Insights Corporate Tax
Permanent Establishment in the UAE: When a Foreign Company Gets Taxed
What is permanent establishment under UAE corporate tax? The Article 14 fixed-place and agent tests, the six-month construction rule and exclusions.
Key takeaways
- A permanent establishment (PE) is how UAE corporate tax reaches a foreign company's UAE activity — defined in Article 14 of Federal Decree-Law No. 47 of 2022.
- A fixed-place PE arises from a place of management, branch, office, factory, workshop or real property used to conduct the business.
- A dependent-agent PE arises where someone in the UAE habitually concludes or negotiates contracts for the non-resident.
- A building or construction site is a PE only if it lasts more than six months, counting connected related-party activity.
- Where a PE exists, corporate tax applies at 9% on attributable taxable income above AED 375,000; an Article 15 investment manager acting independently can be exempt.
- Cabinet Decision No. 35 of 2025 replaced CD 56/2023 and defines the separate nexus route for immovable property and fund income.
What is permanent establishment under UAE corporate tax? It is a place of business or other form of presence in the UAE of a non-resident person, defined in Article 14 of Federal Decree-Law No. 47 of 2022. It arises through a fixed or permanent place used to conduct the business, through an agent who habitually concludes or negotiates contracts, or through a nexus set by Cabinet decision.
Ask a foreign founder whether their overseas company owes tax in the UAE and the answer is usually confident: “We don’t have an office here, so no.” Ask a UAE company hosting a visiting parent-company team, or closing deals for an overseas group, and you often get the same shrug. Both are answering the wrong question. UAE corporate tax does not turn on whether you feel present. It turns on the Article 14 tests.
This guide explains what a permanent establishment in the UAE actually is, the two main ways a foreign company creates one, the exclusions that stop ordinary activity from being caught, the separate nexus route added by Cabinet Decision No. 35 of 2025, and what happens to your tax bill and filing calendar once a permanent establishment exists.
It is worth saying plainly what the question is not. Foreign companies in Dubai and the wider UAE often reach for foreign company registration as the answer — set up a branch, or don’t, and assume the tax position follows the paperwork. It does not. A non-resident can carry a UAE corporate tax obligation with no registration on file, and a registered branch can, in narrow cases, be doing nothing that amounts to a permanent establishment.
What a permanent establishment is — and why it matters
A permanent establishment (PE) is defined in Article 14 of Federal Decree-Law No. 47 of 2022 as a place of business or other form of presence in the UAE of a non-resident person. In plain terms, it is the legal hook that lets the UAE tax a foreign company’s UAE profit even though that company is not resident here.
To see where it fits, start with who is taxable. Article 11(4) makes a non-resident person taxable in three situations, and each has a different consequence in Article 12(3).
| Route | Article 11(4) | What is taxed (Art 12(3)) |
|---|---|---|
| Permanent establishment | (a) | Taxable income attributable to the PE |
| State sourced income | (b) | State sourced income not attributable to a PE |
| Nexus specified by Cabinet decision | (c) | Taxable income attributable to the nexus |
The permanent establishment route is the most common of the three for an active business, and it is the one that pulls ongoing profit into the UAE net rather than a one-off slice of income.
[[chart:pe-triggers]]
The first test: a fixed or permanent place
The most familiar way to create a PE is to have a fixed or permanent place in the UAE through which the business, or any part of it, is conducted under Article 14(1)(a). Article 14(2) gives a non-exhaustive list, and it is broader than “an office”. Every row below was read against the English text of Federal Decree-Law No. 47 of 2022 as published by the UAE Ministry of Finance, on 4 August 2026.
| Art 14(2) | Fixed or permanent place |
|---|---|
| (a) | A place of management where management and commercial decisions necessary for the conduct of the business are, in substance, made |
| (b) | A branch |
| (c) | An office |
| (d) | A factory |
| (e) | A workshop |
| (f) | Land, buildings and other real property |
| (g) | An installation or structure for the exploration of renewable or non-renewable natural resources |
| (h) | A mine, an oil or gas well, a quarry or any other place of extraction, including vessels and structures used for extraction |
| (i) | A building site, construction project, or place of assembly or installation, or supervisory activities in connection with one, only if it lasts more than six months |
The construction category carries its own timer. Article 14(2)(i) applies the six-month test to such site, project or activities “whether separately or together with other sites, projects or activities”, and expressly includes connected activities conducted at the site or project by one or more related parties of the non-resident person. You cannot dodge the test by slicing one job into fragments.
