Free Zone vs Mainland for a Software Company in Dubai: Who Actually Gets 0% Corporate Tax (2026)

Most software founders pick a Dubai free zone for one reason: the 0% corporate tax rate. Here is the hardest truth in this guide. Software development, IT services, SaaS and tech consulting do not appear anywhere on the UAE's list of Qualifying Activities [1]. Ministerial Decision No. 229 of 2025 sets that list out exhaustively, naming manufacturing, commodity trading, ships, reinsurance, fund management, headquarter and treasury services, aircraft leasing, Designated Zone distribution and logistics [1]. It does not name writing code. So the ordinary revenue of a free-zone software company, meaning development fees, subscriptions, retainers and consulting, is non-qualifying income taxed at 9% [1][2].

That does not make a free zone the wrong answer. It means the free zone is right for different reasons than the ones you were sold: lower cost, faster setup, no Ejari office, a small visa quota you can start on. The two places where 0% survives for software are narrow: selling only to other free-zone companies, and licensing your own Qualifying Intellectual Property under the OECD nexus formula [1][2]. For most small software companies the realistic route to zero tax in 2026 is not the free-zone regime at all. It is Small Business Relief, which a Qualifying Free Zone Person is barred from using [2].

This is a sector spoke, not a general jurisdiction comparison. For the wider picture read our free zone vs mainland vs offshore guide, and for the licensing route our software development company setup guide. Since 2013, our team has registered software, SaaS and IT companies across Dubai's free zones and the mainland, so the traps come from real files. This is a guide, not legal or tax advice.

Does a free-zone software company actually get 0% corporate tax?

Usually not on its core revenue. A Qualifying Free Zone Person pays 0% only on Qualifying Income, and for any transaction outside the free zones that income must come from a Qualifying Activity. Ministerial Decision No. 229 of 2025 lists those exhaustively, and software is absent from every limb [1].

Cabinet Decision No. 100 of 2023 defines Qualifying Income as three things and nothing else: income from another Free Zone Person who is the Beneficial Recipient, income from a Non-Free Zone Person but only in respect of a Qualifying Activity, and income inside the de minimis allowance [2]. Ministerial Decision No. 229 of 2025 took effect on 28 August 2025, applies retroactively to tax periods beginning on or after 1 June 2023, and replaced Ministerial Decision No. 265 of 2023 [1][3]. It widened commodity trading, treasury and distribution but not software [1][4][5].

Nothing there describes building, hosting, licensing or supporting software. So when a free-zone software company invoices a mainland client, or one in London, Riyadh or New York, that buyer is a Non-Free Zone Person and the activity is not qualifying. The income is taxed at 9% from the first dirham, with no AED 375,000 cushion [1][2].

Real Talk: Almost every competitor page still says a free-zone software company pays 0% on foreign revenue. Test it yourself: open Ministerial Decision No. 229 of 2025 and read Article 2(1) [1]. Software is not there, so the 0% does not apply outside the free zones.

Compare both routes on our free zone company setup and mainland company setup pages before you commit.

When does 0% actually work for a software company?

In one clean case: when your customer is another Free Zone Person who is the Beneficial Recipient. Transactions between Free Zone Persons do not have to be a Qualifying Activity at all, so a free-zone dev shop billing a free-zone client can be 0% even though software is off the list [2]. The condition is that the customer actually receives and uses the service rather than passing it straight on outside the zones. The FTA's Free Zone Persons Guide works this through in its first example, and the activity test does not apply to that leg [2].

Be honest about how narrow it is. Your market becomes companies licensed in DMCC, IFZA, Meydan, Dubai Internet City, JAFZA, DIFC and ADGM, and you must prove the recipient is the end user. One mainland enterprise client or a single US contract breaks the pattern. It works mainly for internal-tools and integration shops serving free-zone trading and logistics groups.

Common Mistake: Assuming a client with a Dubai address is a Free Zone Person. Free-zone status is a licensing fact, not a geography. Check the client's trade licence and issuing authority before treating an invoice as qualifying.

Does Qualifying IP save a software company?

Sometimes, but far less often than the search results imply. The UAE's Qualifying IP definition explicitly includes Copyrighted Software alongside patents, and excludes marketing-related intellectual property such as trademarks [2]. The catch is that it shelters only royalty or licensing income separately identifiable as arising from exploiting that IP, and only the fraction earned by research you funded yourself [1][2].

