Can I Have Two Businesses in Dubai? The Four Ways to Do It, and the One Tax Rule That Decides Whether It Works

Yes. Nothing in UAE law caps the number of businesses one person can own, and there are four ways to do it: add activities to the licence you already hold, open a branch of your existing company, incorporate a subsidiary or second standalone company, or put both under a holding structure. Most guides stop there.

The part that costs money is the tax assumption underneath. Owners hear that corporate tax starts at AED 375,000 and conclude that two companies means AED 750,000 of tax-free profit. Half of that is true: the nil band and Small Business Relief apply per taxable person, so two genuine companies really do get two allowances. The dangerous half is that Article 6 of Ministerial Decision No. 73 of 2023, as amended by Ministerial Decision 131 of 2026 lets the Federal Tax Authority treat an artificially separated business as one, claw the relief back and reassess the lot [2]. Getting that line right is the whole article.

Since 2013 our team has set up second entities, converted branches into subsidiaries and unwound splits done for the wrong reason, so the traps below come from real files. This is a guide, not legal or tax advice. Your own facts, particularly the commercial reason behind any split, decide the answer.

Can you legally run two businesses in Dubai?

Yes, and there is no approval threshold to clear first. UAE law places no limit on how many companies a person may own or how many licences they may hold. The real question is which of four structures you use, because that single choice fixes your liability exposure, your number of taxable persons and your annual compliance bill for years.

The four routes differ on one axis above all: whether they create a new legal person. Adding an activity and opening a branch do not, so you keep one entity and one taxable person. A subsidiary or second company does, under Articles 21(1) and 21(4) of the Commercial Companies Law, and a holding structure creates one at every level [6].

Real Talk: People arrive asking "can I have two businesses" when the honest question is "do I need two companies". Two brands, two customer segments and two product lines can all live inside one licence. Two liability profiles, two sets of partners or two regulators cannot.

Can you just add activities to your existing licence?

Often, yes. A Dubai Department of Economy and Tourism mainland licence can carry more than one activity, provided the activities sit in the same licence category: commercial, professional, industrial or tourism. Where the new activity falls in a different category from your existing one, it generally cannot share the licence and a second licence is needed.

The category rule catches people who assume the divide is about how different the two businesses feel. A trading company adding a second product line stays commercial. A trading company adding a consultancy line has crossed into professional, and those two do not normally sit on one licence. The federal activity and trade name lookup on the UAE Government portal is the right first check on how your activity is classified [7].

Common Mistake: Repeating the "up to 10 activities per licence" figure as a rule. It appears consistently across professional sources, but every Department of Economy and Tourism and Invest in Dubai portal we tried blocks automated access, so we could not confirm it on a DET page. Treat it as commonly reported, not confirmed.

Fees are the same story. Figures circulating for per-activity charges and amendments vary by an order of magnitude and none trace back to a published DET fee schedule, so we are not publishing a per-activity or amendment fee, because DET's schedule is not verifiable through standard search. Get a written quote against your exact activity codes. Activity selection is cheapest to fix at formation, which our mainland company setup page covers alongside our guide to business licence types in Dubai.

When do you genuinely need a second licence?

When the second activity cannot lawfully sit on the first licence. That happens in four situations: the activities fall in incompatible categories, the new activity is regulated and needs its own regulator's approval, the activity belongs to a different jurisdiction, or the second business needs a different legal form or different shareholders.

Regulated activities surprise people most, because the regulator sits above the licensing authority and its consent is not a formality. Financial services in DIFC need the Dubai Financial Services Authority, healthcare needs the Dubai Health Authority, schools and training need the Knowledge and Human Development Authority, real estate brokerage needs RERA and the Dubai Land Department [8], and legal services go through the Ministry of Justice route.