6 months
A UAE building site, construction or installation project is a permanent establishment only if it lasts longer than this
Source: Article 14(2)(i), Federal Decree-Law No. 47 of 2022
The phrase to underline is place of management. A foreign company can create a UAE permanent establishment without a branch or a lease if the real decision-making happens here — for example, if directors habitually run the business from Dubai or Abu Dhabi. Substance beats paperwork, which is one reason the PE question overlaps with where a company is genuinely managed and controlled for tax residency.
The second test: a dependent agent
The second route needs no premises at all. Article 14(1)(b) creates a permanent establishment where a person has, and habitually exercises, an authority to conduct a business or business activity in the UAE on behalf of the non-resident.
Article 14(5) then defines that phrase in two limbs, and the second limb is the one businesses miss.
| Art 14(5) | The person is treated as habitually exercising authority where |
|---|---|
| (a) | The person habitually concludes contracts on behalf of the non-resident person |
| (b) | The person habitually negotiates contracts that are concluded by the non-resident without the need for material modification |
Paragraph (b) means signing abroad does not save you. A UAE representative who negotiates the commercial terms that head office then rubber-stamps has habitually exercised authority, even though the pen never touched a UAE desk.
Article 14(6) carves out the independent agent. Paragraph (b) of Article 14(1) does not apply where the person conducts business in the UAE as an independent agent and acts for the non-resident in the ordinary course of that business. That carve-out is itself switched off in two cases: where the person acts exclusively or almost exclusively on behalf of the non-resident, or where the person cannot be considered legally or economically independent from it.
The investment manager exemption in Article 15
Article 15(1) builds a specific safe harbour on top of Article 14(6) for regulated investment managers. All seven conditions must be met.
| Art 15(1) | Condition |
|---|---|
| (a) | The investment manager is engaged in the business of providing investment management or brokerage services |
| (b) | It is subject to the regulatory oversight of the competent authority in the UAE |
| (c) | The transactions are carried out in the ordinary course of the investment manager’s business |
| (d) | It acts in relation to the transactions in an independent capacity |
| (e) | It transacts on an arm’s length basis with the non-resident and receives due compensation |
| (f) | It is not the non-resident’s UAE representative for any other income or transaction subject to corporate tax in the same tax period |
| (g) | Any further conditions prescribed by Cabinet decision |
Article 15(2) defines the transactions covered: commodities, real property, bonds, shares, derivatives or other securities; buying or selling foreign currency or placing funds at interest; and other transactions the investment manager may lawfully carry out for a non-resident under UAE legislation.
The exclusions: preparatory or auxiliary activity
Not every fixed place is a permanent establishment. Article 14(3) excludes places used solely for the following.
| Art 14(3) | Excluded use |
|---|---|
| (a) | Storing, displaying or delivering goods or merchandise belonging to the non-resident |
| (b) | Keeping a stock of goods or merchandise belonging to the non-resident for the sole purpose of processing by another person |
| (c) | Purchasing goods or merchandise, or collecting information, for the non-resident |
| (d) | Conducting any other activity of a preparatory or auxiliary nature for the non-resident |
| (e) | Any combination of (a) to (d), provided the overall activity stays preparatory or auxiliary |
This is what stops a pure warehouse, a display showroom or a local buying office from automatically dragging a foreign company into UAE corporate tax. But the exclusion is narrow and easily lost.
Article 14(4) switches it off through an anti-fragmentation rule. Clause 3 does not apply to a fixed or permanent place used or maintained by a non-resident where the same non-resident or its related party carries on business at the same place, or at another place in the UAE, and both conditions in Article 14(4) are met: the same or the other place constitutes a permanent establishment of the non-resident or its related party, and the overall activity resulting from the combination is not preparatory or auxiliary and together would form a cohesive business operation had the activities not been fragmented.
The label “preparatory” has to match what is genuinely happening. A “warehouse” that is really running sales and fulfilment is not auxiliary.
Visiting employees and temporary presence
Article 14(7) lets the Minister prescribe conditions under which the mere presence of a natural person in the UAE does not create a permanent establishment. Two instances are named in the law itself.
| Art 14(7) | Instance |
|---|---|
| (a) | The presence is a consequence of a temporary and exceptional situation |
| (b) | The natural person is employed by the non-resident, and their UAE activities are not part of the core income-generating activities of the non-resident or its related parties, and the non-resident does not derive state sourced income |
Both limbs of paragraph (b) must hold. An employee working remotely from Dubai on core revenue-generating work, or working for a group that already earns UAE-sourced income, falls outside the carve-out and back into the ordinary Article 14 analysis.
