Regional Intelligence

Dubai

A dazzling metropolis in the United Arab Emirates, Dubai is renowned for its iconic skyline, luxurious lifestyle and prosperous economy. As one of the fastest-growing cities in the world, Dubai has transformed into a global hub for business, tourism, and innovation. The city’s strategic location at the crossroads of Europe, Asia, and Africa makes it an ideal destination for family offices.

Regulatory Body

Dubai Financial Services Authority (DFSA), within the Dubai International Financial Centre (DIFC)

Tax Environment

9% corporate tax on taxable income above AED 375,000, 5% VAT, and no inheritance, estate or wealth taxes

Introduction

A Bustling Oasis for Work and Lifestyle

Dubai is a leading destination for family offices due to its dynamic economy, tax benefits, and luxury lifestyle. The city’s strategic location, diversified economy, and business-friendly environment, including free zones like the Dubai International Finance Centre (DIFC), make it attractive for foreign investments. For family offices, Dubai offers an excellent quality of life, cutting-edge infrastructure, and robust legal and regulatory structures.

Dubai’s political stability and secure environment provide a solid foundation for wealth management. With its blend of luxury, opportunity, and strategic advantages, Dubai stands out as a premier destination for family offices aiming to grow and preserve their wealth in a dynamic and cosmopolitan setting.

Key Numbers

Corporate Income Tax Rate9%

Evaluation

As an emirate in the UAE, Dubai levies a 9% corporate income tax on both local and foreign companies. However, there are exemptions to this rule, such as charities, investment funds, and enterprises within the oil and mining sectors. For family offices in particular zones, like the DIFC, might benefit from a 0% tax rate on certain income types, provided they comply with specific criteria.

Corporate tax rates

Dubai offers a competitive corporate tax environment, with a standard corporate tax rate of 9% on taxable income exceeding AED 375,000 (roughly $100,000). The standard rate of VAT is 5%, with certain transactions being exempted or zero-rated.

Double taxation agreements

The UAE has an extensive network of double taxation treaties to foster economic cooperation, offer tax relief and promote international investments. The tax treaties span over 100 countries and greatly benefit family offices operating in Dubai. These agreements highlight the region’s commitment to creating a secure and attractive investment environment.

Charitable contribution

Establishing a DIFC Foundation in Dubai can help family offices with wealth structuring, family legacy planning, ringfencing assets, and philanthropy. Among its key advantages are:

A specific regulatory framework,
A low licensing fee of $350 per year,
And the convenience of not requiring a physical presence in the DIFC as long as a DIFC-registered Corporate Service Provider is appointed.

Dubai has various legal structures available to help family offices preserve and manage their wealth. In particular, the DIFC privacy arrangements for family offices offer an exemption from the public registry. For family offices with privacy as a top priority, the arrangement keeps the details of the shareholders and interest holders confidential. Below are a few of the popular structures:

Family Office

Setting up a DIFC Family Office offers a specialised way for single-family or multiple-family offices to manage, protect, and grow their wealth. This structural setup is especially useful for families looking to keep their wealth stable over the long term through multiple generations.

Multi-family offices registered in the region must ensure that each family’s information is kept private and separate from the others. In addition, if handling financial investments, they must be regulated by the Dubai Financial Services Authority (DFSA) and comply with the specific rules and standards.

Holding Company

Families with multiple businesses can streamline management and decision-making by establishing a Holding Company. This structure consolidates various businesses and investments under one umbrella, simplifying ownership and control. It easily facilitates broader investment diversification and efficiently handles the paperwork and backend tasks for multiple ventures. Holding companies are ideal for family offices seeking to simplify management, clarify ownership, and flexibly pursue diverse investment options.

Prescribed Company

A Prescribed Company (PC) is a special-purpose vehicle regime offered by DIFC. They are considered private companies under the DIFC Companies Law, irrespective of their number of shareholders. Setting up a PC in the DIFC provides:

A fast-track application process.
Lower incorporation and licensing fees.
More adaptable requirements under the DIFC Companies Law or Operating Law.

