UAE Ministry of Finance sets guidelines on 'tax residency' to decide 183-day or 90-day thresholds
Ministry of Finance decision sets number of days a resident needs to be physically present
Dubai: The UAE Ministry of Finance has issued guidelines on determining tax residency for residents in the country.
All days - or parts of a day - in which an individual is physically present in the UAE will be counted in deciding whether the 183-day or 90-day thresholds are met. In addition, an individual does not need to own his ‘permanent place of residence’ - but such a place must be continuously available to them.
The MoF decision states that an individual’s ‘usual place of residence’ will be in the UAE if this is where he ‘normally or habitually’ resides. An individual’s ‘centre of financial and personal interests’ will be in the UAE if this is where their work, personal, economic relationships or other connections are the strongest.
- Key takeaways from UAE's 'Tax Resident' guidelines:
- When determining the number of days that an individual has spent in the UAE, all days - or parts of a day - in which the individual is present in the UAE would be counted.
- An individual does not need to own their ‘permanent place of residence’, but such place must be continuously available to them.
“The Ministerial Decision on implementing domestic tax residency rules is important as it gives additional clarity to individuals in respect of when they are considered as ‘tax residents’ under UAE taxation laws" said Younis Haji Al Khouri, Under-Secretary of the Ministry of Finance.
The latest Ministerial Decision clarifies 'certain rules set out in Cabinet Decision No. 85 of 2022 on Determination of Tax Residency for natural persons and legal persons'. This was issued in September last year.