Meydan Free Zone Setup: Published Costs, Visa Stack, VAT Status and Who Actually Gets the 0% Rate (2026)

Meydan Free Zone does three things better than almost any zone in Dubai, and it deserves credit for all three. It is genuinely cheap, with a Standard licence from AED 12,500. It is genuinely fast, with that licence processed within 24 hours and a Fawri instant product issued in under 60 minutes with a money-back guarantee if Meydan misses it. And unusually, it publishes its prices on its own website instead of hiding behind "quote on enquiry" [1][2]. In a market where most zones will not tell you a number until you hand over your passport, that transparency is a real, checkable advantage.

What buyers get wrong is what the low price buys them on tax. Two assumptions do most of the damage. The first is that a free zone licence means 0% corporate tax. It does not, and for the typical Meydan tenant, a solo consultant or a small service business, it almost certainly will not, because ordinary consulting, marketing, agency, IT and e-commerce services do not appear anywhere on the closed Qualifying Activities list [5]. The second is that a free zone means no VAT. Meydan is not on the Federal Tax Authority's list of VAT Designated Zones, so a goods trader who chose it for VAT reasons chose wrong [4][8].

This guide covers what Meydan actually costs from its own published schedule, the two licence products, the visa stack and quota, what the included flexi-desk unlocks, the VAT position, the honest corporate tax answer with worked numbers, the banking reality behind the marketing claims, and how Meydan compares with IFZA and DMCC. Since 2013, our team has set up companies across Dubai's free zones and cleaned up after the wrong ones, so the warnings here come from real client files. This is a guide, not legal or tax advice on your specific company.

If you want the all-in number for your activity and visa count before you commit, talk to a setup expert→

What is Meydan Free Zone and where does it sit?

Meydan Free Zone is a Dubai free zone in Nad Al Sheba, inside the Meydan City district near Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum City and within reach of the Dubai Logistics Corridor. It licenses companies across 2,500-plus activities and markets itself as "the world's only fully integrated digital free zone", processing applications 24/7 [1].

The location matters more than founders expect. Meydan gives you a central Dubai address at a price that competes with the northern-emirates budget zones. That is the structural reason to look at it. A Ras Al Khaimah or Ajman licence can undercut Meydan on paper, but it puts your registered address 45 to 90 minutes from where your clients, your bank's relationship manager and your accountant actually sit. Meydan is a Dubai postcode at close to northern-emirates money, and for a consultant selling into the Dubai market that is worth something concrete.

A note on figures you will see repeated elsewhere. Aggregator sites commonly cite an establishment date of February 2009 under a Ruler's Decree and a company count of "5,000-plus". We are not publishing either as verified. Neither appears as a dated, primary figure on Meydan's own site, and the decree reference traces back to secondary encyclopedia sourcing rather than a gazette. Treat both as unconfirmed background, not as evidence of scale.

Meydan is, in short, the value tier of Dubai proper. Our free zone company setup page walks through how a free zone licence, establishment card and visa allocation fit together before you compare zones.

What does a Meydan licence actually cost?

A Meydan Standard licence starts at AED 12,500 and includes the trade licence, up to three business activity groups, and a flexi-desk, processed within 24 hours [1][2]. From there the bill grows with visas, office upgrades and add-on services. Here is the published schedule as it stands, drawn from Meydan's own site and its cost-breakdown post [1][2].

Real Talk: Meydan's own website is internally inconsistent on the investor or partner visa. Its cost-breakdown blog puts the figure at around AED 4,000, while its homepage presents around AED 7,850 as a total that it describes as including the allocation and the immigration card [1][2]. We are not going to average those, pick the flattering one, or quietly print one and hope you do not check. They are different numbers on the same operator's own site, most likely because one is a bare issuance fee and the other is a bundle, but Meydan does not spell that out. Get your investor visa figure in writing, itemised, in your quote before you pay anything. Every article that prints a single confident number for this is guessing.

Credit where it is due, though. Most Dubai free zones publish nothing at all and route you to a partner who adds an undisclosed margin. Meydan publishes a licence price, a per-visa price, a per-activity price and an office ladder. Even with the one inconsistency above, you can build a budget from public information before you speak to anyone, which you cannot do at most zones.