Jurisdiction is the most common reason a second Dubai business needs its own licence rather than an extra activity. If your first company is a free zone entity and the new venture sells to mainland customers on the mainland, the free zone licence does not authorise that, and the reverse is equally true. Our free zone company setup page sets out what each zone supports.

Branch, subsidiary, second company or holding structure: which one?

This is the decision table. A branch extends the entity you already have without ring-fencing anything. A subsidiary or second company creates a separate legal person carrying its own liability. A holding structure adds a parent above both. Choose on liability, partners and activity compatibility, not on setup cost.

Pro Tip: If there is any realistic chance the second venture will take outside investment, be sold separately, or generate claims you would not want touching the first business, start with a separate company. Converting a branch later means closing one and forming the other, which costs more than the difference you saved. Our guide to branch versus subsidiary in the UAE works that comparison through.

What is a branch, actually, under Article 337(2)?

It is the same legal entity as the company that owns it, operating under its own licence. Federal Decree-Law No. 32 of 2021 on Commercial Companies is explicit: Article 337(2) provides that "The office or branch of a foreign Company shall be deemed as its domicile in respect of its activity in the State" [6]. A branch is a location of an existing legal person, not a new one.

That framing has consequences people rarely price in. A company acquires legal personality only from entry in the commercial register under Article 21(1), and a branch is not a separate registration of a new person, so the branch's obligations are the parent's obligations [6]. If the branch is sued, the entity behind it is the defendant. There is no firewall.

Article 338 undoes a common misreading. A branch does keep independent books, audited by a licensed auditor and filed alongside the parent's accounts [6], but separate bookkeeping is not separate legal personality and buys none of a subsidiary's liability protection. The working rule: a branch extends an existing entity without ring-fencing liability, while a subsidiary or second company creates a separate legal person with its own liability under Article 21(4), which is the answer whenever you need to isolate risk, bring in different partners, or run an activity the first licence cannot carry [6].

What can a holding company do, and what can it not do?

Under the Commercial Companies Law, a holding company is a Joint Stock Company or LLC that establishes subsidiaries in the UAE or abroad, or controls existing companies, by holding shares or membership interests enabling control of management. Article 269(2) is blunt about the limit: "Holding Companies may not conduct their activities except through their subsidiaries" [6]. It cannot trade.

Article 268(1) sets that definition, and Article 268(2) requires the words "Holding Company" to appear on the company's papers and in its name, so the status is public rather than internal [6]. Article 269(1) then closes the list of what it may do.

Common Mistake: Registering a holding company because it sounds like the sophisticated structure, then invoicing clients from it. That is outside Article 269(1) and inconsistent with Article 269(2) [6]. If the entity will earn revenue from customers, it is an operating company and should be licensed as one, with a genuine holding entity above it. Our holding company setup guide covers jurisdiction selection for the parent, and our UAE commercial companies law overview covers how these articles fit together.

Why does "holding company" mean two different things?

Because corporate law and tax law use the phrase for different concepts, and conflating them produces confident advice that is wrong. The corporate law concept is a licensed form under Articles 268 to 271. The tax concept is an activity: "holding of shares and other securities for investment purposes" is a Qualifying Activity under Ministerial Decision No. 229 of 2025 [5].

The 12-month rule is the pivot on the tax side. Article 2(3)(d) of MD 229/2025 defines the activity to include shares of any class and negotiable or non-negotiable financial instruments, and states that "Shares and other securities are deemed to be held for investment purposes when held for an uninterrupted period of at least (12) twelve months" [5].

Honest flag: you will find commentary claiming an exception where a "demonstrable intention to hold long term" rescues a shorter period. That wording is not in Ministerial Decision No. 229 of 2025. It appears only in secondary sources, so do not plan a disposal around it.

The practical version: a genuine free zone holding entity holding shares for 12 or more uninterrupted months, and meeting the rest of the Qualifying Free Zone Person conditions, can reach 0% on that holding income, while its trading subsidiaries remain ordinary taxable persons on the normal rate ladder [5]. The 0% attaches at the parent, not to the group. Our guide to the qualifying free zone person and the 0% rate sets out those conditions.