[[chart:pe-thresholds]]
The separate nexus route: Cabinet Decision No. 35 of 2025
Article 11(4)(c) makes a person non-resident and taxable where it has a nexus specified by Cabinet decision. That decision is now Cabinet Decision No. 35 of 2025 on Determination of a Non-Resident Person’s Nexus in the State, which replaced Cabinet Decision No. 56 of 2023.
| CD 35/2025 Art 2 | A foreign juridical person has a nexus where |
|---|---|
| 1 | It derives income from immovable property in the UAE, including rights in rem, sale, disposal, assignment of rights, direct use, letting, subletting and any other form of exploitation |
| 2 | Its income is adjusted under Article 3(2) of Cabinet Decision No. 34 of 2025 — the qualifying investment fund investor rules |
| 3 | Its income is adjusted under Article 3(5) or Article 4(3) of Cabinet Decision No. 34 of 2025, with the nexus arising on the date of distribution or acquisition of the ownership interest |
Article 1 defines immovable property broadly: any area of land over which rights, interests or services can be created; any building, structure or engineering work permanently attached to the land or the seabed; and any fixture or equipment forming a permanent part of it.
Article 3 adds an anti-avoidance rule. Where a non-resident artificially transfers or disposes of its right in rem in UAE immovable property to another person, and that transfer is not for a valid commercial or other non-fiscal reason reflecting economic reality, it is treated as an arrangement to obtain a corporate tax advantage under Article 50(1) of the Corporate Tax Law.
A nexus needs no office, no agent and no employee. Owning a Dubai apartment block and collecting rent is enough. The relationship between these rules and the exempt person categories under UAE corporate tax matters for funds in particular, because the same Cabinet Decision No. 34 of 2025 sits underneath both.
What happens once you have a PE
If a permanent establishment exists, the non-resident becomes a taxable person and Article 12(3)(a) applies UAE corporate tax to the taxable income attributable to that PE. The rate is the standard one in Article 3: 0% on the first AED 375,000 of taxable income and 9% on the excess, with the threshold set by Cabinet Decision No. 116 of 2022.
The permanent establishment is taxed on the profit properly attributable to its UAE functions, assets and risks — broadly, what it would have earned as a distinct enterprise — not on the foreign company’s global profit.
Registration follows the finding. A non-resident with a UAE permanent establishment registers for corporate tax in its own name through EmaraTax and obtains a tax registration number, then files an annual return under Article 53(1) within nine months of the tax period end. Foreign companies sometimes assume the local agent’s or subsidiary’s registration covers them. It does not, because the taxable person is the non-resident itself.
That attribution is where the real work sits. It draws in the same disciplines as any UAE corporate tax computation: identifying what income is taxable and which costs are deductible, applying the interest limitation rules to financing between the PE and its head office, and respecting transfer pricing rules on dealings with related parties. A PE with cross-border related-party flows is squarely in transfer-pricing territory, so the documentation thresholds matter too.
Registration deadlines for non-residents
Article 4 of FTA Decision No. 3 of 2024, issued 22 February 2024 and effective 1 March 2024, sets the timelines. Every row below was read against the English text as published by the Federal Tax Authority, on 4 August 2026.
| Category | Deadline |
|---|---|
| Non-resident with a UAE PE existing before 1 March 2024 | 9 months from the date of existence of the permanent establishment |
| Non-resident with a UAE nexus existing before 1 March 2024 | 3 months from 1 March 2024 |
| Non-resident whose PE arises on or after 1 March 2024 | 6 months from the date of existence of the permanent establishment |
| Non-resident whose nexus arises on or after 1 March 2024 | 3 months from the date of establishment of the nexus |
| Non-resident natural person over the turnover threshold | 3 months from meeting the requirements of being subject to tax |
Article 6 of the same decision routes late registration straight to the penalty schedule in Cabinet Decision No. 75 of 2023.
A worked example in AED
Kestrel Systems GmbH, a German engineering company with no UAE entity, wins a plant installation contract in Abu Dhabi. Its site team mobilises on 1 February 2026 and demobilises on 20 September 2026 — a period of just over seven months. A related party of Kestrel provides connected commissioning supervision at the same site for a further three weeks in October 2026.
