Tax residency
When United Arab Emirates taxes you
A visa lets you stay. It does not decide who taxes you. In United Arab Emirates that turns on a day count of about 90 days and the ties you keep, and it is the line that quietly reshapes what you take home.
When you become tax resident
Tax-residency certificate obtainable via a 90-day route (90+ days in a 12-month period plus a UAE permanent home or UAE job/business and valid residence visa) OR a 183-day route (183+ days, no further condition), per Cabinet Decision No. 85 of 2022. A Golden Visa alone does not confer tax residency; the physical-presence/domestic tests in Cabinet Decision 85 govern. Sample threshold of 90 is one of two valid routes (the other being 183).
90-day certificate route needs a home or work tie in the UAE.
How your income is taxed
0% personal income tax on salaries and personal income. Note: a 9% federal corporate tax applies to business profits above AED 375,000 (effective from June 2023), so freelancers/business owners may face corporate tax even though personal income stays untaxed.
The trap below the day count
Staying under 90 days does not make you safe. A permanent home available to you, a partner or children living in United Arab Emirates, or your centre of vital interests can create residence well below the count. And where two countries both claim you in the same year, a tax treaty tie-breaker decides, on your permanent home first, then your centre of vital interests, then where you habitually live. This is the part worth taking to a specialist.
Count your days against the threshold
The tracker counts the days you spend in each country and shows which cross their tax-residency line, United Arab Emirates included.
Keep reading
Researched from public sources, checked Jul 2026. Not expert-reviewed, and not legal or tax advice. Rules change; the sources and dates above are how you judge whether to rely on this or take it to a professional.