UAE company, owner in Hong Kong — accounts and tax handled remotely

中文（香港）

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–Hong Kong tax agreement

• Signed on 11 December 2014 and in force since 10 December 2015; effective in Hong Kong from the 2016/17 year of assessment and in the UAE from 1 January 2016.
• A company resident in both places is treated as resident only where its place of effective management is.
• Profits of a UAE company are taxable in Hong Kong under the agreement only if it has a permanent establishment there. If the company's place of effective management is in Hong Kong, however, it is treated as resident only in Hong Kong, which affects its UAE Tax Residency Certificate and treaty claims.

Points to watch in Hong Kong

• Territorial profits tax. Hong Kong taxes profits arising in or derived from Hong Kong from a business carried on there, for residents and non-residents alike. A UAE company that carries on business in Hong Kong may therefore be chargeable on its Hong Kong-sourced profits.
• Holding through a Hong Kong company. Under the foreign-sourced income exemption (FSIE) regime, dividends from the UAE company received in Hong Kong by a Hong Kong company that is part of a multinational group (of any size) are taxable unless an exception applies. The participation exemption requires the income to have been taxed at 15% or more, which the UAE's 9% rate (or 0% for a Qualifying Free Zone Person) would not normally meet — so the economic substance exception usually matters. For groups with revenue of EUR 750 million or more, the UAE's 15% domestic minimum top-up tax may also be relevant.
• Individual owners. Hong Kong has no tax on dividends received by individuals, and the FSIE regime does not apply to individuals.

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

How you stay in control from Hong Kong

• 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 Hong Kong.
• Nothing filed without your approval — you see every return and the tax figure before it goes to the FTA.
• Working with your Hong Kong adviser — we advise on UAE tax. For Hong Kong 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; Hong Kong–UAE Comprehensive Avoidance of Double Taxation Agreement (2014) and IRD synthesised text; IRD — Profits Tax and Brief Guide 2025/26; IRD — Foreign-sourced Income Exemption regime and FAQs; FSTB — prevailing tax policy.