Standard or Fawri: which of the two licence products should you pick?

Meydan sells two products. The Standard licence from AED 12,500 covers up to three activity groups from a catalogue of 2,500-plus activities and is processed within 24 hours. The Fawri instant licence from AED 15,000 is issued in under 60 minutes with a money-back guarantee if Meydan is late, includes one free amendment, and draws on a narrower set of about 1,800 activities [1].

The honest read is that the AED 2,500 premium buys you about 23 hours and a guarantee. For most founders that is not worth paying, because 24 hours is already fast enough that the licence is never the bottleneck. Your bank account, your Emirates ID and your visa medical will each take longer than the licence in either case.

Fawri earns its premium in specific situations. If you are in Dubai on a short trip and need the licence before you fly out, if a tender or client contract has a hard signature date, if a landlord or platform onboarding is waiting on a licence number, or if you want the one free amendment because you are not yet certain of your final activity wording, the extra AED 2,500 is cheap insurance. Otherwise take the Standard product and put the difference toward your visa allocation.

Common Mistake: Buying only one activity group because it looks tidier, then paying to add activities later. Three groups are already included in the base price at both tiers, and additional activities cost AED 1,000 each afterwards [1][2]. If you have any plausible second revenue line, consultancy plus e-commerce, or marketing plus IT services, put it on the licence at incorporation while it is free rather than amending later. Amendments cost money and time; the included allowance does not.

What do visas cost at Meydan, and how many can you get?

Visa allocations at Meydan are bought individually at AED 1,850 each, up to six per licence, and the allocation is only the right to apply [1]. Issuance is a separate cost on top: an employment visa from AED 3,500, a dependent visa around AED 6,000, plus the establishment card and the medical. Here is how the stack builds for one employee.

Quick Math: A single founder taking one employment visa on a Standard licence is looking at roughly 12,500 for the licence, 2,000 for the establishment card, 1,850 for the allocation and 3,500 for issuance, which is about AED 19,850 before the medical, the Emirates ID and any Meydan Plus add-ons. Add a normal medical at 450 and you are near AED 20,300. That is the number to compare against other zones, not the AED 12,500 headline. The headline is a licence-only figure and always will be.

On quota, two things need separating. The AED 1,850 per allocation up to six per licence is first-party and consistent across Meydan's own pages. What is not consistent is the cap that applies specifically at the flexi-desk tier, which third-party sources report as anywhere from three to six. Treat the flexi-desk ceiling as indicative and get it confirmed in writing for your package before you plan headcount around it. You will also see articles claiming "10-plus visas on larger packages" at Meydan. There is no Meydan-published table behind that, so we are not repeating it.

Also remember what an allocation is not. Buying six allocations does not mean six people will get visas. Each applicant still goes through standard UAE immigration review, including medical fitness and security clearance, and refusals happen for reasons unconnected to your quota. Our guide to how free zone visa quotas work covers how allocation, issuance and office size interact across zones.

What office do you actually get, and what does it unlock?

The Standard licence includes a flexi-desk at no extra cost, and Meydan describes that flexi-desk as mandatory for company licensing and visa issuance [1]. That framing is important. The flexi-desk is not decoration on the package, it is the instrument that makes you eligible to sponsor visas at all. From there you can upgrade.

Note the pricing asymmetry, because it catches people out. The dedicated desk is quoted monthly at AED 3,500, which annualises to AED 42,000, while a dedicated office is AED 30,000 a year. If you actually need somewhere to sit every day, price the office before you assume the desk is the cheaper step up. Read the unit of time on every line before you compare.

Pro Tip: Do not upgrade at incorporation "to look established". Banks care about a coherent business story, verifiable activity and clean shareholder documentation far more than about your desk type, and a flexi-desk company with real invoices and a working website reads better than an empty office. Upgrade when a staff member needs a chair, a client needs a meeting room, or your visa count genuinely requires it. Not before.

If your model needs physical inventory, this is the point to stop and reconsider. A flexi-desk zone does not give you a warehouse, and Meydan's VAT position, covered below, makes it a poor structural choice for goods traders regardless of what you spend on office space.