Do two companies get two AED 375,000 nil bands?

Yes, if they are two genuine taxable persons and you do not group them. Article 3 of Federal Decree-Law No. 47 of 2022 imposes 0% on taxable income up to a threshold and 9% above it, and each juridical person is assessed on its own income [1]. Two separate LLCs are two taxable persons, each with its own band and its own relief test.

One precision point most articles get wrong. The AED 375,000 figure is not printed in the Corporate Tax Law itself. Article 3 refers to an amount specified by a Cabinet decision, and the figure comes from Cabinet Decision No. 116 of 2022 [1]. It can therefore change without the Law being touched, so citing the Law alone for the number is inaccurate.

Small Business Relief follows the same per-person logic. Article 2(1) of Ministerial Decision No. 73 of 2023, as amended by Ministerial Decision 131 of 2026 sets the revenue threshold at AED 3,000,000 for the relevant and previous tax periods, and Article 2(2) continues it only for periods ending on or before 31 December 2029 [2]. The FTA's guide confirms the framing: when determining revenue, income from all business activities undertaken by a particular juridical person must be taken into account [3]. Person by person, not owner by owner.

Quick Math: two genuine companies each earning AED 300,000 pay nothing, while one company earning the same AED 600,000 pays 9% on AED 225,000, or AED 20,250 [1]. That gap is exactly why the anti-fragmentation rule exists, and exactly why splitting one business to capture it is what the FTA looks for. The relief is real when the two businesses are real.

Watch the sunset. With the relief running only to periods ending on or before 31 December 2026, most companies are in its final period now, after which the comparison narrows to the nil band alone [2]. Our guide to corporate tax filing requirements covers the return mechanics per entity, and our post-setup services team runs that cycle for both.

Should you form a Tax Group?

Only after working the numbers, because grouping cuts both ways. Article 40 of Federal Decree-Law No. 47 of 2022 lets a resident parent apply to form a Tax Group with resident subsidiaries, and Article 40(4) treats the group as a single taxable person [1]. That single person has one nil band, not one per company.

Then the consequences. Article 40(6) makes parent and subsidiaries jointly and severally liable for the group's corporate tax [1]. And the FTA's Tax Groups Guide states the arithmetic plainly: the portion of taxable income subject to 0% is limited to AED 375,000 regardless of the number of entities in the Tax Group, and Small Business Relief is determined on the consolidated revenue of the entire group [4]. Joining therefore ends standalone relief eligibility.

Real Talk: grouping earns its keep where one entity is consistently loss-making and another consistently profitable, or where a single return meaningfully cuts compliance cost. It costs you money where several entities are each modestly profitable under the band. Add joint and several liability under Article 40(6) and the election deserves a spreadsheet, not a default [1][4].

What does the artificial separation rule actually say?

It is Article 6 of Ministerial Decision No. 73 of 2023, as amended by Ministerial Decision 131 of 2026, short enough to read rather than paraphrase. It bites where persons have artificially separated a business, their combined revenue exceeds the AED 3,000,000 threshold, and they have elected Small Business Relief. Verbatim [2]:

"1. Where the Authority establishes that one or more Persons have artificially separated their Business or Business Activity and the amount of Revenue across the Persons' entire Business or Business Activity exceeds the threshold specified under Clause (1) of Article 2 of this Decision in any Tax Period and such one or more Persons have elected to apply the Small Business Relief, this would be considered an arrangement to obtain a Corporate Tax advantage under Clause (1) of Article 50 of the Corporate Tax Law. 2. For the purposes of determining whether the Business or Business Activity has been artificially separated, the Authority shall consider whether the arrangement was undertaken for a valid commercial purpose and whether the Persons carry on substantially the same Business or Business Activity, by taking into account all relevant facts and circumstances, including but not limited to their financial, economic and organisational links."