Your codebase is therefore in scope in principle. Article 4 of Ministerial Decision No. 229 of 2025 applies the OECD modified nexus approach [1]:

Four restrictions decide whether this is real for you. It applies to royalty and licensing income, not service fees, and the FTA guide is explicit that income generated indirectly, where embedded intellectual property contributes to a product for which no separate remuneration is received, does not count [2]. It rewards only research you funded, so acquired IP and work outsourced to a related company abroad shrink the ratio [1]. It needs per-asset tracking, and it sits inside the QFZP regime, so substance and transfer pricing still apply [2].

Based on our experience, this is the most misunderstood point in the market. What matters is not free zone versus mainland, it is licensing versus services. A product company that owns a platform, develops it in Dubai and charges a licence fee has a genuine case. A dev agency billing time and materials does not. Structure this at incorporation, because retrofitting a licensing model onto an agency book rarely survives scrutiny.

Building an AI or data product? Our AI and tech consultancy guide covers the approvals side. Model your qualifying-income position→

What if your software sells to consumers?

Then you have a second, independent problem. Article 2(2)(a) of Ministerial Decision No. 229 of 2025 makes any transaction with a natural person an Excluded Activity, with carve-outs only for shipping, regulated fund management, regulated wealth and investment management, and aircraft leasing [1]. A consumer app or B2C SaaS runs an Excluded Activity on every consumer sale, and that income counts against the de minimis threshold [1][2]. Selling to a company is not caught by that rule, but software is not a Qualifying Activity anyway [1]. The two rules fail a consumer app twice and a B2B vendor once, and once is enough.

Pro Tip: If you are building a consumer product, stop optimising for QFZP status and optimise for Small Business Relief while revenue is small. The free-zone 0% was never available on consumer sales, so pick the zone on cost, speed and visa quota.

What is the de minimis trap, and how bad is losing QFZP status?

Severe, and for a software company it is close to automatic. Non-qualifying revenue must not exceed the lower of 5% of total revenue or AED 5,000,000 [2]. Breach it and you lose Qualifying Free Zone Person status for that tax period and the following four, with your entire income reverting to standard rules [2]. If your book is mainland and foreign B2B service revenue, that is 100% non-qualifying, not 5%. You are over on the first invoice, not in year three.

Quick Math: On AED 2,000,000 of revenue the 5% test gives you AED 100,000 of headroom, because the percentage bites before the AED 5,000,000 cap. One mainland project worth AED 150,000 breaks it, and the consequence is not 9% on that AED 150,000. It is the loss of QFZP status for the period and the four that follow, so your whole profit sits under standard rules for five years.

The honest conclusion, which we give clients before they register rather than after, is that most free-zone software companies will never qualify. Splitting entities is the one alternative worth modelling, and it pays only when the free-zone client base justifies two sets of licence and audit costs.

Why does Small Business Relief probably matter more?

Because it is the route to an actual zero tax bill for a small software company, and it does not care what activity you perform. A resident person with revenue at or below AED 3,000,000 can elect to be treated as having no taxable income. The rule nobody connects to software: a QFZP is expressly barred from Small Business Relief [2].

That inverts the usual advice. If your company chases QFZP status, it cannot use the relief. If it fails de minimis, or elects out of the free-zone regime under Article 19 of the Corporate Tax Law, it is no longer a QFZP and the relief becomes available [2]. For a small startup billing mainland or foreign clients, deliberately not pursuing QFZP status is often the realistic path to 0%, and far more reliable than a qualifying-income argument the activities list does not support.

Now the cliff. Small Business Relief is available only for tax periods ending on or before 31 December 2029, and no extension has been announced [2]. Writing in 2026, for most companies on a calendar year this is the last period the election is available, so plan the next year assuming it is gone. It is an election you make in your return, not an automatic status, and it does not remove your duty to register and file. Registration, election tracking, bookkeeping and the annual return are the recurring work our post-setup services team handles.

Can a free-zone software company invoice mainland clients?

Yes on tax, with a caveat on licensing, and founders constantly merge these questions. On tax, nothing stops you invoicing a mainland client; that revenue is non-qualifying and taxed at 9% [1][2]. On licensing, a free-zone licence is not a mainland licence, so operating from mainland premises needs its own permission.

For software this is more forgiving than for a physical business. Remotely delivered software, written in your free-zone office, hosted in the cloud and invoiced to a mainland client with no office or staff of yours onshore, is broadly workable. The friction founders report is procurement rather than law: some mainland corporates and most government-related buyers reject a free-zone trade licence at vendor onboarding. Ask a client's procurement team which licence types they accept before choosing a jurisdiction.

