Closing two Australian businesses and starting again in Dubai

The situation

Craig and his wife decided to leave Australia and relocate to Dubai, bringing both businesses with them. These were real, trading businesses with genuine turnover, not something run on paper, so how it was set up and how it banked mattered. And it happened on short notice.

In practice that meant two jobs running side by side. On the Australian side, the existing structures had to be closed properly. On the Dubai side, both businesses needed a company, a bank account that could take their real volumes, and visas for the two of them.

What we recommended

First, the order: Craig and his wife took professional tax advice in Australia and closed their Australian structures properly before moving. We don't give tax advice, and the Australian side is a job for an Australian adviser. Getting it done first meant the Dubai side was built on a finished exit, not a half-closed one.

For Australian owners at the same stage, Australia's change to capital gains tax for foreign residents is now an Act, and the changes apply from 1 October 2026. Our note on Australia's foreign-resident capital gains tax Act is useful background before sitting down with an adviser. The Act itself is published on Australia's Federal Register of Legislation.

In the UAE we set up two separate IFZA free zone companies, one for each business, including one run with his wife. Two separate companies meant each licence could describe what that business actually does, and the bank reads the licence against the business in front of it.

The coaching side is a service activity, and IFZA puts service activities on a professional licence. In IFZA's own words, "Businesses that seek to carry out service-related operations must get a professional license." That line is from IFZA's page on the professional licence.

We built the banking around the expected transaction volumes and opened a full corporate account. A coaching practice takes fees from its clients, and an e-commerce business takes payments for sales made online, so the bank needed to understand both flows of money. We spoke to the bank about both businesses before setting the companies up, so it had seen them before there was a company to bank.

They took two residence visas and became UAE tax residents as part of the move.

At Start Business Services we talk to the bank about a business like this before the company is set up, because a trading company with real volume needs an account that works as soon as it starts trading.