Two things follow from the text. It operates through the General Anti-Abuse Rule at Article 50(1) of the Corporate Tax Law, so it is a route into the anti-abuse machinery rather than a standalone penalty [1][2]. And Clause 2 sets a two-limb test: valid commercial purpose, and substantially the same business. The FTA's Small Business Relief Guide then names three patterns it looks for [3].

If the FTA establishes artificial separation, the relief is clawed back and tax reassessed as if the entities were one business, with penalties possible on top. The temporal pattern is the one owners stumble into without intent, by closing a company approaching AED 3,000,000 and continuing the same trade elsewhere.

Where does the line actually sit?

Not where the scare articles put it. The FTA's own guidance says it directly: "the fact alone that a Business operates through more than one entity is not sufficient to demonstrate that the Business has been artificially separated" [3]. Multi-entity ownership is normal, lawful and common. The rule targets a single business dressed as two, not two businesses under one owner.

Both limbs of Article 6(2) must point the same way before you have a problem: no valid commercial purpose and substantially the same business [2]. A restaurant owner who also runs a logistics company fails neither. A restaurant owner invoicing drinks from one entity and food from another, same kitchen, same customers, same night, fails both.

Based on our experience, the decisive question is the last one: would a customer perceive them as one business. If your own marketing presents the two entities as a single offering, that perception is already documented. Keep separate contracts, pricing, branding and staff records, and write down the commercial reason for the split when you make it rather than reconstructing it during an enquiry.

Legitimate reasons are easy to state and evidence: different shareholders, an activity needing a different regulator or licence category, ring-fencing a risky venture from a stable one, preparing one business for sale, or genuinely unrelated trades. If your reason for a second entity would still be true in a world with no corporate tax, the split is commercial. To pressure-test your own structure, talk to a setup expert→

What changes administratively once you have two entities?

Almost everything doubles. Each separate legal entity generally needs its own corporate bank account and tax registration, and outside a Tax Group each is its own taxable person filing its own return. The compliance load is the cost most owners underestimate.

Bank onboarding is where timelines slip, because a second account for a related company is not automatically faster than the first. Keeping the two sets of books genuinely separate is not merely tidy either: it is the financial-links evidence in the Article 6 test, and commingled accounts are the fastest way to make two businesses look like one [2][3]. Running both compliance calendars is what our post-setup services team handles.

Is visa quota shared across two licences?

No. Visa quota is tied to the specific licence's office type and size and allocated per licence, so it does not pool across the companies one person owns. Two licences mean two quotas, assessed separately, and quota on one cannot be borrowed to sponsor a worker on the other.

That cuts both ways. If your reason for a second entity is partly headcount, a second licence with its own premises does add capacity. If you expected existing quota to stretch across the new venture's staff, it will not.

Honest flag: we are not publishing a visa-per-square-metre ratio as a Department of Economy and Tourism or federal rule. Ratios circulate widely, but allocation policies are zone-specific and premises-specific, and quoting one as universal is how people budget for staff they cannot sponsor.

Can one licence carry two trade names?

Reportedly yes on the mainland, as a formal amendment rather than a casual alias. DET is reported to allow an additional trade name on an existing licence, with its own name reservation and approval steps. It is not a lightweight United States style "doing business as", and it creates no second entity and no second taxable person.

Two cautions. DET's own pages blocked automated access, so we label this as reported rather than confirmed, and the federal trade name lookup is a reasonable first check [7]. More importantly, a second trade name changes nothing legally or fiscally: same company, same liability, same single taxable person, same one nil band. It solves a branding problem, not a structural one, so decide the structure first and the naming second.

Real Client Stories

Real examples from businesses we have helped, with details changed for privacy.