The site lasts more than six months, so Article 14(2)(i) makes it a fixed or permanent place, and the connected related-party activity is counted with it. Kestrel Systems GmbH has a UAE permanent establishment from 1 February 2026.
Because the permanent establishment arose after 1 March 2024, Article 4(2) of FTA Decision No. 3 of 2024 gives Kestrel six months from the date of existence to register — so by 31 July 2026, before the project even finished.
Suppose the profit attributable to the UAE site for the tax period ending 31 December 2026 is AED 2,875,000 after deducting site costs, an arm’s length share of head-office support and allowable financing.
| Step | Amount |
|---|---|
| Taxable income attributable to the PE | AED 2,875,000 |
| Taxed at 0% (Art 3(1)(a), CD 116/2022) | AED 375,000 |
| Taxed at 9% (Art 3(1)(b)) | AED 2,500,000 |
| Corporate tax payable | AED 225,000 |
| Return and payment due (Art 53(1)) | 30 September 2027 |
Now assume Kestrel never registered. Item 14 of Cabinet Decision No. 75 of 2023 adds AED 10,000 for late registration. If the return is also twelve months late, item 7 adds AED 6,000. Item 8 then runs a monthly penalty of 14% per annum on the unsettled AED 225,000 from the day after the due date. The registration deadline was the cheapest thing to get right.
When there is no PE but there is still tax
Article 12(3)(b) taxes state sourced income that is not attributable to a permanent establishment. Article 13(2) lists what that covers.
| Art 13(2) | State sourced income includes |
|---|---|
| (a) | Income from the sale of goods in the UAE |
| (b) | Income from services rendered, utilised or benefitted from in the UAE |
| (c) | Income from a contract insofar as it is wholly or partly performed or benefitted from in the UAE |
| (d) | Income from movable or immovable property in the UAE |
| (e) | Income from the disposal of shares or capital of a resident person |
| (f) | Income from the use, or right to use, intellectual or intangible property in the UAE |
| (g) | Interest where the loan is secured on UAE property, or the borrower is a resident person or a government entity |
| (h) | Insurance or reinsurance premiums where the asset, the insured person or the activity is in the UAE |
Article 45(1), as replaced by Federal Decree-Law No. 40 of 2024, currently taxes that income at 0% in the form of withholding tax, to the extent it is not attributable to a permanent establishment or nexus. Article 45(2) and 45(3) reserve the Cabinet’s power to set other rates for specified categories, so the 0% figure is a policy setting rather than a structural feature.
Who should be asking the PE question now
Three profiles should pressure-test their position.
Foreign founders running a UAE business remotely. If key management happens in the UAE, Article 14(2)(a) may already be met. If a local person habitually negotiates your deals, Article 14(5)(b) may be met too. “We have no office” answers neither test.
Overseas groups with UAE operations, agents or projects. Branches, construction sites over six months and dependent agents are the classic triggers, and the corporate tax registration obligation follows the PE rather than the paperwork.
UAE companies hosting or representing foreign principals. Acting for an overseas group can create a PE for the principal under Article 14(1)(b), which reshapes how the relationship should be documented and priced.
For international founders comparing where to base a UAE structure in the first place, the PE analysis sits right next to the corporate tax basics — get both right before you commit to a model.
A compliance calendar for a UAE permanent establishment
| When | What | Source |
|---|---|---|
| On the facts changing | Test Article 14(1) to (7) against what actually happens on the ground | FDL 47/2022 Art 14 |
| Within 6 months of the PE existing | Submit the corporate tax registration application via EmaraTax | FTA Dec 3/2024 Art 4(2) |
| Within 3 months of a nexus arising | Submit the registration application | FTA Dec 3/2024 Art 4(2) |
| Each tax period | Attribute profit on an arm’s length basis and apply Article 30 interest limits | FDL 47/2022 Arts 34, 30 |
| Within 9 months of the period end | File the corporate tax return and settle the tax | FDL 47/2022 Art 53(1) |
| Within 30 days of an FTA request | Provide the master file, local file and supporting information | FDL 47/2022 Arts 55(3), 55(4) |
| For 7 years after the period end | Retain records supporting the return | FDL 47/2022 Art 56(1) |
Where this leaves you
A permanent establishment is not an abstract concept. It is a fact test about what genuinely happens in the UAE. A fixed place through which you do business under Article 14(1)(a), or a person who habitually concludes or negotiates business for you under Article 14(5), can create one. Purely preparatory or auxiliary functions under Article 14(3), and sites lasting six months or less, generally do not — unless the anti-fragmentation rule in Article 14(4) applies.