One development is worth watching. Dubai Executive Council Resolution No. 11 of 2025 created a framework under which free-zone companies can obtain permits for limited mainland activity, described by law firms as significant [6]. We could not verify its exact permitted-activity scope from a primary Dubai government source, so we will not tell you what it allows for a software company. Confirm the position with DET and your free zone before you rely on it.

Real Talk: If a meaningful share of revenue will come from mainland UAE enterprises, the free-zone tax advantage is already gone on that revenue and the licensing friction is real. A mainland licence then buys clean invoicing, onshore delivery and tender eligibility for a difference one contract usually covers.

Can a free-zone software company win government contracts?

Generally not directly, and for enterprise software this is one of the strongest reasons to be on the mainland. Dubai government and government-related tenders overwhelmingly require a mainland trade licence, and free-zone companies are usually excluded unless they hold a mainland branch or bid through a mainland partner.

The size of that segment makes it decisive. Government and related entities are among the largest software buyers in the UAE, covering digital transformation, systems integration, data platforms and long support contracts, and the D33 agenda keeps that pipeline funded [8]. A software business that sells into it and licenses itself into a free zone has locked itself out of its main market to save a few thousand dirhams. Treat this as the strong general position rather than absolute law, because tender conditions vary and occasionally allow free-zone bids through a consortium. Confirm each buyer's vendor criteria, because those, not your tax rate, decide whether you can bid.

Pro Tip: If government work is serious in your plan, register mainland first and add a free-zone entity later if you need one. The reverse order costs a second licence, a restructure and sometimes a bidding window. Talk to a setup expert→

How do visa quotas limit hiring engineers?

More than founders expect, because your visa allocation is tied to the workspace tier you bought, not to how many engineers you need. A flexi-desk typically supports one to three visas, a serviced office four to five, and a private office roughly one visa per 9 square metres. Mainland DET uses about one visa per 9 to 10 square metres.

For a software company this bites hardest, because a dev team is headcount-heavy. The moment you go from a founder plus a contractor to a founder plus four engineers, the flexi-desk that made the free zone attractive stops working, and you upgrade mid-year at a price that often erases the saving.

Model the office against the hiring plan, not the first year: a team of ten needs roughly 90 square metres at that ratio, plus AED 3,750 to 4,900 per visa.

One assumption to drop: 100% foreign ownership is no longer a free-zone differentiator. Since the 2020 and 2021 Commercial Companies Law reforms most mainland activities allow full foreign ownership, and software and IT are not on the restricted strategic list. Many competitor pages still sell it as a free-zone exclusive; if an adviser leads with that claim, treat the rest with the same caution. Employee visas, Emirates ID and payroll sit with our post-setup services team, on either route.

What does each route actually cost?

Less than founders fear in a free zone, and much more on the mainland, mainly because of the mandatory Ejari office. These are indicative 2026 market ranges, not quotations, and zones change packages frequently.

The gap is real but not the whole story. A mainland licence costs more because you are renting actual space, and that space removes the visa ceiling and makes you eligible for tenders. A free-zone licence is cheaper because you are not renting space, and that absence caps your visas and keeps you out of procurement.

Quick Math: A free-zone software licence with a flexi-desk and one visa lands around AED 16,000 to 23,000 in year one. A mainland setup with a small Ejari office is realistically AED 40,000 upward. That AED 20,000 to 25,000 difference is one mid-sized enterprise project, recovered on the first contract you could not otherwise bid for. If your buyers are overseas, it buys two months of a mid-level engineer.

Can you zero-rate VAT on exported software?

Often yes, and this is the one tax area where a software company has a genuine advantage that generic comparison content misses. VAT is 5% on UAE sales, but an export of services to a recipient outside the GCC can be zero-rated at 0%, better than exempt because zero-rated supplies still let you recover input VAT [7]. The recipient must have no residence or establishment in any GCC implementing state, and the service must not relate to UAE real estate or to moveable property situated in the UAE when performed [7]. For subscriptions, development work or support sold to US, UK or EU clients, that is usually clean.

Two things founders get wrong. Free-zone status does not help with VAT on services, because Designated Zone treatment applies to goods and never to services, so a DMCC or JAFZA address changes nothing for a subscription. And zero-rating must be evidenced, so keep contracts and proof of the recipient's non-GCC residence on file. Registration is mandatory once taxable supplies pass AED 375,000 in a rolling 12 months, and zero-rated supplies count toward it. Recovering input VAT on hosting, laptops and professional fees while charging 0% overseas is a real cash advantage, available on either licence.

