Moving to Dubai from Ireland with a Business: Tax and Setup

Moving to Dubai from Ireland with a business you already run works when it is done in the right order, and the first step is an Irish one. This is the order we take it in:

1. Sit down with your Irish tax adviser first. When you leave, and how you stop being Irish tax resident, need planning before anything else. The Irish rules are set out below.
2. Choose the structure: free zone or mainland. Where your customers are and how the company will bank decide it, more than the price of the licence.
3. Talk to the bank before anything is filed. We speak to the bank about the business first, so the activity and the documents match what they will ask for.
4. Form the company. This is the quick part.
5. Get your residence visa and Emirates ID. Our guide to what a relocating owner pays for a UAE residence visa breaks that side down, from the visa itself to the licence it sits on.
6. Open the UAE bank account. The application goes in once you have your Emirates ID, which is why it comes after the visa.
7. Put your UAE tax and accounting on a proper footing from the first year. Corporate tax registration, VAT if your sales reach the threshold, and the books.

The part most Irish owners underestimate is the Irish side. The UAE side only helps you once you have actually stopped being Irish tax resident, and Ireland has its own rules for that. Below is what changes, what to settle in order, and where the real friction sits.

We do the same move for owners coming from the UK and Australia — same sequence, different home-country tax.

Start Business Services works with Irish owners the same way as with UK ones — the same person from the first call, and the bank account planned before the licence, not after.

Why do Irish owners make the move?

The owners we work with move because they already run something that works in Ireland and want a base that opens up larger markets, from a place built for international trade. Those markets are the Gulf, Asia and Africa. They are not chasing a lifestyle or the cheapest licence. Dubai sits between East and West, runs in English, and the operating environment is straightforward once you are set up. For where the UAE economy is heading beyond oil, see our analysis of what the UAE leaving OPEC means for businesses here and for owners weighing the move.

Tax is part of it, but it is the benefit, not the reason. If the only reason to move is to lower a tax bill, the setup tends to come apart later — at the bank, at renewal. A move that holds up is one where the business has a genuine reason to be in the UAE. Our page on why owners move a business to Dubai and the UAE sets out that case, with market access first and tax as the benefit that follows.

In our experience at Start Business Services, the Irish owners who relocate cleanly are the ones who get residency, banking and structure done in the right order — that sequencing is the job.

What tax do you need to get right on each side?

There are two tax positions to get right: the UAE one, and the Irish one. They are separate jobs.

What does your UAE company pay?

Your UAE company pays 0% on its first AED 375,000 of profit and 9% on the rest. The UAE brought in that corporate tax for company years starting on or after 1 June 2023. The UAE Ministry of Finance publishes the corporate tax law that sets the rates and that date, and the Cabinet decision on the profit threshold that sets the AED 375,000 line.

As an example, a business making AED 450,000 profit pays 9% on the AED 75,000 above the line, which is AED 6,750, and the rest stays in the business to reinvest or to pay yourself. What you pay yourself as salary or dividends is not taxed here as personal income, as the Federal Tax Authority’s guidance on how individuals are taxed explains.

VAT is 5%, and you only have to register once your taxable sales and imports pass AED 375,000. A smaller business below that line does not have to register at all, so there is nothing to add to your prices and no VAT returns to submit. The UAE Ministry of Finance’s VAT page sets out the rate and the threshold, and the threshold is also in the VAT rules the Federal Tax Authority publishes.

A free zone company can pay 0% on the income the rules count as qualifying, but only if it meets the conditions. One of them is a cap on its other income, set in a ministerial decision the Ministry of Finance publishes. Being in a free zone is not enough by itself, which is why we plan the numbers for a small business on the 9% above AED 375,000.

We handle UAE corporate tax and VAT in-house, so this is set up correctly from the start rather than discovered at the first filing. The detail sits on our UAE corporate tax page.

Why does the Irish side matter more than the UAE side?

While you are Irish-resident and domiciled, Ireland taxes your worldwide income, and this is where Irish owners get caught. Not paying UAE tax on what you pay yourself only helps once you are out of the Irish net. Revenue’s own tax residence page says it plainly: “If you are resident and domiciled in Ireland for tax purposes, you are chargeable to tax in Ireland on your worldwide income.” Domicile broadly means the country you live in and intend to stay in permanently, as Revenue explains on its page about domicile.

Irish tax residence turns on day-counting. Under Irish Revenue’s tests, you are resident for a tax year if you spend 183 days or more in Ireland that year, or 280 days or more across two consecutive tax years. The two-year count needs a minimum of 31 days in the second year. So if you leave in name only and keep your days in Ireland high, that does not break residence.

Revenue also puts it the other way round, and it is worth knowing: you are not resident for a tax year in which you spend 30 days or less in Ireland.

There is a second layer: ordinary residence. Revenue’s rule is that after three consecutive tax years of Irish residence you become ordinarily resident from the start of the fourth. If you then leave, you remain ordinarily resident for three more tax years. During that window certain foreign income can still be taxed in Ireland.

Split-year treatment can apply in the year you actually leave to take up work abroad. In plain terms, your pay up to the day you leave is taxed in Ireland as normal, and the pay from the job abroad after that day is left out of Irish tax for that year. It covers pay from employment only. Revenue explains it on its pages on moving to or from Ireland during the tax year and split-year treatment in your year of departure.

The window is narrower than it sounds. Revenue’s own rules give three exceptions. The first is income from a trade or profession where no part of it is carried on in Ireland. The second is income from an employment where all the duties are performed outside Ireland. The third is other foreign income of €3,810 or less, such as investment income. Above €3,810 the full amount is taxable, not just the excess. Whether your own income falls inside those exceptions is a question for your Irish adviser, not for us.