Once a PE exists, the UAE taxes the profit attributable to it at 9% above AED 375,000, and the attribution, financing and transfer-pricing rules all come into play. The registration clock in FTA Decision No. 3 of 2024 starts from the date the PE exists, not from the date anyone notices.
Our corporate tax team helps non-resident companies and their UAE counterparts work out whether a permanent establishment exists, register where one does, and attribute profit defensibly — and our business setup advisory team helps foreign founders choose a UAE structure that reflects the reality of where the business is run. Not sure whether your UAE presence crosses the line? Get a quote and we will assess it against your actual facts.
Disclaimer: This article is published by Velmont Crest, a DED-licensed UAE accounting firm. We are not a tax agent, an FTA-registered representative, or a licensed financial or legal services firm. The content above is general information about UAE corporate tax and does not constitute tax, legal, accounting or financial advice. Permanent establishment is a facts-and-circumstances question that should be assessed against Federal Decree-Law No. 47 of 2022, the relevant Cabinet and Ministerial Decisions, Federal Tax Authority guidance, and your own qualified advisors.
References
- Federal Decree-Law No. 47 of 2022 on the Taxation of Corporations and Businesses — UAE Ministry of Finance
- Cabinet Decision No. 35 of 2025 on Determination of a Non-Resident Person’s Nexus in the State — UAE Ministry of Finance
- FTA Decision No. 3 of 2024 on the Registration Timeline for Corporate Tax — Federal Tax Authority
- Cabinet Decision No. 75 of 2023 and its amendments on Administrative Penalties — Federal Tax Authority
- Federal Tax Authority — Corporate Tax Legislation
- The Official Portal of the UAE Government — Corporate Tax
Frequently asked questions
- What is a permanent establishment for UAE corporate tax?
- A permanent establishment is a place of business or other form of presence in the UAE of a non-resident person, defined in Article 14 of Federal Decree-Law No. 47 of 2022. Article 14(1) sets three routes: a fixed or permanent place in the UAE through which the business or any part of it is conducted, a person who has and habitually exercises authority to conduct a business or business activity in the UAE on the non-resident's behalf, and any other form of nexus specified by Cabinet decision. It is the connection that makes a foreign company's UAE profit taxable here.
- Does having a UAE office automatically create a permanent establishment?
- Article 14(2) lists an office, a branch, a factory, a workshop, a place of management, land and buildings among the fixed or permanent places that qualify. But Article 14(3) carves out places used solely for preparatory or auxiliary purposes — storing, displaying or delivering the non-resident's goods, keeping stock for processing by another person, purchasing goods or collecting information, or any other preparatory or auxiliary activity. If the office genuinely does nothing beyond those functions, it may not amount to a permanent establishment.
- How long can a construction project last before it becomes a permanent establishment?
- Article 14(2)(i) of Federal Decree-Law No. 47 of 2022 treats a building site, a construction project, or a place of assembly or installation — or supervisory activities in connection with one — as a fixed place only if such site, project or activities last more than six months. That test is applied to the activities whether separately or together with other sites, projects or activities, and it includes connected activities conducted at the same site or project by one or more related parties of the non-resident person.
- Can an agent or salesperson create a permanent establishment?
- Yes. Article 14(1)(b) creates a permanent establishment where a person has and habitually exercises authority to conduct a business or business activity in the UAE on behalf of the non-resident. Article 14(5) defines that in two limbs: the person habitually concludes contracts on the non-resident's behalf, or habitually negotiates contracts that the non-resident concludes without needing material modification. Article 14(6) excludes an independent agent acting in the ordinary course of its own business, unless it acts exclusively or almost exclusively for the non-resident.
- What tax rate applies to a UAE permanent establishment?
- Article 12(3)(a) subjects a non-resident person to corporate tax on the taxable income attributable to its UAE permanent establishment. Article 3(1), read with Cabinet Decision No. 116 of 2022, then applies 0% to the portion of taxable income not exceeding AED 375,000 and 9% to the portion above it. The permanent establishment is taxed on the profit properly attributable to its UAE functions, assets and risks, not on the non-resident's worldwide income.
- How do I register a permanent establishment for corporate tax in the UAE?