The genuine two-business owner who was fine. A client ran an interior fit-out company and separately opened an e-commerce homeware business with a partner holding 40%. Combined revenue passed AED 3,000,000, and he had been told two entities put him at risk. They did not. Different shareholders, customers, premises, staff, marketing and books meant neither limb of Article 6(2) was engaged, and the FTA's own guidance says more than one entity is not by itself enough [2][3]. We documented the rationale, priced the intercompany agreement at arm's length, and left the structure alone.

The split that was reassessed. A cafe operator with three locations put each into its own company as revenue approached the relief threshold, then elected Small Business Relief on all three. Same brand, menu, central kitchen and manager, one website, staff rotating between sites: the FTA's geographical example almost line for line [3]. Combined revenue exceeded AED 3,000,000, both limbs pointed the same way, and the relief was clawed back with tax reassessed as one business. The structure was not unlawful. The relief claim was.

The branch that should have been a subsidiary. A trading company opened a branch for a new equipment servicing line because it was quicker than incorporating. Eighteen months later a warranty dispute on the servicing side became a claim against the whole entity, because under Article 337(2) the branch is the same legal person [6]. Restructuring afterwards cost far more than incorporating would have at the start.

The short version, and how to decide

Start from the business question, not the tax question. If the second venture is the same category of activity, the same customers and the same liability profile, add it to your existing licence and stay one company. If it needs a different category, a regulator, a different jurisdiction or different partners, it needs its own licence, and you then choose between a branch and a separate entity on liability alone. If you end up with several operating companies to hold, sell or pass on together, a holding structure earns its extra layer.

Run the tax check second. Two genuine companies get two nil bands and two relief tests, a legitimate outcome of a legitimate structure rather than a scheme [1][2][3]. A Tax Group collapses those bands into one and adds joint and several liability, so elect only when the numbers justify it [1][4]. And if the honest answer to "why are there two entities" is "because of the threshold", fix the reason before the FTA asks the question.

Since 2013, BusinessDubai.ae has completed 700+ company registrations across the UAE, including second entities, branches, subsidiaries and holding structures, as well as cases where one licence with an extra activity was all the client needed. We will map your second venture to the right route, set it up through our mainland company setup or free zone company setup desks, and keep both entities' filings on track. Talk to a setup expert→ for a straight assessment of which structure you actually need.

Frequently Asked Questions

Can I legally own two businesses in Dubai?

Yes. UAE law places no limit on how many companies a person may own or how many licences they hold. The decision is structural: which of the four routes you use sets liability, taxable persons and compliance cost.

Can one trade licence cover two different businesses?

Sometimes. A Dubai mainland licence can carry several activities sitting in the same category, whether commercial, professional, industrial or tourism. Activities spanning different categories generally cannot share one licence, which is when a second becomes necessary [7].

How many activities can one Dubai mainland licence hold?

Professional sources converge on up to 10 per licence, but we could not confirm that on a Department of Economy and Tourism page, because their portals block automated access. Treat it as commonly reported, not official.

What does it cost to add an activity to an existing licence?

We are not publishing a figure. DET's fee schedule is not verifiable through standard search, and circulating numbers vary by an order of magnitude without tracing to an official source. Get a written quote.

Can I hold a mainland licence and a free zone licence at the same time?

Yes, and many owners do. They are separate jurisdictions, so a mainland licence does not authorise free zone operations and a free zone licence gives no mainland market access. Each is licensed and taxed separately.

Is a branch a separate legal company?

No. Article 337(2) of Federal Decree-Law No. 32 of 2021 deems a foreign company's office or branch its domicile in respect of its activity in the State, so a branch is the same legal person [6].

Does a branch ring-fence my first company from the second business's liabilities?

No, and this is the most expensive misunderstanding in the area. Because the branch is the same legal person, the parent carries its obligations. Only a separate company gives independent financial liability under Article 21(4) [6].

What is the difference between a subsidiary and simply a second company?