PCs are an attractive tool for family offices with complex structures across different geographies.

Trust

The DIFC Trust Law allows for the establishment of trust arrangements that are subject to DIFC law. Setting up a Trust can enable family offices to protect and manage their assets while structuring their distribution according to your wishes. Trust arrangements are a great tool for succession planning and the transfer of wealth to the next generation, primarily because they separate legal ownership from beneficial ownership in assets.

According to the IMF data sets, the UAE, and thus Dubai, has a strong economy and significant trade surpluses. While oil is a big contributor to its income, the country is fairly diversified, with a growing non-oil sector. Inflation rates are relatively low, and the fiscal position remains strong due to sound financial management and substantial reserves. The UAE is working on making its economy even better and more competitive by focusing on long-term plans that include being innovative and sustainable.

Economic growth

The Dubai Economic Agenda ‘D33’ seeks to firmly establish Dubai as one of the top three cities to invest, live, and work in. It aims to double the size of Dubai’s economy by 2033 and consolidate its position among the top three global cities. That includes 100 transformative projects, with targets to increase foreign trade to AED 25.6 trillion and add 400 cities as key trading partners over the next decade.

Political stability

As part of the United Arab Emirates, Dubai enjoys a broad network of diplomatic and commercial relations worldwide and is a member of the Gulf Cooperation Council, UN, World Bank, and IMF. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs is committed to achieving the strategic, political, and economic interests of the United Arab Emirates through effective diplomacy that promotes security, stability, and sustainable development across the world. Through its well-balanced foreign policy, the UAE continues to support progress, development, and prosperity at home and abroad.

Friendly business environment

Dubai’s diversified economy opens up investment and co-investment opportunities across sectors like real estate, hospitality, technology and healthcare, as well as ESG-focused portfolios. The business ecosystem is also optimally suited for expansion and growth, offering extensive networking prospects for industry leaders to nurture deals, build strong partnerships and scale operations. Family offices in Dubai can avail of a wide range of tailored services, including wealth management, tax planning, estate planning and legal counsel. The city also does not impose any inheritance, estate or wealth taxes, enabling wealth preservation to span generations.

Dubai is now a global hub for businesses and experts who offer various professional services. In particular, the DIFC connects many top companies and firms in finance, accounting, management, law, risk management, education, research, and HR. Moreover, the centre has cemented its position as the largest and preferred hub for wealth management companies and hedge funds. The total number of WAM firms now exceeds 500, a rise of 22% in 2025, mostly from Asia Pacific, GCC, Europe, the UK, and the US.

Skilled workforce

The city attracts talent from around the globe, with laws in place to ensure safety and equality for all. As part of its unique ecosystem offering, DIFC provides access to a deep pool of talent and expertise, A-grade infrastructure, regulatory frameworks, and direct access to both established and emerging markets. In addition, in partnership with the DIFC Family Wealth Centre, The Academy and Hawkamah Institute provide educational programs for family office professionals and their principals.

Professional services

Dubai is known as the most significant financial hub between London and Singapore. The DIFC has a large workforce of 50,200 people, and 8,844 active companies are registered there. This area has seen steady growth for 20 years and hit a record high in 2025. This success has attracted even more investment and business to the Centre and to Dubai as a whole. The city’s stable economy attracts top innovators, entrepreneurs, and professionals from numerous sectors and industries.

World-class education

Focused on building a knowledge-based economy, Dubai boasts renowned educational institutions and cutting-edge research facilities. Regulated by the Knowledge and Human Development Authority (KHDA) to ensure growth and quality, education in Dubai primarily constitutes private institutions that cater to all ages and multicultural groups. Dubai has more than 263 early learning centres for newborns to six-year-olds, while older students can choose from diverse international curricula and extra-curricular activities when considering school enrolment.