How fast is Meydan setup really?

Fast, and Meydan publishes the numbers as service commitments: the Standard licence within 24 hours, and the Fawri product under 60 minutes with a money-back guarantee if it is delayed [1]. These are first-party published service levels rather than independently audited timings, so read them as what Meydan commits to, backed in the Fawri case by a refund promise, which is stronger than an unbacked marketing line.

In practice the licence is rarely the slow part. Here is the realistic end-to-end sequence we see on files.

Based on our experience, the gap between "licensed" and "operating" is almost always the bank account, not the zone. A founder who gets a licence in 60 minutes and then waits seven weeks for an account has not saved seven weeks, they have saved 23 hours. Plan the banking documentation in parallel with the licence application rather than treating it as the next step after everything else is done, and the fast issuance actually converts into a fast launch.

The delays that do come from your side are predictable and fixable before you apply: passports expiring inside six months, activity wording that does not match what you intend to sell, and a business description too vague for compliance review.

Is Meydan a Designated Zone for VAT?

No. Meydan Free Zone is not on the Federal Tax Authority's list of VAT Designated Zones [4]. State that plainly, because it is the single most consequential fact in this article for anyone moving physical goods. A Designated Zone is a specific, listed, fenced and customs-controlled area that the FTA treats, for certain goods transactions, as outside the State for VAT purposes [8]. Meydan is not one of them.

The consequences are concrete. Goods movements involving a Meydan company get no "outside the State" treatment. Standard UAE VAT applies in full. The mandatory registration threshold is AED 375,000 of taxable supplies, with voluntary registration available from AED 187,500, and once registered you charge, collect and file like any other UAE business [8]. There is no free zone carve-out because your zone is not on the list.

To be fair to Meydan, its own content does not claim Designated Zone status, which is consistent with the FTA list. The bad information here comes from third-party setup blogs that treat "free zone" and "Designated Zone" as synonyms. They are not remotely the same thing, and one is a closed published list. We are also not publishing a total count of Designated Zones, because the FTA's latest consolidated list is dated September 2021 and any count circulating since then may be stale [4]. Check the current list rather than trusting a number in an article. Our guide to Designated Zones and VAT explains the mechanics and which transactions the treatment actually covers.

Practically, this means VAT registration, quarterly or monthly returns, tax invoices and record-keeping are part of your running cost from the moment you cross the threshold. Those recurring filings are exactly what our post-setup services team handles, so a small company does not miss a return while chasing revenue.

Can a Meydan company get the 0% corporate tax rate?

Technically yes, practically almost certainly not, and the zone is not the reason. A Meydan company can be a Qualifying Free Zone Person in principle. Meydan qualifies as a Free Zone for corporate tax purposes and does not disqualify you by itself. What disqualifies the typical tenant is the activity, because the Qualifying Activities list in Ministerial Decision No. 229 of 2025, Article 2(1), is a closed list with no services catch-all [5].

Here is the list, and the honest column that competitor articles leave off.

Read the list again and notice what is missing. Ordinary consulting, marketing, advertising, agency work, design, IT services, software development and e-commerce retail appear nowhere on it [5]. There is no residual "professional services" or "any other business activity" line to fall into. So the single largest population of Meydan tenants, solo consultants and small service firms, cannot reach 0% through the Qualifying Free Zone Person route at all.

Three specific traps are worth naming. Fund management and wealth and investment management are limited to entities under the regulatory oversight of a Competent Authority, meaning the Central Bank, DFSA, FSRA or SCA, so an unregulated advisory or "family office consulting" firm does not qualify by calling itself wealth management [5]. Distribution requires a Designated Zone, which Meydan is not, so that route is closed at this zone specifically [4][5]. And holding of shares is about investment holding, not a trading company that happens to own a subsidiary.

Common Mistake: Choosing Meydan because a setup agent said "free zone equals 0% corporate tax". The rate follows the activity and the substance tests, not the postcode. A Dubai consultant in a free zone and a Dubai consultant on the mainland are, on the corporate tax law as written, in a very similar position. If 0% is the reason you are picking a zone, you need to check your activity against Article 2(1) first, because for most service businesses the answer is no before you have even looked at substance, audited accounts or transfer pricing. Our guide to the qualifying free zone person and the 0% rate works through the full conditions, the de minimis test and what losing the status for five years means.

