Key Takeaways
- Dubai has 21 free zones on the Government of Dubai list (page of 3 April 2026), each with its own authority and company rules.
- Working on the Dubai mainland from a free zone licence needs one of three routes under Executive Council Resolution 11 of 2025.
- The 0% Corporate Tax rate applies only to a Qualifying Free Zone Person on qualifying income (Ministerial Decision 229 of 2025); other income pays 9%.
- Visa allowances are set zone by zone and tied to the desk or package; DMCC charges AED 500 per extra quota, as of October 2026.
- Three checkpoints cause most of the trouble: mainland sales without a permit, 0% assumed on all income, and a visa count bought without the desk size.
Choosing a Dubai zone starts with who issues the licence, because every zone has its own authority, rules and fee card. The sections below take the main zone families, mainland access, visa quotas, Corporate Tax and the cost lines a headline package leaves out. A grid at the end helps you compare three zones on one page.
What a Dubai free zone company is
A free zone company is a company licensed by a zone authority, under that zone's own law and rules. Dubai has no single free zone law. The Government of Dubai list, on a page last modified 3 April 2026, names 21 free zones, and each was created by its own law or decree.
Ownership can be 100% foreign. The licence comes from the zone, not from the Department of Economy and Tourism (DET, formerly DED), which licenses the Dubai mainland. A licence from a Dubai zone does not extend to Abu Dhabi, Sharjah or any other emirate; those have their own zones and their own mainland departments, listed on the free zones hub.
Since 11 December 2023 DET has issued a Dubai Unified Licence (DUL) to businesses in Dubai, zone or mainland: a single identifier with a QR code (Dubai Media Office). The DUL names the business. It does not by itself grant a right to trade on the mainland.
The zone families in Dubai and who runs them
Most Dubai zones sit under a handful of operators, and the operator fixes the legal forms, the fee card and the visa rules. TECOM is the developer and landlord of the Dubai Development Authority (DDA) zones, not their regulator. IFZA is based in Dubai Silicon Oasis, which belongs to the DIEZ group; its own pages do not say which authority issues its licence, so ask for the licensing authority in writing.
| Operator | Zones | Legal forms | Published fee anchor, label and date |
|---|---|---|---|
| DMCC Authority | DMCC | Company limited by shares, branch | Year-one standard company about AED 34,000 before workspace, the sum of the application, registration, articles of association, licence (taken as about AED 20,000) and establishment card lines (DMCC Schedule of Charges, undated, read October 2026) |
| Jebel Ali Free Zone Authority | JAFZA | FZE, FZCo, PLC, branch, offshore | Registration AED 5,000, licence from AED 5,000 (fee schedule page of 26 April 2024, guidebook of November 2023) |
| Dubai Integrated Economic Zones Authority (DIEZ) | Dubai Airport Freezone, Dubai Silicon Oasis, Dubai CommerCity | FZCO, PLC, branch | Quoted on request; ask for the written fee sheet |
| Dubai Development Authority | Internet City, Media City, Studio City, Production City, d3, Knowledge Park, Academic City, Outsource City, Science Park | FZ-LLC, branch, freelancer | AED 3,500 registration plus AED 15,000 licence per standard segment plus AED 10 and AED 10 in levies, AED 18,520 in year one (DDA registration page and Decision 1 of 2021, October 2026) |
| Meydan City Corporation | Meydan Free Zone | LLC, branch | Licence from AED 12,500 (zone site, October 2026) |
| DIFC Authority | DIFC | Private company, LLP, prescribed company, foundation | USD 8,000 registration plus USD 12,000 licence (Table of Fees Rev. 16, 30 July 2026) |
| Individual authorities | Dubai South, Expo City Dubai, Dubai Healthcare City, Dubai World Trade Centre, Dubai Humanitarian | Zone-specific | Own fee pages; compare the label before you compare the amount |
Read the last column with care. A fee schedule is an official tariff; a package is a marketing bundle. The two are not interchangeable, and a figure from a consultancy is a third kind of number again.
FZCO, FZ-LLC and branch as legal forms
The form depends on the zone, because each operator offers its own list. DIEZ zones use the FZCO and treat existing FZEs as FZCOs (DIEZ Implementing Regulations 2023, regulation 8.2). JAFZA offers the FZE for one owner and the FZCo for 2 to 50 shareholders. DDA zones use the FZ-LLC, which takes up to 75 shareholders.
Foreign groups may use a branch instead. It has no separate legal personality, so the parent carries the liabilities.
Capital rules differ more than the marketing suggests. The DIEZ regulations set AED 1 for an FZCO at Dubai Airport Freezone and Dubai Silicon Oasis, and no minimum is prescribed in JAFZA or Meydan. DDA zones set a default of AED 10,000, with higher minima for some segments (DDA Decision 1 of 2021). DMCC and Meydan state AED 50,000 of share capital for the investor visa. So "no minimum capital" is true for some zones and untrue for others.
Working in Dubai mainland under Resolution 11 of 2025
Executive Council Resolution 11 of 2025, issued on 3 March 2025, gives Dubai free zone companies three routes onto the mainland. They are a branch within the emirate, a branch operating out of the free zone (the market's dual licence) and a permit of up to six months. DIFC financial establishments are outside it (Article 2).