Dubai is a family-friendly destination with a wide range of indoor and outdoor attractions that can be enjoyed throughout the year. From sandy beaches to majestic mountain ranges, and from Michelin-starred restaurants to traditional eateries, as well as iconic souks and modern malls, Dubai offers the perfect blend of old and new. The city ranks sixth in the world on Numbeo’s crowd-sourced 2026 Safety Index, behind four other Emirati cities led by Abu Dhabi in first place, reflecting the high priority the UAE places on the personal safety of residents and visitors.

Cultural diversity and adaptability

Dubai is an ultra-modern, fast-growing city that has attracted millions of foreign nationals from over 200 countries. As one of the world’s most diverse, multicultural destinations, it is known for its harmony and tolerance, blending traditional values and hospitality with prominent modern influences.

Language and communication

To better serve and support family offices, the DIFC has a multi-national team fluent in various languages alongside English, including Arabic, Mandarin, Hindi, French, German, Greek, Portuguese, Spanish, Tagalog, and Urdu.

Health and wellness

Dubai has one of the region’s best healthcare offerings, with its wide-ranging departments, state-of-the-art infrastructure and equipment, highly qualified medical professionals from around the world, and progressive treatment options. Every neighbourhood has a network of clinics and pharmacies, and most have easy access to premium hospitals, ensuring that patient care remains a priority at all times.

Resources Directory

Taxation | The Official Portal of the UAE Government DIFC Family Wealth Centre DIFC: Family Wealth Guide Dubai Economic Agenda D33 Dubai Chamber of Commerce

Key Highlights

DIFC wealth structures

Family offices, holding companies, prescribed companies and trusts are available, with privacy exemptions from the public registry.

Low tax burden

Corporate tax is 9% above AED 375,000, VAT is 5%, and no inheritance, estate or wealth taxes apply.

Wealth management hub

The DIFC hosts more than 500 wealth and asset management firms and 8,844 active registered companies.

D33 economic agenda

Dubai aims to double its economy by 2033 through 100 transformative projects and 400 new trading partners.

People to know

Tim Daum

Co-founder, Veltracon Lifestyle AG

Besarta Dani

FO advisor, UK

Companies in this region

Veltracon Lifestyle

Lifestyle Concierge

8topuz

Technology Providers

Asora

Technology Providers

Eton Solutions

Technology Providers

Clarity AI

Impact & Sustainability

Frequently Asked Questions

No. A family office can sit in the DIFC, in another Dubai free zone, or on the mainland, and the right answer depends on what the office actually does. The DIFC is chosen most often because it operates its own common law framework with an independent court, which matters to families whose structures and advisers are built around common law concepts. A mainland or other free zone entity can be the better fit where the office is primarily administrative, or closely tied to an operating business in the UAE.

A DIFC Foundation is a legal person established under the DIFC Foundations Law. It has no shareholders and holds assets for the purposes and beneficiaries set out in its charter and by-laws. For families from civil law traditions it achieves much of what a common law trust does, within a framework their own advisers recognise. A common use is holding the shares of a holding company or a private trust company, producing an ownership structure with no individual owner.

The Centre is the DIFC's dedicated point of contact for family-owned businesses and family offices, covering registration, governance support and access to the DIFC's advisory ecosystem. It sits alongside the DIFC Family Arrangements Regulations, which restructured how single family offices are treated in the centre. Families setting up should confirm current registration requirements directly, as the regime has been revised since it was introduced.

Establishing a licensed entity supports employment visas for principals and staff, so residency and structuring are usually handled as one exercise rather than two. Separately, the Golden Visa provides long-term renewable residency across categories including investors, entrepreneurs and specialised talent, with a property-linked route. There is no personal income tax on salaries or investment income for UAE residents. Eligibility criteria and thresholds are revised periodically, so confirm current requirements before committing.

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