What does a Meydan service company actually pay, and why is not being a QFZP an advantage?

If you are not a Qualifying Free Zone Person, you are an ordinary taxable person, which means 0% on taxable income up to AED 375,000 and 9% above it [7]. On top of that, you can elect Small Business Relief where revenue is at or below AED 3,000,000, which treats you as having no taxable income for that period, available only for tax periods ending on or before 31 December 2029 as currently legislated [6].

Here is the part nobody explains properly. Small Business Relief is not available to a Qualifying Free Zone Person, and neither is the AED 375,000 nil-rate band, because a QFZP is taxed at 0% on Qualifying Income and 9% on Non-Qualifying Income with no threshold underneath it [6][7]. So for a small Meydan service business, failing the QFZP test is not the loss it sounds like. It is what gives you access to two reliefs a QFZP is denied.

Work it through on a consultancy with AED 900,000 of revenue and AED 600,000 of taxable income.

Quick Math: The middle row is the one to plan around. A Meydan consultancy earning AED 600,000 of taxable income pays AED 20,250 a year once Small Business Relief lapses, an effective rate of about 3.4%. That is not a loophole and it does not depend on qualifying for anything exotic. It is the ordinary regime doing what it was designed to do for small businesses. Compare that with the AED 54,000 a company in QFZP status would pay on the same income if it turned out to be Non-Qualifying, and the "I must get QFZP status" instinct starts to look backwards for a business this size.

The planning implication is clear. Under roughly AED 3m of revenue and through periods ending on or before 31 December 2029, elect Small Business Relief and get on with running the business. Beyond that window, budget for 9% above AED 375,000 and stop hoping a free zone licence will produce a 0% outcome. Register for corporate tax either way, because registration and filing are obligations regardless of the rate you end up paying, and Small Business Relief is an election you have to make on a return, not an automatic status.

Real Talk: For a service business, this is where the free zone versus mainland comparison gets uncomfortable. If your Meydan company cannot reach 0% anyway, the corporate tax outcome for a Dubai consultancy is broadly similar whichever side of the line you sit on, and the decision comes back to cost, mainland client access and whether you need to invoice UAE government or mainland entities directly. Some service founders genuinely belong on a mainland professional licence instead, and it is worth comparing the two properly on our mainland company setup page rather than assuming the free zone wins on tax. It often does not.

What is the banking reality, and how should you read the "95%" claim?

Corporate bank account opening is the hardest step for a cheap, flexi-desk free zone company, and that is a general feature of UAE banking rather than something specific to Meydan. Banks apply enhanced anti-money-laundering scrutiny to virtual-office and low-substance entities, which means more questions, more documentation and longer timelines than a mainland company with a physical office and local contracts.

Meydan runs its own bank-account-assistance programme, submitting applications to 26-plus banking partners, and markets it with a "95% approval probability" and a "guaranteed corporate bank account" positioning [3]. Read that carefully. That is Meydan's own marketing claim, not independently audited data. There is press coverage of the claim, but coverage of a marketing statement is not verification of it, and no published methodology defines what counts as an approval, over what period, across which applicant profiles, or at which of the 26-plus banks. We are not repeating the percentage as a fact, and neither should any article you read.

What actually moves a bank decision is unglamorous: a clear, specific business description that matches your licensed activity, evidence of real trade such as signed contracts, invoices or a working website, clean and consistent shareholder documentation, a plausible explanation of your expected turnover and counterparty countries, and residency progress. Nationality and sector risk profiles also affect outcomes in ways no zone can override.

Practically, treat the multi-bank submission as a genuinely helpful service and the percentage as advertising. Budget three to eight weeks, prepare for a second application at a different bank without treating the first refusal as a verdict, and get your documentation right before submission rather than after a rejection. Our guide to opening a corporate bank account sets out the documents and the questions banks actually ask.

Who is Meydan right for, and who should avoid it?