- Registration runs through EmaraTax, the Federal Tax Authority's portal, and the non-resident registers as a taxable person in its own name rather than relying on a local agent's registration. Article 4 of FTA Decision No. 3 of 2024 sets the deadline. Where the permanent establishment came into existence before 1 March 2024, the window was nine months from the date it existed. Where it arises on or after that date, the application is due within six months from the date the permanent establishment exists.
- Is a permanent establishment the same as tax residency?
- No. Article 11(3) makes a juridical person resident where it is incorporated in the UAE, or incorporated abroad but effectively managed and controlled here. Article 11(4) makes a person non-resident where it instead has a UAE permanent establishment, derives state sourced income, or has a nexus specified by Cabinet decision. Residency taxes the whole business under Article 12(1); a permanent establishment taxes only the attributable slice under Article 12(3)(a).
- What is a nexus, and how is it different from a permanent establishment?
- A nexus is the third route in Article 11(4)(c), and it is now defined by Cabinet Decision No. 35 of 2025, which replaced Cabinet Decision No. 56 of 2023. Article 2 gives a foreign juridical person a nexus where it derives income from immovable property in the UAE — including rights in rem, sale, disposal, letting, subletting and other exploitation — or where its income is adjusted under the qualifying investment fund rules in Cabinet Decision No. 34 of 2025. A nexus needs no premises and no agent.
- Can visiting employees create a permanent establishment in the UAE?
- Article 14(7) lets the Minister prescribe conditions under which the mere presence of a natural person does not create a permanent establishment. Two situations are named. The first is where the presence is a consequence of a temporary and exceptional situation. The second is where the natural person is employed by the non-resident and both conditions hold — the activities conducted in the UAE are not part of the core income-generating activities of the non-resident or its related parties, and the non-resident does not derive state sourced income.
- What is the investment manager exemption in Article 15?
- Article 15(1) treats an investment manager as an independent agent for the purposes of Article 14(6) where seven conditions are met: it is in the business of providing investment management or brokerage services, it is subject to UAE regulatory oversight, the transactions are in the ordinary course of its business, it acts independently, it transacts at arm's length and receives due compensation, it is not the non-resident's UAE representative for any other income or transaction subject to corporate tax in the same tax period, and it meets any further Cabinet conditions.
- Can a non-resident be taxed in the UAE without a permanent establishment?
- Yes. Article 12(3)(b) subjects a non-resident to corporate tax on state sourced income not attributable to a UAE permanent establishment, and Article 12(3)(c) on income attributable to a nexus. Article 13(2) lists what counts as state sourced income, including income from the sale of goods in the UAE, services rendered or benefitted from here, immovable property, disposal of shares in a resident person, and interest where the borrower is a resident person or a government entity.
- What withholding tax applies to a UAE permanent establishment?
- Article 45(1) of Federal Decree-Law No. 47 of 2022, as replaced by Federal Decree-Law No. 40 of 2024, taxes the state sourced income of a non-resident person at 0% in the form of withholding tax, or at any other rate the Cabinet determines, to the extent that income is not attributable to a permanent establishment or nexus. Income that is attributable to the permanent establishment is outside the withholding regime and instead taxed under Article 12(3)(a) through the corporate tax return.
- What penalties apply if a permanent establishment fails to register?
- Item 14 of the table annexed to Cabinet Decision No. 75 of 2023, added by Cabinet Decision No. 10 of 2024, charges AED 10,000 for failure to submit a tax registration application within the specified timeframe. Item 7 charges AED 500 per month for the first twelve months of a late return and AED 1,000 per month from the thirteenth. Item 8 charges a monthly penalty of 14% per annum on unsettled payable tax, and item 1 charges AED 10,000 for failing to keep the required records.
Filed under: Corporate Tax, Permanent Establishment, Non-Resident, Foreign Company, UAE
Published · Updated
- 1. Fixed-place presence A place of management, branch, office, factory, workshop or real property through which the business is conducted (Art 14(1)(a) and 14(2)).
- 2. Dependent agent A person in the UAE who habitually concludes, or habitually negotiates, contracts for the foreign company (Art 14(1)(b) and 14(5)).
- 3. Other nexus A nexus specified by Cabinet decision — now Cabinet Decision No. 35 of 2025 (Art 11(4)(c)).
- 4. State-sourced income Income accruing in or derived from the UAE can be taxable without a permanent establishment (Art 12(3)(b) and Art 13).
- 5. Test the exclusions Purely preparatory or auxiliary activity, and sites lasting six months or less, do not create a permanent establishment (Art 14(3) and 14(2)(i)).
