Corporate Services and Business Valuation in Dubai

Six jurisdictions at a glance

The short version. Each has its own page with the detail behind these figures.

Full comparison, including audit requirements, EU list status and the rules that apply where you are resident, on the corporate services page.

What clients come to us with

“I need a company abroad but I do not know which”

We start with where a bank account will realistically open for your beneficial-owner profile, then whether you need residence, then the rules of the country where you are tax resident. After those three filters one or two candidates usually remain and comparing rates finally makes sense. The detail is in corporate services.

“We are buying or selling a business”

We act on the transaction from structuring and due diligence through to closing. In the UAE the binding constraint is now merger control: filing is required at least 90 days before completion and regulator silence means refusal, not approval. See transaction advisory.

“We need to know what the business is worth”

A price you cannot explain will not survive the negotiation. We value the business or the shareholding, set out the assumptions behind the number, and show what moves it. Business valuation is a licensed activity on our Dubai permission.

“I want to relocate and change my tax residence”

Real routes through a company exist in the UAE, Singapore and Cyprus. We look at both ends: what your departure country does on exit — German exit tax and extended limited liability, the Italian presumption of continued residence — and what you need to establish residence at the other end.

“I need to pass assets to my children”

Foundations in DIFC, ADGM and RAK ICC, and trusts under DIFC law, solve succession without probate in several countries. DIFC law does not recognise foreign heirship claims — that is the point of the structure, not a side effect.

“We already have a structure but something is wrong with it”

Reviewing an existing structure is a frequent request. Typical findings: a company in a jurisdiction on a list that costs the owner reliefs at home; unfiled disclosures with fixed penalties running per year; an arbitration clause naming an institution that no longer exists; and no substance where substance has since become a condition rather than a formality.

How we work

Why REACHERS

We tell you when the plan does not work

No jurisdiction lets someone tax resident in Germany, Italy or India stop paying tax on a foreign company’s profits purely because the rate elsewhere is lower. Controlled foreign company rules, place-of-effective-management tests and disclosure regimes exist precisely to prevent that. Anyone promising a zero-tax outcome without first asking where you are resident is selling you a liability, and it will be yours rather than theirs.

We work from the instruments in force, not last year’s

The region moves fast. In the last three years the UAE introduced corporate tax and a 15% minimum tax for large groups, rewrote merger control entirely, abolished the DIFC-LCIA arbitration centre, replaced the statutory basis of the DIFC Courts, and replaced its securities regulator. In the EU, the “Unshell” directive was abandoned rather than adopted. Material that does not reflect this describes a regime that no longer exists.

We price the third year, not the first

Incorporation cost is the least important number in the decision. What matters is what happens in years two and three: mandatory audit, accounts, substance, licence renewals, and the filings due where you are resident. We put that figure in front of you before you choose.

Frequently asked questions