What it costs to run a company in the UAE for a year
Plenty has been written about the cost of setting up in the UAE and almost nothing about the cost of owning. The two differ sharply: a "company for AED 15,000, all in" package covers the first year, after which the payments start again — plus the ones nobody mentioned at the point of sale. Below are all the recurring items at 2026 prices, including our own: we registered in Meydan Free Zone in August 2026 and pay the same invoices as our clients.
- Bare minimum
- from AED 12,500
- Company with one visa
- AED 45,000 – 60,000
- Licence renewal
- every year
- Visa renewal
- every 2 years
Why year two is a different budget
At incorporation you pay for two separate things at once: the formation itself (registry entry, articles of association, licence issue) and the company's first year of existence. Formation never repeats. Everything else does — each on its own cycle: the licence and the lease run for a year, the visa and Emirates ID for two, and returns follow your financial year and your assigned VAT period.
Those mismatched cycles produce the "expensive third year" effect: licence renewal, visa renewal and the annual audit can all land in the same month. Planning against the company's own calendar is not bureaucracy — it is how you avoid hunting for AED 30,000 at two weeks' notice.
| What you pay for | How often | Counted from |
|---|---|---|
| Licence renewal | yearly | licence issue date |
| Desk or office lease | yearly | lease agreement, usually aligned to the licence |
| Establishment card | yearly | card issue date |
| Residence visa and Emirates ID | every 2 years | date of entry on the visa |
| Employee medical insurance | yearly | policy date |
| Corporate tax return | yearly | end of the financial year |
| VAT returns | quarterly or monthly | period assigned by the FTA |
| Accounting support | monthly | — |
| Audit | yearly, where required | end of the financial year |
Our own numbers, for calibration. Our Meydan Free Zone licence was issued on 5 August 2026 and runs to 4 August 2027 — annual renewal, with the first invoice landing exactly a year after registration. Our shared-desk agreement states a rate of AED 375 and up to four hours of use per month, on the same term to 4 August 2027. The establishment card carries the same expiry, and the visa allocation is two. Tax registration costs nothing on top: our corporate tax certificate came without a government fee — we only paid to have it prepared properly.
Licence renewal is the largest single item
Renewal is normally a little cheaper than first registration: there is no registry entry or issue of constitutional documents to pay for. The gap rarely exceeds 10–15%, so do not budget on the assumption that year two costs half as much.
| Type of zone | Renewal, AED per year |
|---|---|
| Budget free zones (SHAMS, Ajman, UAQ) | 5,000 – 7,000 |
| Mid-tier Dubai zones (Meydan, IFZA) | 12,500 – 18,500 |
| Premium zones (DMCC, DIFC, ADGM) | from 20,000 upwards |
| Mainland (DED licence plus office lease) | from 15,000 plus real rent |
Renewal pricing is driven by the same factors as the original licence: how many activities, how many visas in the allocation, what kind of workspace. Adding an activity mid-year is a separate payment, usually AED 1,000–3,000, and it tends to arrive as a surprise — the company started offering an adjacent service and the licence does not cover it.
Missing the renewal date costs more than the renewal. The free zone charges a penalty for every month of delay, the portal closes, and a bank reviewing your documents may suspend the account — restoring it takes weeks. How this fits the wider company calendar is set out in the compliance calendar.
Visas, establishment card and insurance
A visa is a cycle, not a one-off. A standard free zone residence visa runs for two years, comes with an Emirates ID, and requires a medical test before issue. Renewal repeats the whole procedure, medical test included.
| Item | Indicative, AED | Frequency |
|---|---|---|
| Establishment card | 1,500 – 3,500 | yearly |
| Visa renewal (medical, Emirates ID, stamping) | 3,000 – 6,000 | every 2 years |
| Medical insurance, basic plan | 700 – 2,500 per year | yearly, per visa holder |
| Enhanced insurance | from 4,000 per year | yearly |
Insurance is mandatory, not optional: in Dubai and Abu Dhabi an employer cannot keep a visa holder without a valid policy, and the visa itself will not be renewed without one. It is the item most often left out of budgets, because setup packages rarely include it.
One detail about a director holding a visa from their own company: they must be on the payroll with a declared salary, which puts them inside the WPS payroll perimeter with all its deadlines. What that means in practice is covered in the guide to payroll and WPS.
