Free Zone Company (FZCO), a company limited by sharesUAE · DMCC Free Zone
What it takes to form, own and run a private limited company in UAE · DMCC Free Zone, and how its profit is taxed. Each figure links to the page it was read from.
This company type
At a glance
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the liability of a Shareholder of a Company is limited to the amount, if any, unpaid on the shares held by that Shareholder in the Company.
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The Registrar may, from time to time, specify a minimum amount of Share Capital for a Company.
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Application AED 1,035 Applicability Once, per application Registration AED 9,020 Applicability Once, per application Articles of Association (AoA) AED 2,020
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This allows businesses operating in the Free Zone to benefit from a 0% Corporate Tax rate on qualifying income as specified by the relevant Corporate Tax Cabinet and Ministerial decisions.
Form it
Who registers it
- Registry
- Formed without visiting
- Yes
- Formed online
- Yes
What it takes to form
- A notary
- Not stated
The registry’s and the law’s own pages do not mention it.
- A resident director
- Not required
- Paying up the capital
- A share must be paid up in full by a Shareholder when Allotted; the Registrar may specify a minimum Share Capital from time to time (none stated on the pages read).
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A share must be paid up in full by a Shareholder when Allotted.
Own it
Who may own and run it
- Directors
- At least 1 · individuals only
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The minimum number of Directors is one.
- Shareholders
- At least 1 · a company may be one
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A Company shall at all times have one or more Shareholders.
- Members
- At least 1 · one person may form it alone
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A Company shall at all times have one or more Shareholders.
- A local company secretary
- Not required
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56.4 A person cannot be a Secretary who: (a) in the case of a natural person, is under the age of eighteen years; (b) has been convicted of a criminal offence, involving dishonesty, in any jurisdiction in the past ten years;
- A local registered agent
- Not stated
The registry’s and the law’s own pages do not mention it.
Each year, at the registry
- Annual registry fee
- AED 20,285 (about €4,832)
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Licence AED 20,285 Applicability Annual Business Rules Licence fees may vary if additional activities are chosen.
- Accounts on the public record
- Not stated
The registry’s and the law’s own pages do not mention it.
- Audit for a small company
- Required
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A Company must appoint a firm of auditors who must examine and report on the accounts prepared pursuant to Article 73
- Audit
- Every company must appoint a DMCC-approved auditor to examine and report on its accounts; only a company dormant throughout the year is exempt from preparing accounts.
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A Company must appoint a firm of auditors who must examine and report on the accounts prepared pursuant to Article 73
Important dates
When each obligation falls due, as the authority states it.
- Provide and maintain ultimate beneficial owner information
- 60 days after incorporation
With Registrar (DMCC; Cabinet Decision 109/2023 Art. 11)
Cabinet Decision 109/2023 applies to licensed legal persons including commercial free zones (Art. 3) and requires the beneficial-owner record and partners/shareholders register to be submitted to the Registrar within 60 days of licensing and registration (Art. 11(1)); DMCC's own page sets no deadline and says only that UBO information is updated whenever changes occur. Which body is 'the Registrar' inside DMCC is not stated; DMCC's page says the UBO documents go to DMCC. Previously not_published.
- First annual General Meeting
- 18 months after incorporation
With Held by the company
Unless the Articles provide a shorter duration (Art. 60.1).
- Annual General Meeting
- Not in our records
With Held by the company
Not stated on dmcc.ae/hubfs/Compliance when checked
- Accounts prepared, approved by the Directors, audited by a DMCC-approved auditor and laid
- 6 months after the end of the accounting period
With Approved auditor / General Meeting
Within six months of financial year end, or such other period as DMCCA prescribes (Art. 73.6).
- File accounts and auditor's report with the Registrar
- Not in our records
With DMCC Registrar
Not stated on dmcc.ae/hubfs/Compliance when checked
- Annual licence fee and renewal
- Not in our records
With DMCC
Not stated on dmcc.ae/members/support/schedule-charges when checked
- Notify the Registrar of a change of Director or Secretary
- 14 days after change of officers
With DMCC Registrar
Fourteen Business Days (Art. 52.7 Directors, Art. 56.8 Secretary).
- Deposit new Articles with the Registrar after a Special Resolution
- 15 days after change of articles
With DMCC Registrar
Fifteen Business Days of the Special Resolution, or another date the Registrar approves (Art. 10).
