100% ownership, fast licensing and 0% Corporate Tax on qualifying income. With 40+ UAE free zones, the value is in picking the right one — we compare them against your activity, visa needs and budget.
100% foreign ownership in every UAE free zone, with no local partner.
0% Corporate Tax on qualifying income where the company meets the Qualifying Free Zone Person conditions (see below).
Fast licensing — days rather than weeks once documents are in order.
Flexi-desk options satisfy the office requirement, keeping entry cost low.
Visa allocations scale with the package you choose.
Popular zones and what they suit
Zone
Known for
IFZA (Dubai)
Broad activity list and competitive packages — a common default for consultants and trading companies
Meydan (Dubai)
Dubai address with a straightforward digital process
DMCC (Dubai)
Premium, commodities and finance-adjacent; strongest reputation with banks
RAKEZ (Ras Al Khaimah)
Cost-effective, strong for trading, industrial and light manufacturing
SHAMS (Sharjah)
Media, creative and freelance-style activities at low entry cost
JAFZA (Dubai)
Logistics and large-scale trading, port-adjacent
Entry-level licences across the cheaper zones are advertised from roughly AED 5,500–6,000 per year for zero-visa packages; premium zones start considerably higher.
On costs: figures on this page are indicative market ranges for 2026 and change by activity, visa count and authority. We give you an itemised quote before you commit, with government fees shown separately from our fee.
The 0% tax question — QFZP conditions
Free-zone companies are not automatically tax-free. The 0% rate applies to qualifying income of a Qualifying Free Zone Person, which requires, among other conditions:
Adequate substance in the UAE — real people, premises and expenditure matched to the activity.
Income from qualifying activities.
Non-qualifying revenue kept within the de minimis threshold: the lower of 5% of total revenue or AED 5 million in the tax period.
Compliance with transfer pricing requirements.
Not electing into the standard Corporate Tax regime.
Why this matters: breaching the conditions does not just cost you 0% for one year. The company is taxed at 9% for that tax period and is disqualified for the following four tax periods — effectively a five-year exclusion. This is the single most under-explained risk in free-zone marketing, and the reason we build the structure around your tax position rather than around the cheapest licence.
We run a QFZP health check on existing free-zone companies as a fixed-fee review.
What you get from us
Zone comparison against your real activity, licence application and issuance, establishment card and visa processing, corporate bank account preparation, and Corporate Tax and VAT registration — so the company is trading and compliant, not just licensed.
Frequently asked questions
The lowest advertised packages sit around AED 5,500–6,000 per year for zero-visa licences in zones such as RAKEZ, SHAMS, IFZA and Meydan. Cheapest is rarely the right question though — the zone must permit your activity, give you the visa count you need, and be acceptable to the bank you want to open with.
A free zone company trades freely within its zone and internationally. Selling directly into the mainland UAE market generally requires a distributor, agent or a mainland branch. If most of your customers are UAE-based businesses or consumers, mainland may be the better structure.
They are within the scope of the Corporate Tax law. A Qualifying Free Zone Person pays 0% on qualifying income and 9% on non-qualifying income. A free-zone company that fails the conditions pays 9% on taxable income above AED 375,000, like any other business.
Registration is required in most cases even where no tax is payable. Treating 0% as "nothing to do" is how businesses end up with avoidable penalties.
Ready to get started?
One conversation is usually enough to map your jurisdiction, your realistic costs and your tax position. Free, no obligation.