Free UAE Tax Residency Checker (+ Guide)

What is UAE tax residency?

UAE tax residency is the status of a person the UAE counts as living there for tax purposes. The rules are in Cabinet Decision No. 85 of 2022, in force since March 1, 2023.

The UAE doesn't tax your personal income, so the status matters most elsewhere: for a tax treaty, for your home country's own residency rules, and whenever you need to prove where you're tax resident.

The 3 tests

You're a UAE tax resident if you meet any one of these:

• 183 days – you were in the UAE 183 days or more in 12 months in a row
• 90 days with ties – 90 days or more in 12 months, as a UAE or Gulf national or with a UAE residence visa, and with a permanent place of residence or a job or business in the UAE
• Your home and your interests – your usual place of residence and the center of your financial and personal interests are in the UAE

How the days count

Every day or part of a day you're in the UAE counts, and the days don't need to be in a row. The Federal Tax Authority can leave out days you had to stay because of something beyond your control that stopped you leaving as planned.

What counts as a home or work

A permanent place of residence is a furnished home made continuously available to you. It can be rented, and a place used only for short stays doesn't count.

Employment means a contract with a UAE employer that pays you in the UAE, or earning all or nearly all your income for work done in the UAE from one party. A volunteer role doesn't count.

The tax residency certificate

A tax residency certificate from the Federal Tax Authority proves you're a UAE tax resident. You apply on EmaraTax, and it takes about 10 business days once your application is complete.

What it needs depends on the test you meet:

• 183 days – your Emirates ID, or your passport with an official entry and exit report
• 90 days with ties – your Emirates ID and passport with an entry and exit report, and proof of your job, business or home in the UAE
• Your home and your interests – your Emirates ID and passport with an entry and exit report, proof of your interests and your residence in the UAE, and proof of your income if it applies

For a person not registered for corporate tax, it costs AED 1,050: a AED 50 submission fee and AED 1,000 for the certificate. If you're registered for corporate tax, the certificate is AED 500, and each hard copy is AED 250.

A company can get one too: AED 1,750 if it isn't registered for corporate tax, with its license, lease and incorporation papers.

A certificate doesn't settle your home country's tax

Your home country decides by its own rules whether it still taxes you, and a tax treaty decides which country wins when both call you resident. The territorial tax map shows how your country taxes income from abroad.

How to use the UAE tax residency checker

Your answers stay in this browser.

Who is the UAE tax residency checker for?

It's for anyone living in the UAE, or moving there, who needs to show where they're tax resident, and each of them has a next step:

• 183-day rule calculator – anyone counting their days in each country
• Territorial tax map – anyone checking how their own country taxes income from abroad
• UAE company setup cost calculator – anyone setting up a UAE company for their visa
• UAE free zone tax checker – anyone checking whether their free zone company pays 0%

More money tools are on the free finance tools page. Or browse all my free tools.