Meydan is right for a specific, common profile and genuinely wrong for another. Being honest about both is more useful than a list of benefits.

The clearest disqualifier is physical goods. If your model is import, hold stock, distribute, then Meydan's absence from the Designated Zone list removes the main structural reason to be in a free zone at all, and a flexi-desk gives you nowhere to put inventory [4][8]. Look at a zone built for that.

The second disqualifier is a growth plan that depends on 0%. If you expect to pass AED 3m of revenue after the Small Business Relief window closes and your activity is not on the Article 2(1) list, you are heading for 9% above AED 375,000 whatever your licence says [5][7]. That should be a decision, not a surprise in your first return.

For everyone else, especially the consultant or small agency who wants a credible Dubai licence, a visa and a bank account without spending DMCC money, Meydan is a sensible answer. If you are still weighing zones rather than committed to one, our free zone company setup page maps the options against activity, visa count and budget.

Meydan versus IFZA versus DMCC: how do they compare?

At a high level, Meydan is the cheapest published Dubai entry with the fastest issuance, IFZA is the mid-market Dubai workhorse with a broader activity catalogue sold through partners, and DMCC is the premium zone you pay for when you need its ecosystem. None of the three is a Designated Zone shortcut to a 0% service-business tax rate.

The practical distinction between Meydan and IFZA is less about price, which is close, and more about how you buy. Meydan publishes and sells directly against a visible price list. IFZA works through authorised partners, so the same licence can be quoted at meaningfully different totals depending on the agent's margin and bundling. Neither model is inherently better, but they demand different diligence: at Meydan, confirm the inconsistent investor visa line; at IFZA, insist on an itemised quote separating government fees from service fees. Our IFZA free zone setup guide covers that partner model in detail.

DMCC is a different decision entirely. It costs roughly three times Meydan's entry, adds a share-capital deposit and a mandatory JLT flexi-desk, and earns that back only if you actually use the commodities infrastructure, the crypto centre or the banking relationships. Our DMCC free zone setup guide sets out when the premium is justified. For a laptop consultancy, it rarely is.

What does Meydan renewal cost?

Renewal is the licence again plus the recurring items, with the establishment card stepping up from AED 2,000 to AED 2,200 at renewal, and the multi-year discount of up to 15% available if you prepay rather than renewing annually [1][2].

Budget the compliance layer as well, because it is easy to forget in year one and expensive to fix in year two. A Meydan company needs corporate tax registration and an annual return regardless of whether it pays anything, and a Small Business Relief election has to be made on that return rather than assumed [6][7]. Once taxable supplies pass AED 375,000, VAT registration and periodic returns become mandatory too [8]. Add the establishment card renewal, visa renewals and any Emirates ID cycles, and the recurring administration is a real line item.

Pro Tip: Take the multi-year discount only if you are confident about the structure. Up to 15% off is real money on a licence you were going to renew anyway, but prepaying three years into the wrong zone is worse than paying annually into the right one. If your activity might move you toward the mainland, toward a Designated Zone for goods, or toward a regulated jurisdiction, keep the term short until that settles. Once you are settled, prepay. Ongoing renewals, tax registrations and returns are the kind of running work our post-setup services team carries so nothing lapses while you are selling.

If your revenue is heading toward mainland clients and physical presence rather than remote service delivery, revisit the structure question before renewing rather than after. Comparing a free zone renewal against a fresh mainland professional licence is a fair exercise, and our mainland company setup page gives you the other half of that comparison. Talk to a setup expert→

Real Client Stories

These are real examples from businesses we have helped, with names and details changed for privacy.

The consultant who was promised 0%. A management consultant set up at a low-cost Dubai free zone after an agent told him a free zone licence meant 0% corporate tax. When we reviewed his first tax period, consulting was nowhere on the Qualifying Activities list, so the 0% route had never been available to him. The good news was better than he expected: at around AED 700,000 of revenue he elected Small Business Relief and paid nothing for that period, and we mapped his 9% exposure above AED 375,000 for the years after the relief window. His comment: "I was sold a fantasy and then given a real answer that was fine. I just wish it had been the real answer first."