Which data-protection regime applies, and when do DIFC or ADGM make sense?

Three regimes exist and they do not overlap. The federal Personal Data Protection Law applies to mainland companies and most free zones including Dubai Internet City, DMCC, IFZA and Meydan. DIFC has its own GDPR-modelled law, and ADGM has separate regulations. For a software company that processes client data, this can matter more than tax.

The deciding situation is common: you are a data processor for a European or regulated client, and their legal team asks which law binds you and what happens if you breach it. A GDPR-modelled law with a dedicated commissioner is a stronger answer than a federal regime whose operational detail is still settling. That is why funded SaaS companies with EU customers pick DIFC or ADGM despite the cost.

We deliberately do not quote an ADGM maximum penalty, because the figure we found was single-sourced and could not be confirmed against ADGM's own materials. If a common-law data regime is central to your sales cycle, read our DIFC business setup and ADGM company setup guides.

Intellectual property gives no jurisdictional edge either way. UAE copyright sits under Federal Decree-Law No. 38 of 2021 with Cabinet Decision No. 47 of 2022, administered by the Ministry of Economy, and software is protected as a literary work automatically on creation. Registration is optional but worth doing for the dated official record, identical on both routes. On residency, the Specialized Talents Golden Visa track is open to software engineers, architects and AI specialists, though a salary threshold widely quoted online could not be verified against an ICP or GDRFA source, so check the official criteria first.

So which should you actually pick?

It depends on who your customers are and what you sell them, far more than on tax. Because software is not a Qualifying Activity, a free zone is no longer a tax strategy for most software models. It is a cost, speed and workspace strategy [1].

Real Talk: The worst outcome we see is a founder who bought the cheapest flexi-desk on the promise of 0%, then discovers three things in one quarter: the tax is 9% because software is not on the list, the visa quota caps the team at three, and the enterprise client will not onboard a free-zone vendor. All three were predictable at incorporation. Put the client mix and hiring plan on paper first, then pick the licence.

Compare both on our free zone company setup page and, if your buyers are onshore, the DET route on mainland company setup. Our free zone vs mainland vs offshore guide covers the general trade-off; the software version is that going mainland no longer costs you a tax premium.

Can you open a corporate bank account either way?

Yes on both routes, but expect full onboarding rather than an instant or remote account. UAE banks read your licence activity closely and scrutinise businesses whose customers are all overseas and whose revenue arrives as cross-border transfers, which is most software exporters.

Preparation decides the outcome. A single-purpose licence activity, a plain description of what you build and who pays for it, named contracts, a verifiable workspace, clean beneficial owner documents and a UAE-resident signatory move a file faster than any zone's reputation. Mainland companies are onboarded a little more easily, but file quality matters more than the label. Our guide to opening a corporate bank account covers the document set and common rejection reasons.

Real Client Stories

The dev agency that lost five tax periods of planning. A founder with a Dubai free-zone licence built a book that was roughly 70% mainland UAE clients and 30% European, and had budgeted for 0% throughout. Software is not a Qualifying Activity, so the whole book was non-qualifying and de minimis was breached in year one, taking QFZP status off the table for that period and four more. We rebuilt around a Small Business Relief election, then a clean 9% model.

The SaaS founder on the wrong side of the licensing line. A client sold what he called a product, but every contract was a bespoke implementation billed as a project fee with no separate licence charge. No royalty income meant the Qualifying IP route had nothing to attach to, even though his code was clearly Copyrighted Software. We restructured so the platform is licensed for a stated annual fee, implementation is contracted separately, and per-asset expenditure is tracked.

The enterprise vendor locked out of its own market. A team building a data platform for public-sector buyers set up in a low-cost free zone to save on year-one fees, then found the government-related entities they had built it for would not register a free-zone vendor. They added a mainland licence, an Ejari office and a second set of renewals, and lost a bidding cycle. We now ask every enterprise client one question first: will your buyers accept a free-zone licence?

Set up your Dubai software company on the right facts

Software is absent from the Qualifying Activities list in Ministerial Decision No. 229 of 2025, so for most models the 0% rate is not on the table. The choice comes down to cost, visa quota, invoicing, tender eligibility and whether a licensing model can be structured [1][2].