None of this is something to take from a blog, ours included. The day-counting, your domicile position and how ordinary residence applies to you are individual — confirm them with your own Irish tax adviser before you move, and time the move around them. We handle the UAE side and keep the two joined up; we are not your Irish tax adviser.

One thing to verify with your adviser rather than rely on here: Ireland and the UAE have a double taxation agreement. Exactly how it applies to your income depends on your facts, so we have not set out its mechanics in this guide.

Revenue publishes the full text of the agreement for your adviser to check. It also publishes a version with later international changes worked into it.

Should you choose a free zone or the mainland?

The choice comes down to where you can trade and how the company will bank, not to which free zone has the cheapest licence. Work it in this order.

• Where are your customers? Mostly outside the UAE — a free zone is usually a clean fit, with 100% foreign ownership and no local partner. Selling into the UAE market — look at the mainland route first.
• Selling onshore from a free zone? Under a Dubai rule issued in March 2025, a Dubai free zone company can also apply to Dubai’s Department of Economy and Tourism to operate onshore in Dubai, so the line is less rigid than it was. That route is Dubai’s own, set by a resolution of its Executive Council. It does not apply to financial firms licensed in the DIFC.
• What is the activity? Ordinary trading and services point to a standard free zone; regulated finance points to a financial free zone such as DIFC or ADGM, which run on their own common-law systems, as the DIFC Courts and ADGM Courts each describe.
• How will it bank? Banking acceptance varies by free zone and by activity. This is worth settling before the licence, not after.
• Cost — last. The cheapest licence is rarely the cheapest outcome once you add in the banking and the cost of a real presence here, not just a licence on paper.

Source: the UAE Ministry of Economy and Tourism’s page on free zones for company incorporation says the free zones allow 100% ownership for foreign investors.

We do not push a house favourite. The right structure is the one that fits the business. The full picture is on our pages for UAE company structures and the Dubai free zones.

The question owners ask most is whether to move the Irish company or start fresh. In practice most owners set up a new UAE company. You can also open a UAE branch of the existing Irish company. Which is right depends on where the contracts and the people sit, and we work that backwards from what the business is trying to do, not from a product list.

Banking: where do most people come unstuck?

The bank account is the part that catches owners out, not the licence. The way the company is set up decides which banks will work with you, so we start there. We speak to the bank’s compliance team about the business before anything is filed, so the activity, the structure and the documents line up with what they need. Some activities banks won’t easily take on, and it is better to know that before the company exists than after.

In our experience, it runs roughly like this, by profile:

• A smaller, single-owner, lower-risk business (under about AED 3m revenue) typically opens a digital account in around 3 to 4 days.
• A larger company, more shareholders or higher revenue (AED 3m or more), is usually a real corporate account opening in around 7 to 10 days.
• Higher-risk activity can take up to three months and may need a minimum balance kept in the account. That covers physical-product trading, gold or oil, property and investment.

Our fee to run the application start to finish is AED 3,000 for the first profile, AED 12,000 for the second, and from AED 15,000 for the third, on the prices we set in June 2026. That is separate from the bank’s own charges, and we set it in the first conversation before any work starts. The full picture is on our UAE business banking page.

With a simple profile and every document ready, the company and the bank account can be open in as little as three to four weeks. Treat that as the fastest case, not the one to plan around: the formation is quick, and most of the time goes on residency and the bank’s checks on where your money has come from.

What we actually do

We are a small firm that opens companies in the UAE for owners from the UK, Ireland and Australia — whether you are moving a business you already run or building a real new one. You deal with the same person from the first call onwards. We handle the company, the bank account, the visas and Emirates ID, and then the bookkeeping, the yearly accounts and the UAE corporate tax and VAT — in-house, year after year.

For the Irish side, we work alongside your own tax adviser and keep in touch with them directly, so you are not left holding the two halves together.

We are honest about fit. If the UAE is not the right move for your business, we will say so. A genuine new business is welcome; a company on paper built only around tax is not the work we do.

If you are weighing this up, a short call is the fastest way to know whether it makes sense: tell us what the business does and where it is heading, and we will tell you whether we are the right firm — and how we would do it.

Common questions

Do I still pay Irish tax if I move my business to Dubai?

It depends on whether you actually break Irish tax residence. While you are Irish-resident and domiciled, Ireland taxes your worldwide income. You become non-resident by spending fewer than 183 days in Ireland in a tax year, and fewer than 280 over two consecutive years. Ordinary residence can keep certain foreign income in the Irish net for up to three years after you leave. Confirm your own position with your Irish adviser before you move.

How much corporate tax will my UAE company pay?

UAE corporate tax is 9% on taxable profit above AED 375,000, introduced in June 2023. The UAE does not tax the salary or dividends you pay yourself as personal income. A free zone company can pay 0% on the income the rules count as qualifying, but only if it meets the conditions; being in a free zone is not enough on its own.

Should I set up in a free zone or on the mainland?

Start with where your customers are. If you mostly sell outside the UAE, a free zone is usually a clean fit. If you sell into the UAE market, look at the mainland route first. The activity and how the company will bank settle the rest. Cost comes last.

Can I move my existing Irish company, or do I start a new one?

In practice most owners set up a new UAE company rather than moving the Irish company itself over to the UAE. You can also open a UAE branch of the Irish company. Which is right depends on where the contracts and the people sit — we work it backwards from what the business is trying to do.

How long does the whole thing take?

The company itself can be formed quickly. With a simple profile and every document ready, the company and the bank account can be open in as little as three to four weeks, but that is the fastest case. Most of the time goes on residency and the bank's checks on where your money has come from, not the licence, and in our experience a higher-risk activity can take up to three months at the bank alone.

Gareth Jones — Founder, Start Business Services

Gareth works directly with UK, Irish and Australian owners setting up and banking in the UAE. More about Gareth →