The trader who picked the wrong zone for VAT. A client importing consumer goods chose a cheap Dubai free zone believing that free zone status meant his stock sat outside UAE VAT. It did not, because the zone was not on the FTA's Designated Zone list, and he had no warehousing either. He had already registered for VAT late. We corrected the registration and restructured the goods side, and his takeaway was blunt: "Designated Zone is a published list. I assumed all free zones were on it. Check the list before you pick the zone."

The founder who caught the visa quote. A founder came to us with a Meydan budget built from the low investor visa figure on one page of the operator's site, while a different page implied a much higher bundled total. Rather than guess, we asked for an itemised written quote separating the allocation, the immigration card and the issuance fee. The final figure was defensible and he could plan against it. His advice: "One inconsistent number on a website nearly put me a few thousand dirhams out on my opening budget. Ask for it in writing."

Set up in Meydan with the right expectations

Meydan is a good product honestly priced, and that is not something you can say about most free zones. A licence from AED 12,500, issuance within 24 hours or under an hour if you pay for Fawri, a central Dubai address, and prices you can read before you speak to a salesperson [1][2]. If you are a consultant, a small agency or a digital business, that combination is hard to argue with.

What it is not is a tax structure. Meydan is not a VAT Designated Zone, so standard UAE VAT applies in full, and the closed Qualifying Activities list means an ordinary service business cannot reach the free zone 0% corporate tax rate through it [4][5][8]. The realistic position for most Meydan tenants is Small Business Relief while you are under the threshold, then 0% up to AED 375,000 and 9% above [6][7]. Plan for that and Meydan is an excellent value choice. Plan for a mythical 0% and you will be unhappy at your first filing.

Since 2013, BusinessDubai.ae has completed 700+ company registrations across the UAE, including Dubai's value free zones, and we will tell you when a zone is wrong for your activity rather than selling you the cheapest licence on the shelf. We will build the all-in number with the licence, establishment card, allocations and visas separated, check your activity against the Qualifying Activities list before you commit, set the VAT and corporate tax position correctly, and handle the renewals afterwards. Talk to a setup expert→

Related guides:

• Qualifying Free Zone Person and the 0% rate
• Designated Zones and VAT
• IFZA free zone setup
• DMCC free zone setup
• How free zone visa quotas work
• Opening a corporate bank account

Frequently Asked Questions

How much does a Meydan Free Zone licence cost?

A Standard Meydan licence starts at AED 12,500, including the trade licence, up to three business activity groups and a flexi-desk, processed within 24 hours [1][2]. A realistic one-visa setup lands closer to AED 20,000 once the establishment card, visa allocation and issuance are added.

What is the cheapest Meydan package?

The Standard licence from AED 12,500 with no visa is the cheapest route, and it already includes the flexi-desk and three activity groups [1]. A multi-year prepayment carries a discount of up to 15%, which lowers the effective annual cost if you are committed to the zone.

What is the Meydan Fawri licence?

Fawri is Meydan's instant licence product from AED 15,000, issued in under 60 minutes with a money-back guarantee if Meydan is delayed, one free amendment included, and access to about 1,800 activities rather than the full 2,500-plus [1]. It suits hard deadlines.

Does Meydan publish its prices?

Yes, and that is unusual. Meydan publishes licence, per-activity, per-visa and office prices on its own website, which lets you build a budget before speaking to anyone [1][2]. Most Dubai free zones quote on enquiry only, or sell through partners who add undisclosed margin.

How much is the Meydan investor or partner visa?

Meydan's own site is inconsistent here. Its cost-breakdown blog cites around AED 4,000, while its homepage presents around AED 7,850 as a total including allocation and immigration card [1][2]. We will not average or pick one. Get an itemised figure in writing before paying.

How many business activities does a Meydan licence include?

Up to three business activity groups are included in both the Standard and Fawri licences, drawn from a catalogue of more than 2,500 activities across 16-plus categories [1][2]. Add plausible second revenue lines at incorporation while the allowance is free.

How much does an extra activity cost at Meydan?

Additional activities beyond the three included groups cost AED 1,000 each [1][2]. Because amendments cost time as well as money, it is cheaper to include everything you realistically plan to sell when the licence is first issued rather than adding lines later.

