{"id":103863,"date":"2025-05-21T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2025-05-21T00:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/enterpriseam.com\/uae\/corporate-tax-relief-for-foreign-holdings\/"},"modified":"2025-05-21T00:00:00","modified_gmt":"2025-05-21T00:00:00","slug":"corporate-tax-relief-for-foreign-holdings","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/enterpriseam.com\/uae\/2025\/05\/21\/corporate-tax-relief-for-foreign-holdings\/","title":{"rendered":"Corporate tax relief for foreign holdings"},"content":{"rendered":"

MoF expands tax exemption to foreign-owned entities tied to exempt <\/strong>persons:<\/strong> The Finance Ministry (MoF) has issued a new cabinet decision expanding corporate tax exemptions to include foreign entities wholly owned by exempt entities \u2014 such as government entities, government-controlled entities, qualifying investment funds, and public pension or social security funds \u2014 provided they meet relevant conditions, Wam<\/a> reports. <\/p>\n

Previously<\/strong>, <\/span>exemptions<\/a> were limited to UAE-incorporated entities, excluding foreign companies even if fully owned by exempt persons or operating through UAE branches.<\/span><\/p>\n

The rationale:<\/strong> The update removes this restriction to ensure equal tax treatment between domestic and foreign structures under common exempt ownership. It also reinforces the UAE\u2019s position as a holding company hub and brings its framework further in line with international tax standards, according to Wam.<\/p>\n

ICYMI- The move follows a string of tax relief measures rolled out <\/strong>since the UAE\u2019s 9% federal corporate tax came into effect in June 2023<\/a>. These included the exemptions<\/a> for Qualifying Investment Funds and Qualifying Limited Partnerships, grace periods to fix ownership breaches, and partial taxation of real estate income exceeding set thresholds. Further amendments<\/a> eased compliance for domestic entities, foreign partnerships, and family foundations.<\/p>\n

Foreign investors have been a focus: <\/strong>Recent rules allow foreign partnerships to qualify for tax transparency<\/a> if holding the same status in their home country. Non-resident investors generally remain exempt unless a nexus is created through dividend distributions or other trigger events. Some foreign-owned investment entities have also been exempted from the 15% minimum top-up tax<\/a>, with carve-outs linked to payroll and asset-based substance tests.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A new cabinet decision extends corporate tax exemptions previously limited to UAE-based firms to foreign entities<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":103864,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"newspack_ads_suppress_ads":false,"newspack_popups_has_disabled_popups":false,"newspack_sponsor_sponsorship_scope":"","newspack_sponsor_native_byline_display":"inherit","newspack_sponsor_native_category_display":"inherit","newspack_sponsor_underwriter_style":"inherit","newspack_sponsor_underwriter_placement":"inherit","ep_exclude_from_search":false,"_primary_brand":0,"newspack_featured_image_position":"","newspack_post_subtitle":"","newspack_article_summary_title":"Overview:","newspack_article_summary":"","newspack_hide_updated_date":false,"newspack_show_updated_date":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1626],"tags":[2000,11,1379],"brand":[],"newspack_spnsrs_tax":[],"class_list":["post-103863","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-tax","tag-corporate-tax","tag-finance-ministry","tag-tax","wpautop","entry"],"acf":{"mongo_id":"dbcb7cf3-7069-45df-9eb4-02945cb43d65","order":"3","is_powered_by":false,"story_type":"1","photo_url":"https:\/\/ent.news\/2024\/10\/2663.jpg","photo_position":"above","homepage_title":"","full_issue_title":"Finance Ministry extends tax relief to foreign-owned companies","related_issue":[103858],"teaser":"A new cabinet decision extends corporate tax exemptions previously limited to UAE-based firms to foreign entities","voice_url":"https:\/\/s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com\/ent.news\/audio\/2025\/5\/.79087e8e-5a7e-44ea-b5f4-bd54b7422d0b.mp3"},"yoast_head":"\nCorporate tax relief for foreign holdings - 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