Two fees are fixed in the Resolution, each to issue or renew (Article 12), as of October 2026. The branch operating out of the free zone costs AED 10,000 a year and the temporary permit AED 5,000. The fee for the mainland-premises branch is not set there; it follows DET's general fee rules. Every route needs the prior approval of your free zone authority, and a sector approval where the activity is regulated.
Launched on 8 October 2025, the Free Zone Mainland Operating Permit needs a DUL, runs through Invest in Dubai and covers non-regulated activities first (Dubai Media Office). Companies already trading on the mainland had one year from the Resolution's effective date to comply, with one possible extension of the same length (Article 13); ask DET where yours stands.
The first place this goes wrong is selling to Dubai mainland customers from a free zone licence with no branch licence or permit. Dubai legislation and penalties apply (Articles 10 and 11), and mainland revenue is taxed at 9% with separate records.
Visas, desks and what quotas are tied to
Each zone sets the visa allowance, and the allowance usually follows the desk, the office or the package. DMCC, for one, charges AED 500 per additional visa quota plus an AED 250 non-refundable application fee, and publishes no visas-per-desk formula on its charges page (October 2026).
IFZA ties the allowance to the licence package and the office type, and DAFZ ties it to the office or lease size. Ask each zone for the current table in writing. Prices differ widely too: DMCC lists a new two-year employment visa from outside the UAE at AED 2,972.5 and an establishment card at AED 1,825 a year, as of October 2026.
Packages need the closest reading. A package listing five visas can give fewer, because zones tie the quota to the desk or leased area, and the result is an upgrade fee or a shortfall found only when you apply. Compare the quota per desk, not the number printed on the package.
When 0% Corporate Tax applies and when it does not
Only a Qualifying Free Zone Person (QFZP) pays 0%, and only on qualifying income. The company must have adequate substance in the UAE, keep non-qualifying revenue within the lower of 5% of total revenue or AED 5,000,000, and file audited financial statements (Ministerial Decision 229 of 2025).
Ministerial Decision 229 of 2025 lists the qualifying activities. They include manufacturing, processing, trading of qualifying commodities, holding of shares, headquarter and treasury services to related parties, fund and wealth management, logistics, and distribution from a Designated Zone. Any transaction with a natural person is excluded, with narrow exceptions. General consulting, marketing and accounting are not on the list, so confirm the position before you assume 0%.
A company that exceeds the de minimis loses QFZP status for that tax period and the next four, and a QFZP gets no AED 375,000 zero-rate band. Every other free zone company pays 0% up to AED 375,000 and 9% above. Registration is due within 3 months of incorporation either way (FTA Decision 3 of 2024). The English texts on tax.gov.ae are not an official translation.
VAT follows its own list. Only zones named on the Federal Tax Authority's Designated Zones list get that treatment, and a VAT Designated Zone is not automatically a Corporate Tax Designated Zone (FTA clarification TAXP010).
Cost lines that are not in the headline package
Headline prices cover a licence and sometimes a desk; the rest arrives as separate lines. Check the establishment card, each visa quota and visa, the medical test and Emirates ID typing, renewal, the audit a QFZP must file, and the mainland route if you need it. Knowledge and innovation fees add AED 20 to a DIFC licence transaction (DIFC Table of Fees). Ejari registration carries AED 10 plus AED 10 (Dubai Land Department); ask whether your other government fees carry them.
Mainland access alone is AED 10,000 a year for the branch operating out of the free zone, or AED 5,000 per six-month permit. Two six-month permits, 2 x AED 5,000, come to AED 10,000, the same as one year of the branch fee. Added up from DIFC's published fees, registry fees come to USD 20,750 in year one for a non-financial company that processes personal data. The sum is USD 8,000 registration, USD 12,000 licence and USD 750 data protection notification, plus AED 20 items (DIFC Table of Fees Rev. 16 and private company handbook, July and September 2026).
Some zones, including DAFZ and IFZA, quote on request. Take that quote in writing, itemised, with renewal. Never mix a fee schedule, a package and a consultancy range in one comparison.
How to compare three zones on one page
Put the three zones in columns and answer five questions for each. The answers decide the choice before the headline price does.
- Customers: abroad, inside the zone or on the Dubai mainland, and which mainland route you would need.
- Regulated activity: whether the activity needs a sector approval, and whether the zone offers it.
- Visas and desk: the quota that follows the desk you will actually rent.
- Bank view: whether your activity, owners and customers read cleanly to a bank. DMCC, for one, asks for a bank reference or a capital deposit confirmation at licensing. On 25 December 2025 the Dubai Free Zones Council acknowledged bank-opening challenges for free zone companies.
- Tax: whether a QFZP result is realistic for your income, or whether you will pay 9%.
A licensed adviser can complete the grid against your numbers and put the answers in writing; the guide to choosing a business setup consultant lists what to ask for. The QFZP row is the one to put to a corporate tax consultant. The overview of starting a business in Dubai places the zone choice among the other six steps.
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