How many visas can a Meydan company get?

Visa allocations are purchased at AED 1,850 each, up to six per licence [1]. The cap that applies specifically at the flexi-desk tier is reported inconsistently by third parties as anywhere from three to six, so confirm your package ceiling in writing before planning headcount.

How much does a Meydan employment visa cost?

Employment visa issuance starts from AED 3,500 per person, on top of the AED 1,850 allocation and the establishment card at AED 2,000 in year one [1][2]. Add a medical at AED 450 normal or AED 850 VIP, plus the Emirates ID fee.

Does a Meydan visa allocation guarantee a visa?

No. An allocation is only the right to apply. Each applicant still goes through standard UAE immigration review including medical fitness and security clearance, and applications can be refused for reasons unrelated to your quota. Buying six allocations does not guarantee six issued visas.

Does Meydan include an office?

Yes, a flexi-desk is included with the Standard licence, and Meydan describes it as mandatory for company licensing and visa issuance [1]. So it is not a nameplate, it is the instrument that makes your company eligible to sponsor residence visas at all.

How much is a Meydan office upgrade?

A dedicated desk is AED 3,500 per month, a shared office is AED 15,000 per year and a dedicated office is AED 30,000 per year [1][2]. Watch the unit of time: the monthly desk annualises to AED 42,000, more than the yearly dedicated office.

How fast is Meydan company setup?

Meydan commits to issuing the Standard licence within 24 hours and the Fawri licence in under 60 minutes with a money-back guarantee if delayed [1]. These are its own published service levels. The establishment card, visa and bank account still add weeks after the licence.

Is Meydan Free Zone a VAT Designated Zone?

No. Meydan does not appear on the Federal Tax Authority's list of VAT Designated Zones [4]. That means no "outside the State" treatment for goods movements and full standard UAE VAT treatment, which matters enormously if your business moves physical inventory [8].

Does a Meydan company have to register for VAT?

Yes, once taxable supplies exceed the mandatory threshold of AED 375,000, with voluntary registration available from AED 187,500 [8]. Because Meydan is not a Designated Zone, there is no free zone exemption, and you charge, collect and file like any other UAE business.

Can a Meydan company get the 0% corporate tax rate?

In principle yes, in practice rarely. The zone does not disqualify you, but the Qualifying Activities list in Ministerial Decision No. 229 of 2025 Article 2(1) is closed and has no services catch-all, so most Meydan tenants cannot reach 0% through that route [5].

Is consulting a Qualifying Activity for the free zone 0% rate?

No. Consulting, marketing, advertising, agency work, design, IT services and e-commerce retail appear nowhere on the Article 2(1) Qualifying Activities list, and there is no residual professional services category to fall into [5]. That is the core issue for the typical Meydan tenant.

Does calling my firm wealth management help me qualify?

No. Fund management and wealth and investment management are Qualifying Activities only for entities under the regulatory oversight of a Competent Authority such as the Central Bank, DFSA, FSRA or SCA [5]. An unregulated advisory firm does not qualify by adopting the label.

What corporate tax does a Meydan service company actually pay?

As an ordinary taxable person it pays 0% on taxable income up to AED 375,000 and 9% above [7]. It can also elect Small Business Relief where revenue is at or below AED 3,000,000, for tax periods ending on or before 31 December 2029 [6].

Can a Meydan company claim Small Business Relief?

Yes, if revenue is at or below AED 3,000,000 and the tax period ends on or before 31 December 2026 [6]. It is an election made on your return, not an automatic status, and it is not available to a Qualifying Free Zone Person.

Why can not being a QFZP actually help a small company?

Because a Qualifying Free Zone Person is denied both the AED 375,000 nil-rate band and Small Business Relief, and pays 9% on all Non-Qualifying Income [6][7]. On AED 600,000 of income, an ordinary taxable person pays AED 20,250 while a QFZP with Non-Qualifying Income pays AED 54,000.

When does Small Business Relief end?