Since 2013, BusinessDubai.ae has completed 700+ company registrations across the UAE, including software, SaaS and IT companies in Dubai's free zones and on the mainland. We will map your client mix against the qualifying-income rules, model Small Business Relief against the 31 December 2029 cut-off, size the workspace against your hiring plan, check the VAT export position, and give you an itemised comparison before you spend a dirham. Talk to a setup expert about your software company→

Frequently Asked Questions

Is software development a Qualifying Activity for UAE corporate tax?

No. Ministerial Decision No. 229 of 2025 sets an exhaustive list in Article 2(1): manufacturing, processing, commodity trading, securities holding, ships, reinsurance, fund and wealth management, headquarter and treasury services, aircraft leasing, Designated Zone distribution and logistics. Software and SaaS are absent [1].

Does a free-zone software company in Dubai pay 0% corporate tax?

Usually not on core revenue. Because software is not a Qualifying Activity, sales to mainland or foreign clients are non-qualifying income taxed at 9%, with no AED 375,000 band underneath. The exceptions are free-zone-to-free-zone sales and Qualifying IP royalties [1][2].

What changed with Ministerial Decision No. 229 of 2025?

It took effect on 28 August 2025, applies retroactively to tax periods beginning on or after 1 June 2023, and replaced Ministerial Decision No. 265 of 2023. It widened commodity trading, treasury and distribution but did not add software [1][3][4].

Can a free-zone software company ever get 0%?

Yes, in two situations. Selling to another Free Zone Person who is the Beneficial Recipient is qualifying income regardless of the activities list. And royalty income from licensing your own Copyrighted Software can be 0% on the nexus fraction [1][2].

Is selling to other free-zone companies enough to keep 0%?

Legally yes, commercially it is narrow. Transactions between Free Zone Persons need not be a Qualifying Activity, but your market shrinks to free-zone licensed companies and you must show each customer is the end user, not a conduit [2].

Does the UAE's Qualifying IP definition include software?

Yes. Qualifying Intellectual Property covers patents, Copyrighted Software and rights functionally equivalent to a patent, excluding marketing-related intellectual property such as trademarks. Your codebase is in scope in principle, though the income and expenditure tests are strict [2].

Can a development agency use the Qualifying IP route?

Generally no. It shelters royalty or licensing income separately identifiable as arising from the IP. An agency billing project fees has no separate royalty, and the FTA guide states that indirectly generated income from embedded IP does not count [2].

How is the Qualifying IP nexus fraction calculated?

Qualifying R&D Expenditure plus an uplift of up to 30%, divided by Overall Expenditure, multiplied by Overall Income from the asset. Acquired IP and research outsourced to a related party abroad raise Overall Expenditure and shrink your fraction [1].

Does a consumer app qualify for the free-zone 0% rate?

No. Any transaction with a natural person is an Excluded Activity, with carve-outs only for shipping, regulated fund and wealth management, and aircraft leasing. Every consumer sale is excluded, and software is not a Qualifying Activity anyway [1].

What is the de minimis threshold for a Qualifying Free Zone Person?

Non-qualifying revenue must not exceed the lower of 5% of total revenue or AED 5,000,000. On AED 2,000,000 of revenue that is AED 100,000 of headroom, because the percentage test bites first [2].

What happens if you breach the de minimis limit?

You lose Qualifying Free Zone Person status for that tax period and the following four, and your entire income reverts to standard rules, not just the excess. For a software company billing mainland or foreign clients, breaching is close to automatic [2].

Can a Qualifying Free Zone Person use Small Business Relief?

No, a QFZP is expressly barred from it. That is why a small free-zone software company that fails de minimis, or elects out of the free-zone regime, can reach a better outcome than one chasing QFZP status [2].

Is Small Business Relief better than chasing QFZP status?

For many software startups, yes. Revenue at or below AED 3,000,000 lets a resident person elect to be treated as having no taxable income, regardless of activity. Since software rarely qualifies for the free-zone 0%, this is often the realistic route to zero [2].

When does Small Business Relief expire?

It is available only for tax periods ending on or before 31 December 2029, and no extension has been announced. Plan the following year assuming it is gone, and treat any extension as upside rather than the base case [2].

Can a free-zone software company invoice a mainland UAE client?

On tax, yes, though that revenue is non-qualifying and taxed at 9%. On licensing, a free-zone licence is not a mainland licence, so operating from mainland premises needs its own permission. Remotely delivered software with no mainland presence is broadly workable [1][2][6].

What does Dubai Executive Council Resolution No. 11 of 2025 allow?

