Branch of a Company or Foreign EntityUAE · Sharjah Media City (SHAMS)
What it takes to form, own and run an other legal form in UAE · Sharjah Media City (SHAMS), and how its profit is taxed. Each figure links to the page it was read from.
This company type
At a glance
The registry’s and the law’s own pages do not mention it.
The registry’s and the law’s own pages do not mention it.
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A foreign juridical person’s registered branch in a Free Zone will be considered a Free
Form it
Who registers it
- Registry
- Formed without visiting
- Not stated
The registry’s and the law’s own pages do not mention it.
- Formed online
- Not stated
The registry’s and the law’s own pages do not mention it.
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
- Not in our records
Own it
Who may own and run it
- Directors
- Not stated
The registry’s and the law’s own pages do not mention it.
- Shareholders
- Does not apply
- Members
- Does not apply
- A local company secretary
- Not required
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A Corporate Entity may have a Secretary.
- A local registered agent
- Not required
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A Corporate Entity shall at all times have a registered address in the City
Each year, at the registry
Not in our records Annual registry fee, Accounts on the public record, Audit for a small company, Audit: none of these is in our records for the Branch of a Company or Foreign Entity.
Important dates
When each obligation falls due, as the authority states it.
- Notify the Authority when a Manager or Director of the Branch is appointed or removed
- 15 days after change of officers
With Sharjah Media City Free Zone Authority
Fifteen Business Days (art. 16.2(c)).
What is public
- Beneficial owners
- To the authorities only
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The Beneficial Ownership and Shareholding register is currently not available to the public
Tax
Tax on profit
How this company type is taxed, which can differ from its place’s headline rate.
Varies · 9%+1 regime
UAE Corporate Tax applies to a Free Zone Person; a Qualifying Free Zone Person pays 0% on Qualifying Income and 9% on taxable income that is not Qualifying Income (FTA Free Zone Persons guide, s3.3). A foreign juridical person's registered branch in a Free Zone is itself a Free Zone Person.
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A foreign juridical person’s registered branch in a Free Zone will be considered a Free
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
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
- The Foreign Entity applies to the Authority in the prescribed form with documents and Fees; the Authority may send a notice that the Branch is closed and taken off the Register (art. 68).
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A Foreign Entity may apply to the Authority to close its Branch by
- Statutory fee
- Not in our records
Every business in UAE · Sharjah Media City (SHAMS)
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
- Other legal formDerived our grouping, the same words in every country
- Name in law
- Branch of a Company or Foreign Entity
- Identifier
- AE-SHAMS-BRANCHA form ISO 20275 does not list.