does not clear historical positions automatically.
Read the update →16 August 2026 · VATVAT credits from 2021 begin to expire during 2026
Input VAT carried forward is not indefinite. Credits arising in 2021 begin to fall out of time during 2026 under the five-year limitation period. Businesses that have carried excess input VAT without ever claiming a refund stand to lose real money before the end of the year.
Read the update →16 August 2026 · Free zoneNo UAE free zone is genuinely audit-free any longer
Audited financial statements are a condition of Qualifying Free Zone Person status and therefore of the 0% corporate tax rate on qualifying income. The low-cost zones that historically did not require an audit closed that window between 2024 and 2026. Without audited accounts, the rate reverts to 9%.
Read the update →16 August 2026 · WealthDIFC opens Prescribed Companies to all applicants, with a service provider requirement
From 24 July 2026 the DIFC removed the eligibility gate that had restricted access to Prescribed Companies since 2019. The regime is now open to a wider range of investors and holding structures. In exchange, most applicants must appoint a Corporate Services Provider.
Read the update →16 August 2026 · Banking / AMLThe Central Bank has raised the bar on banking due diligence
The Central Bank of the UAE has issued its most significant package of anti-money-laundering supervisory guidance since Federal Decree-Law No. 10 of 2025 came into force. The practical effect is more documentation requests, more KYC refreshes and more accounts frozen or closed where answers are insufficient.
Read the update →16 August 2026 · Corporate TaxThe FTA has consolidated its private clarifications on corporate tax
The Federal Tax Authority has published a consolidated summary of the positions taken in private clarifications on exempt persons, permanent establishment, free zone qualification, participation exemption, taxable income adjustments and loss transfer. It is not new law, but it shows how the authority reads the borderline cases.
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