It created a framework letting free-zone companies obtain permits for limited mainland activity, described by law firms as significant [6]. We could not verify its exact permitted-activity scope from a primary Dubai government source, so confirm the position with DET and your free zone.

Can a free-zone software company bid for Dubai government contracts?

Generally not directly. Government and government-related entity tenders overwhelmingly require a mainland trade licence, and free-zone companies are usually excluded unless they hold a mainland branch or bid through a mainland partner.

How many visas does a free-zone software licence include?

It depends on the workspace tier, not your hiring need. A flexi-desk typically supports one to three visas, a serviced office four to five, and a private office roughly one visa per 9 square metres. Mainland DET uses about one per 9 to 10 square metres.

How much does a Dubai free-zone software licence cost?

Indicative 2026 ranges: IFZA about AED 12,900 to 18,500 first year, Meydan from about AED 12,000 to 12,500 zero-visa, DMCC about AED 20,000 to 30,000 with one visa and a flexi-desk, and Dubai Internet City roughly AED 15,000 to 50,000.

How much does a Dubai mainland software licence cost?

Roughly AED 40,000 to 90,000 in the first year, driven mainly by the mandatory physical Ejari office. Mainland does not permit a flexi-desk or virtual office, which is why the cost sits well above a free-zone package.

How much is a visa for a free-zone software company?

Roughly AED 3,750 to AED 4,900 per visa across most free zones, with Dubai Internet City around AED 3,280 to AED 4,910. Add medicals, Emirates ID and the establishment card, and remember the total is capped by your workspace tier.

Is 100% foreign ownership still a reason to choose a free zone?

No, and any adviser selling it as one is working from outdated information. Since the 2020 and 2021 Commercial Companies Law reforms most mainland activities allow 100% foreign ownership, and software and IT are not on the restricted strategic list.

Can a software company zero-rate VAT on exports?

Yes, in many cases. An export of services to a recipient with no residence or establishment in any GCC implementing state can be zero-rated, provided it does not relate to UAE real estate or UAE-situated moveable property. Zero-rated beats exempt, because input VAT stays recoverable [7].

Does a free zone give a VAT advantage on software?

No. Designated Zone VAT treatment applies to goods, never to services, so a free-zone address changes nothing for a subscription or development contract. The export-of-services zero rating is available on a mainland licence just the same [7].

Which data protection law applies to a Dubai software company?

The federal Personal Data Protection Law applies to mainland companies and most free zones including Dubai Internet City, DMCC, IFZA and Meydan, with penalties from AED 50,000 to AED 5,000,000. DIFC has its own GDPR-modelled law with penalties up to USD 100,000 per violation.

How is software protected as intellectual property in the UAE?

Under Federal Decree-Law No. 38 of 2021 with Cabinet Decision No. 47 of 2022, administered by the Ministry of Economy, software is protected as a literary work automatically on creation. Registration is optional but recommended, and the position is identical on both routes.

Can software engineers get a UAE Golden Visa?

Software engineers, software architects and AI specialists can qualify under the Specialized Talents track. A specific monthly salary threshold is widely quoted online, but we could not verify it against an ICP or GDRFA primary source, so confirm the criteria directly.

Should a software startup choose free zone or mainland in 2026?

Free zone if your buyers are overseas B2B or other free-zone companies, because it is cheaper and faster and the tax outcome is no worse. Mainland if your buyers are onshore enterprises or government-related entities [1][2]. The UAE IT services market was about USD 20.24 billion in 2025 and is forecast at USD 37.69 billion by 2030 [8].

References

[1] UAE Ministry of Finance, Ministerial Decision No. 229 of 2025 on Qualifying Activities and Excluded Activities. Ministerial Decision No. 229 of 2025 (PDF)

[2] Federal Tax Authority, Free Zone Persons Corporate Tax Guide (CTGFZP1): Qualifying Income, Beneficial Recipient, Qualifying IP, de minimis and Small Business Relief. FTA Free Zone Persons Guide (PDF)

[3] PwC Middle East, alert on Ministerial Decisions No. 229 and No. 230 of 2025. PwC alert

[4] KPMG UAE, updated rules for Qualifying Free Zone Persons. KPMG insight

[5] Deloitte Middle East, new decisions on Qualifying and Excluded Activities. Deloitte perspective

[6] CMS Law, Dubai Executive Council Resolution on mainland access for free zone companies. CMS legal update

[7] Federal Tax Authority, zero-rating the export of services. FTA zero-rating guidance

[8] Mordor Intelligence, UAE IT services market analysis. Mordor Intelligence report