Ownership. Both are separate legal persons with their own liability under Article 21(4) [6]. A subsidiary is owned and controlled by a parent company; a second company can be owned directly by you or different partners.

Can a holding company trade in its own name?

No. Article 269(2) states that holding companies may not conduct their activities except through their subsidiaries, and Article 269(1) limits its objects to holding shares, financing and managing subsidiaries, owning assets for its own activity and licensing intellectual property [6].

Is the corporate law holding company the same as a tax holding structure?

No, and conflating them causes real errors. One is a licensed corporate form under Articles 268 to 271 of the Commercial Companies Law [6]. The other is an activity under Ministerial Decision No. 229 of 2025 [5].

Can a free zone holding company get 0% on dividends from its subsidiaries?

Potentially, on qualifying holding income, where it meets every Qualifying Free Zone Person condition. Holding shares and other securities for investment purposes is a Qualifying Activity under Article 2(1)(d) of Ministerial Decision No. 229 of 2025 [5].

How long must shares be held to count as held for investment purposes?

Article 2(3)(d) of MD 229/2025 deems shares and other securities held for investment purposes when held for an uninterrupted period of at least twelve months [5]. The "intention to hold" exception in commentary is unsupported.

Do two companies get two AED 375,000 nil bands?

Yes, where they are two genuine taxable persons outside a Tax Group. Each juridical person is assessed on its own taxable income under Article 3 of Federal Decree-Law No. 47 of 2022 [1].

Where does the AED 375,000 figure actually come from?

Not from the Corporate Tax Law itself. Article 3 refers to an amount specified by a Cabinet decision, and the figure is set by Cabinet Decision No. 116 of 2022 [1]. Citing the Law's text is inaccurate.

Can both of my companies claim Small Business Relief?

Yes, if each independently meets the test. The FTA's guide confirms that revenue from all business activities of a particular juridical person is what counts, so eligibility is assessed entity by entity [3]. The threshold is AED 3,000,000 [2].

When does Small Business Relief stop being available?

Article 2(2) of Ministerial Decision No. 73 of 2023, as amended by Ministerial Decision 131 of 2026, applies the relief from 1 June 2023 and continues it only for periods ending on or before 31 December 2029 [2]. After that the nil band stands alone.

What is a Tax Group and who can form one?

A resident parent may apply to form one with resident subsidiaries under Article 40, where it holds at least 95% of share capital, 95% of voting rights and 95% of profits and net assets [1].

Does a Tax Group get more than one AED 375,000 band?

No. Article 40(4) treats the group as a single taxable person, and the FTA's Tax Groups Guide states the 0% portion is limited to AED 375,000 regardless of the number of entities [1][4].

Can a Tax Group claim Small Business Relief?

Only on consolidated figures. The FTA's Tax Groups Guide confirms the relief is determined by reference to the consolidated revenue of the entire group, so joining a group ends standalone eligibility [4].

Can a free zone company join a Tax Group?

Not if it is a Qualifying Free Zone Person. Article 40 expressly requires that neither party is one, alongside the conditions that neither is exempt and both share a financial year and accounting standards [1].

Am I jointly liable for the group's tax if I form a Tax Group?

Yes. Article 40(6) makes the parent and each subsidiary jointly and severally liable for the Tax Group's corporate tax [1]. That exposure belongs beside the loss-offset benefit in the decision.

What is artificial separation of business?

Article 6 of Ministerial Decision No. 73 of 2023, as amended by Ministerial Decision 131 of 2026 treats a business split across persons, where combined revenue exceeds the threshold and the relief has been elected, as an arrangement to obtain a tax advantage under Article 50(1) [1][2].

Is running two entities by itself artificial separation?

No, and the FTA says so explicitly: the fact alone that a business operates through more than one entity is not sufficient to demonstrate artificial separation [3]. Both limbs of Article 6(2) must point the same way.

What kinds of separation does the FTA call out?