Tax and reporting
Registering with the FTA and filing returns cost nothing in government fees — there is no charge for corporate tax registration and none for filing. What you pay for is preparation: making sure the figures in the return are right and the underlying records survive a review.
| Procedure | Government fee | Our fee to prepare |
|---|---|---|
| Corporate tax registration | none | AED 2,000, one-off |
| Corporate tax return | none | AED 2,000 (short form) · AED 4,500 (full) |
| VAT registration | none | AED 2,000, one-off |
| VAT return | none | AED 1,500 per quarter |
| Payroll and WPS | bank fee for the file | from AED 500 per month, up to 5 employees |
A company with no turnover is not exempt from filing: a nil corporate tax return is due on the same deadline, and the penalty for missing it is the same — AED 500 for each month started, rising to AED 1,000 from the thirteenth month. The full schedule is in the summary of FTA penalties.
Banking
An account costs money every month, not at opening. The main item is the minimum average balance: typically AED 10,000–50,000 at conventional banks, and falling below it triggers a fee, usually AED 100–500 a month. Technically that is frozen cash rather than an expense, but in cash planning it behaves exactly like one.
Add monthly maintenance (AED 0–250), international transfer charges and FX spreads. Digital banks are cheaper to run but limited in currencies and in the jurisdictions they will deal with. The differences and the usual grounds for refusal are covered in the guide to the corporate account.
Audit: not everyone needs one, but check your zone
There are two independent triggers. For corporate tax purposes, audited financial statements are mandatory above AED 50 million in revenue, and for any company holding QFZP status regardless of revenue. Separately from tax, the free zone itself may demand an audit at renewal — and that requirement has nothing to do with turnover.
An audit for a small company runs at roughly AED 5,000–15,000 a year, driven largely by the state of the books. A company that kept clean records all year pays at the bottom of that range; reconstructing the year before the audit easily doubles it. Details are in the guide to audit in the UAE.
Three annual budgets
Realistic ranges for year two onwards. Payments to the zone and the state are shown separately from professional support: the first barely moves with your transaction volume, the second is driven by it entirely.
| Zone and government | No visas | 1 visa, services | 3 visas, trading |
|---|---|---|---|
| Licence renewal | 12,500 – 18,500 | 12,500 – 18,500 | 15,000 – 25,000 |
| Workspace | in package | in package | 5,000 – 15,000 |
| Establishment card | — | 1,500 – 3,500 | 1,500 – 3,500 |
| Visas, annualised | — | 1,500 – 3,000 | 4,500 – 9,000 |
| Insurance | — | 700 – 2,500 | 2,100 – 7,500 |
| Total | 12,500 – 18,500 | 16,200 – 27,500 | 28,100 – 60,000 |
| Professional support | No visas | 1 visa, services | 3 visas, trading |
|---|---|---|---|
| Accounting | 24,000 | 24,000 – 36,000 | 36,000 – 60,000 |
| Corporate tax return | 2,000 | 2,000 | 2,000 – 4,500 |
| VAT returns | — | 6,000 if registered | 6,000 |
| Payroll and WPS | — | 6,000 | 6,000 |
| Audit | — | if the zone requires it | 5,000 – 15,000 |
| Total | 26,000 | 38,000 – 50,000 | 55,000 – 91,500 |
Adding both tables: a dormant company with no visas runs at roughly AED 38,000–45,000 a year, an operating services company with one visa at AED 55,000–78,000, and a trading company with three employees at AED 83,000–150,000. These are reference points rather than an offer: free zone pricing moves, and support is quoted on actual transaction volume.
The items people forget
- Changes to company details. Replacing a director, adding an activity, changing shareholdings — every amendment to the registry and the articles is charged separately, usually AED 1,000–3,000, plus attestation.
- Document legalisation. Translation, notarisation and consular attestation for foreign counterparties start at AED 500 per document, and the timeline is measured in weeks.
- Accounting software. A cloud package that meets FTA requirements starts at AED 1,000 a year, and from 2027 an accredited e-invoicing provider joins the bill. The transition schedule is in the guide to e-invoicing.
- Updating beneficial ownership data. Free in itself, but changes must be filed within 15 days and penalties start at AED 50,000.
- Penalties for things you never did. The most common is AED 10,000 for late corporate tax registration. It reaches companies with not a single transaction: the duty to register does not depend on having income.
Where to economise and where not to
Economising on jurisdiction and workspace is sensible: if your clients sit outside the UAE and you do not need an office, a budget zone with a shared desk saves AED 10,000–15,000 a year with no downside. Keeping visa numbers low is equally reasonable — a visa belongs to someone who actually lives here.
What does not work is economising on bookkeeping and on deadlines. A company without accounting is not cheaper; it is accruing a deferred cost. Reconstructing a year of records costs more than keeping them, and FTA penalties are computed mechanically and are not open to discussion. A particular trap is the "dormant" company nobody deregistered: it keeps generating filing obligations long after the activity stopped.