As currently legislated, Small Business Relief is available only for tax periods ending on or before 31 December 2029 [6]. After that it lapses unless the rules change, so plan for 0% up to AED 375,000 and 9% above from the following period onwards.

Does Meydan guarantee a corporate bank account?

Meydan markets a bank-account-assistance programme submitting to 26-plus banking partners, with "95% approval probability" and "guaranteed" positioning [3]. That is Meydan's own marketing claim, not independently audited data, and no free zone controls a bank's compliance decision. Do not plan on it.

How long does it take to open a bank account for a Meydan company?

Budget three to eight weeks, sometimes longer. Banks apply enhanced anti-money-laundering scrutiny to flexi-desk and low-substance free zone entities, so a clear business description, evidence of real trade and clean shareholder documentation matter more than the zone you chose.

Where is Meydan Free Zone located?

In Nad Al Sheba, within the Meydan City district of Dubai, near Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum City and within reach of the Dubai Logistics Corridor [1]. That central Dubai address is a genuine advantage over similarly priced northern-emirates free zones.

Is Meydan better than IFZA?

They are close on price, from about AED 12,500 versus about AED 12,900, and differ mainly in how you buy. Meydan publishes prices and sells directly; IFZA sells through authorised partners whose margins vary. IFZA carries a broader activity catalogue. Neither reaches 0% for ordinary services [5].

Should I choose Meydan or DMCC?

Choose Meydan for the lowest published Dubai cost, fast issuance and a service or digital business. Choose DMCC, at roughly three times the entry cost plus a share-capital deposit, only if you genuinely need its commodities, crypto or banking ecosystem. For a laptop consultancy, DMCC rarely repays the premium.

What does Meydan renewal cost?

The licence renews from AED 12,500 for a Standard package, with the establishment card rising from AED 2,000 to AED 2,200, plus visa renewals and any office upgrade [1][2]. A multi-year prepayment attracts a discount of up to 15%, so committing longer lowers the effective annual cost.

Is Meydan suitable for a trading or warehousing business?

Generally no. Meydan is not a VAT Designated Zone, so goods movements get no "outside the State" treatment, and the flexi-desk model gives you no warehousing [4][8]. Distribution as a Qualifying Activity also requires a Designated Zone, closing that 0% route at Meydan [5].

References

[1] Meydan Free Zone. Licence products and published pricing, including the Standard licence from AED 12,500, the Fawri instant licence from AED 15,000, activity groups, visa allocations, establishment card, office tiers and Meydan Plus add-ons. Meydan Free Zone

[2] Meydan Free Zone. Company setup cost breakdown, including per-activity, per-visa, medical, dependent visa and office figures, and the investor visa figure that differs from the homepage total. Meydan company setup cost breakdown

[3] Meydan Free Zone. Bank account assistance programme, 26-plus banking partners and the operator's own approval-probability and guarantee marketing claims. Meydan bank account assistance

[4] Federal Tax Authority. List of Designated Zones for VAT purposes, consolidated list dated September 2021. Meydan Free Zone does not appear on it. FTA list of Designated Zones

[5] Ministry of Finance. Ministerial Decision No. 229 of 2025 regarding Qualifying Activities and Excluded Activities, including the closed Qualifying Activities list in Article 2(1) and the Competent Authority oversight condition for fund, wealth and investment management. Ministerial Decision No. 229 of 2025

[6] Ministry of Finance. Ministerial Decision No. 73 of 2023, as amended by Ministerial Decision 131 of 2026 on Small Business Relief: revenue threshold of AED 3,000,000, tax periods ending on or before 31 December 2029, and the exclusion of Qualifying Free Zone Persons. Ministerial Decision No. 73 of 2023, as amended by Ministerial Decision 131 of 2026

[7] Federal Tax Authority. Federal Decree-Law No. 47 of 2022 on the Taxation of Corporations and Businesses: 0% up to AED 375,000 and 9% above, and the separate Qualifying Free Zone Person rate structure. Federal Decree-Law No. 47 of 2022

[8] Federal Tax Authority. Designated Zones VAT Guide (VATGDZ1): what Designated Zone treatment covers, when goods are treated as outside the State, and standard VAT registration thresholds. FTA Designated Zones VAT Guide