Three. Functional, such as separating drinks and food sales in a restaurant. Geographical, such as a chain of cafes split into separate entities. And temporal, short-lived entities that cease as revenue approaches the threshold [3].

What links does the FTA examine?

Financial links, whether one entity subsidises another beyond arm's length. Economic links, a shared customer base and mutual benefit. And organisational links, covering shared premises, management, staff and marketing, and whether a customer would perceive one business [3].

What happens if the FTA decides my businesses were artificially separated?

The relief is clawed back and tax reassessed as if the entities were a single business, with penalties possible on top. The remedy sits inside the General Anti-Abuse Rule at Article 50(1) [1][2].

Do two companies need two bank accounts and two tax registrations?

Generally yes to both. Each separate legal entity typically needs its own corporate bank account and its own tax registration, and outside a Tax Group each files its own return as its own taxable person [1].

Is visa quota shared across two licences?

No. Quota is tied to the specific licence's office type and size and allocated per licence, not pooled across an owner's companies. Ratios circulating online are zone-specific policies, so confirm against your exact premises.

Can one licence carry two trade names?

Reportedly yes on the mainland, as a formal amendment with its own name reservation and approval, not a casual alias. We could not confirm it on a DET page. Either way it creates no second nil band [7].

References

[1] Ministry of Finance. Federal Decree-Law No. 47 of 2022 on the Taxation of Corporations and Businesses. Article 3 rates, with the AED 375,000 figure set by Cabinet Decision No. 116 of 2022 rather than the Law's own text; Article 40 Tax Group conditions, the three 95% tests, Article 40(4) single taxable person and Article 40(6) joint and several liability; Article 50(1) General Anti-Abuse Rule. Federal Decree-Law No. 47 of 2022

[2] Ministry of Finance. Ministerial Decision No. 73 of 2023, as amended by Ministerial Decision 131 of 2026 on Small Business Relief. Article 2(1) the AED 3,000,000 revenue threshold; Article 2(2) periods from 1 June 2023 and only those ending on or before 31 December 2029; Article 6 artificial separation of business, quoted in full above. Ministerial Decision No. 73 of 2023, as amended by Ministerial Decision 131 of 2026

[3] Federal Tax Authority. Small Business Relief Corporate Tax Guide. Revenue determined per juridical person; the functional, geographical and temporal types of artificial separation; the financial, economic and organisational links examined; and the statement that operating through more than one entity is not by itself sufficient to demonstrate artificial separation. FTA Small Business Relief Guide

[4] Federal Tax Authority. Tax Groups Corporate Tax Guide. The 0% portion is limited to AED 375,000 regardless of the number of entities in the Tax Group, and Small Business Relief is determined on the consolidated revenue of the entire group. FTA Tax Groups Guide

[5] Ministry of Finance. Ministerial Decision No. 229 of 2025 Regarding Qualifying Activities and Excluded Activities. Article 2(1)(d) holding shares and other securities for investment purposes; Article 2(3)(d) its definition and the requirement that they be held for an uninterrupted period of at least twelve months. Ministerial Decision No. 229 of 2025

[6] Ministry of Economy. Federal Decree-Law No. 32 of 2021 on Commercial Companies. Article 21(1) legal personality on registration; Article 21(4) subsidiaries' independent financial liability; Articles 268 and 269 the holding company definition, naming rule, permitted objects and the bar on activity except through subsidiaries; Articles 336(1), 337(2) and 338 on branch licensing, domicile and independent audited accounts. Federal Decree-Law No. 32 of 2021 on Commercial Companies

[7] UAE Government portal. Inquire about licences, trade names and business activities. The federal starting point for checking how an activity is classified and whether a trade name is available. Inquire about licences, names and activities

[8] Dubai Land Department. Real estate activity licence. The separate licensing route for real estate brokerage in Dubai, alongside RERA approval, as an example of a regulated activity that cannot simply be added to an existing licence. DLD real estate activity licence