Starting a business in UAE: foreigner's guide (2026)

Issued 1 October 2025 and published in Official Gazette No. 809 on 14 October 2025, this sweeping amendment to Federal Decree-Law 32/2021 introduced multiple share classes for mainland LLCs, statutory drag-along/tag-along rights, recognition of non-profit companies, cross-jurisdiction corporate mobility (mainland ↔ free zone), and private-placement powers for private joint-stock companies. Most provisions take effect 1 January 2026, aligning onshore UAE company law with common-law free-zone standards.

The UAE Ministry of Economy unveiled the National Economic Registry (NER), a single unified federal database of over 1.5 million active and cancelled commercial licences across all seven emirates, connecting 46+ government and licensing entities under one portal with a standardised Economic Registration Number (ERN). The platform consolidates business-formation procedures that had previously been fragmented across individual emirate authorities, covering more than 2,000 economic activities.

Federal Decree-Law No. 47/2022 took effect for financial years starting on or after 1 June 2023, imposing a 9% rate on taxable income above AED 375,000 (0% below that threshold). Ministerial Decision No. 73 of 2023 granted full relief for resident businesses with revenue up to AED 3 million through 31 December 2026. This marked the UAE's first federal corporate income tax, requiring all new incorporations to register with the Federal Tax Authority and adding a compliance layer to business formation.

The UAE issued its first federal corporate-tax law, ending the country's long-standing zero-corporate-tax status and requiring all businesses — mainland and free-zone — to register with the Federal Tax Authority. Free-zone qualifying income retains a 0% ring-fenced rate, preserving the free-zone advantage for business setup, while mainland companies above the AED 375,000 threshold face the 9% rate.

As part of the 'Year of the 50th' legislative sprint, the Cabinet formally listed 122 activities across 13 sectors — including manufacturing, renewable energy, space, and agriculture — as open to full foreign ownership on the mainland. This decision gave investors legal certainty over which sectors they could enter without a local Emirati partner, converting a broad statutory right into an actionable, activity-specific entitlement.

Published in the Official Gazette on 27 September 2020 and entering force on 2 January 2021, this amendment to the 2015 Commercial Companies Law abolished Article 10's blanket requirement that UAE nationals hold at least 51% of any mainland company. For the first time, foreigners could own 100% of mainland entities across most sectors (strategic sectors such as defence and oil & gas retained restrictions), erasing the principal structural disadvantage of mainland incorporation versus free-zone setup.

Issued 1 April 2015 and replacing the 1984 law from 1 July 2015, this comprehensive 378-article statute modernised UAE company law with stricter corporate-governance rules, improved minority-shareholder protections, clearer registration and capital requirements, and new company types — while retaining the 51% UAE-national ownership requirement on the mainland that had been in place since 1984.

This federal law created the legal architecture for financial free zones with their own regulatory authorities, enabling the launch of the Dubai International Financial Centre (DIFC) with a common-law court system, an independent regulator (DFSA), and 100% foreign ownership from day one. DIFC became the region's premier hub for banks, funds, and capital-markets firms and proved the viability of enclave common-law jurisdictions within a civil-law federal state.

Founded by Ruler's Decree under H.H. Sheikh Rashid bin Saeed Al Maktoum, JAFZA became the UAE's first free zone, offering 100% foreign ownership, zero customs duties, and full profit repatriation within its boundaries. It created the 'free zone model' — a business-friendly enclave operating outside the mainland 51% ownership rule — that served as the template for the 45+ free zones that now span the UAE.

The UAE's first comprehensive commercial companies legislation established the legal framework for all mainland business incorporation and mandated that at least 51% of any company's share capital be held by UAE nationals. This 'Emiratisation' ownership requirement created the local-sponsor industry and channelled foreign investment into free zones for nearly four decades, directly shaping every subsequent reform up to 2021.