UAE company, owner in mainland China — accounts and tax handled remotely

中文（简体）

The UAE side — handled without you travelling

• Corporate Tax. A company incorporated in the UAE is a UAE Resident Person for Corporate Tax, wherever its owner lives. It must register with the Federal Tax Authority (FTA), keep records for seven years and file an annual return; the rate is 0% up to AED 375,000 of taxable income and 9% above it.
• Free zone 0%. A Qualifying Free Zone Person pays 0% only on qualifying income, and only while it meets all the qualifying conditions — including carrying out its core income-generating activities in the free zone with adequate staff and assets, audited financial statements, the transfer pricing rules and the de minimis limit for non-qualifying revenue (5% of revenue or AED 5 million, whichever is lower). A company managed entirely from abroad may find the substance test hard to meet, so we review it every year.
• VAT. Registration is mandatory once taxable supplies pass AED 375,000 in 12 months and voluntary from AED 187,500. Returns are usually quarterly.
• Access to the FTA. FTA services are accessed through UAE PASS, the UAE's national digital identity, which is personal to each user. We help your authorised signatory set up their own access in line with FTA requirements, and prepare every filing for your approval.
• Beneficial owners. Changes to shareholders or beneficial owners must be recorded and filed within 15 days (Cabinet Resolution No. 109 of 2023).
• Withholding tax. UAE withholding tax is currently 0%, including on dividends the company pays to you abroad.
• Tax Residency Certificate. A UAE-incorporated company can apply for a certificate to claim treaty benefits; a newly incorporated company that has not yet filed a Corporate Tax return must have been established for 12 months first. The FTA asks for documents such as the trade licence and lease, and may ask for more — so the paperwork needs to be in order from day one. If your home country also treats the company as resident, the treaty's own residence rule decides, so a certificate alone may not secure treaty benefits.

All engagements are subject to our client due-diligence checks under UAE anti-money laundering law and applicable sanctions screening.

The UAE–China tax agreement

• Signed on 1 July 1993, in force since 1994 and applied from 1 January 1995; the multilateral instrument (MLI) has applied since 2023 and adds a principal purpose test.
• A company resident in both countries is treated as resident where its head office is.
• The treaty caps tax on dividends in the source country at 7%; UAE withholding tax on dividends is currently 0%.

Points to watch in mainland China

• Where the company is managed. A foreign company whose de facto management body is in China is a Chinese resident enterprise, taxed on its worldwide income at 25%.
• Controlled foreign companies. Where Chinese resident enterprises control a company in a jurisdiction whose effective tax burden is below 12.5% and profits are retained without a reasonable business need, the profits can be attributed to them. A UAE company at 9% (or 0%) is below that level, although exemptions can apply. For individual owners, the Individual Income Tax Law allows similar adjustments where a controlled foreign company retains profits without a reasonable business need.
• Individual owners. Chinese tax residents are taxed on worldwide income; dividends are taxed at 20%, with credit for foreign tax, and foreign income must be declared between 1 March and 30 June of the following year. Provincial tax authorities, such as Zhejiang's, have published reminders and cases on undeclared foreign income.
• Outbound investment. Chinese enterprises investing abroad need filings or approvals with the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) and the Ministry of Commerce (MOFCOM), and a bank foreign-exchange registration. Foreign-exchange rules also apply to how individual residents fund and hold overseas companies — please confirm the approvals and registrations required with your Chinese adviser.

The Chinese points above are general information about how Chinese rules may interact with a UAE company. They are not Chinese tax advice; please confirm your position with a qualified Chinese adviser.

How you stay in control from mainland China

• Client portal — upload invoices and bank statements, and see your filings and their status, from anywhere.
• Monthly report pack — profit and loss, balance sheet, your VAT and Corporate Tax position, and the deadlines coming up, sent to you every month (or quarter, if you prefer).
• Calls in your time zone — scheduled video calls with your named accountant at times that suit mainland China.
• Nothing filed without your approval — you see every return and the tax figure before it goes to the FTA.
• Working with your Chinese adviser — we advise on UAE tax. For Chinese tax, we work alongside your own adviser and give them the UAE figures and documents they need.

Sources: Federal Decree-Law No. 47 of 2022 on the Taxation of Corporations and Businesses, as amended (Articles 3, 11, 18, 45, 51 and 56); Cabinet Decision No. 116 of 2023; Cabinet Decision No. 100 of 2023, as amended; Ministerial Decision No. 229 of 2025; Ministerial Decision No. 84 of 2025; Federal Decree-Law No. 8 of 2017 on VAT, as amended, and Cabinet Decision No. 52 of 2017 (Executive Regulation, Article 7); Cabinet Resolution No. 109 of 2023; Ministerial Decision No. 247 of 2023 and FTA Tax Residency Certificate guide (TPGTR1, October 2024) and service page; FTA login page (UAE PASS); Ministry of Finance list of double tax agreements; China–UAE Agreement for the Avoidance of Double Taxation (1993), Protocol and STA synthesised text with the MLI; Enterprise Income Tax Law (Articles 2–4 and 45) and Implementing Regulations (Articles 4, 117 and 118); Individual Income Tax Law (Articles 1–3, 7, 8 and 13); MOF/STA Announcement 2020 No. 3; NDRC Order No. 11 (2017, in force 1 March 2018); MOFCOM Order 2014 No. 3; SAFE Huifa [2015] No. 13 and [2014] No. 37; Zhejiang Provincial Tax Service notice of 26 March 2025.