- Change of shareholders
- Not in our records
With DMCC Registrar
Not stated on dmcc.ae/hubfs/Compliance when checked
- Change of registered office
- Not in our records
With DMCC
Not stated on dmcc.ae/hubfs/Compliance when checked
- Corporate tax registration
- Not in our records
With Federal Tax Authority
Not stated on dmcc.ae/business/set-up-a-new-business when checked
- First accounts
- Not in our records
With DMCC Registrar
Not stated on dmcc.ae/hubfs/Compliance when checked
- Dissolution application
- Not in our records
With DMCC Registrar
Not stated on dmcc.ae/hubfs/Compliance when checked
What is public
- Beneficial owners
- To the authorities only
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The Ministry and the Registrar are prohibited from disclosing the data of the Beneficial Owner Record or the register of partners or shareholders and making them available to any person
Tax
Tax on profit
How this company type is taxed, which can differ from its place’s headline rate.
Varies · 0%+3 regimes
A qualified free zone: 0% Corporate Tax on qualifying income as specified by the relevant Corporate Tax Cabinet and Ministerial decisions; the page does not state the rate on other income.
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This allows businesses operating in the Free Zone to benefit from a 0% Corporate Tax rate on qualifying income as specified by the relevant Corporate Tax Cabinet and Ministerial decisions.
Special regimes that may apply
- Qualifying Free Zone Person free zone · 0%
A qualifying free zone person Federal Decree-Law No. 47 of 2022 on the Taxation of Corporations and Businesses, art. 18 - Participation Exemption holding · 100% exempt
Taxable persons holding a Participating Interest — a 5% or greater ownership interest in the shares or capital of a juridical person, held or intended to be held for at least twelve uninterrupted months Federal Decree-Law No. 47 of 2022 on the Taxation of Corporations and Businesses, art. 23 - Foreign Permanent Establishment Exemption other
Resident persons with foreign permanent establishments Federal Decree-Law No. 47 of 2022 on the Taxation of Corporations and Businesses, art. 24
Whether a company qualifies depends on its activity and conditions set in each statute.
- CFC rules in United Arab Emirates
- Not in our records
Close it
Closing it
The other end, which most guides leave out.
- Route
- Voluntary winding-up (solvent, summary or insolvent) by unanimous resolution of a General Meeting; the liquidator then applies to the Registrar, who confirms dissolution. A company that never received a licence may be de-registered.
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A Company may be wound up voluntarily: (a) in circumstances provided for in the Articles of the Company; (b) if the Company resolves by unanimous resolution
- Statutory fee
- AED 4,015 (about €956)
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Company Winding Up AED 4,015 Applicability Per request Business Rules Liquidation of a company.
Every business in UAE · DMCC Free Zone
VAT
- Standard rate
- 5%
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VAT 5% (AED)
- Other rates
- Not stated
- Registration threshold
- AED 375,000 · about €89,335
total value of taxable supplies and imports; previous 12 months, or expected within the next 30 days
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Businesses resident in the UAE: Registration for VAT is mandatory if: - The total value of taxable supplies and imports exceeds AED 375,000 over the past 12 months, or is expected to exceed that threshold within the next 30 days.
- Voluntary registration
- Yes
A resident business below the mandatory threshold may register voluntarily once its taxable supplies, imports or taxable expenses exceed AED 187,500 in the past 12 months or are expected to within 30 days.
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Businesses resident in the UAE that make taxable supplies may register voluntarily for VAT if: - The total value of taxable supplies, imports, or taxable expenses in the past 12 months, or expected in the next 30 days, exceeds AED 187,500 (the voluntary registration threshold).
- A foreign company
- Registers from its first taxable supply; no local representative required
A non-resident business must register for VAT if it makes taxable supplies in the UAE, even where the value of those supplies does not exceed the AED 375,000 threshold, unless another party in the UAE is responsible for settling the VAT on those supplies. Registration is made directly through an EmaraTax account; no representative is required.
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Non-resident businesses: VAT registration is mandatory if: - The business makes taxable supplies in the UAE, even if the value of supplies does not exceed the threshold, unless there is another party in the UAE responsible for settling the VAT on those supplies.
- Returns filed
- Depends on the business
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Once you have registered for VAT in the UAE, you are required to file your VAT return and make related VAT payments within 28 days from the end of your tax period.
- Tax authority
- Registration page read 2026-10-22
Portals and registers
- Business registerMinistry of Finance – Agreements Avoiding Double Taxation
- Tax authorityFederal Tax Authority (FTA)
- Tax treatiesCustoms and Port Security (ICP)
Payment and banking services
2 services name United Arab Emirates on their own list: Paysera, Stripe. Each provider, and what a listing means.
Reference
Its name and code
- Kind
- Private limited companyDerived our grouping, the same words in every country
- Name in law
- Free Zone Company (FZCO), a company limited by shares
- Identifier
- AE-DMCC-FZCOA form ISO 20275 does not list.