The licence is the deposit, not the price.
A formation fee tells you what it costs to start a company, not to own one. Different numbers, different timelines. The founders who get caught are not careless. They budgeted the figure they were shown, then met the renewal and filings the next year as expenses nobody mentioned. Asked now, the recurring cost is a line in your plan. Asked later, it is a surprise, every year.
The layers behind the annual number.
None of these sit on the formation invoice. Which apply, and what each costs, is the conversation worth having before you build.
Licence renewal
The trade licence is not a one-time purchase. It renews every year with its government and authority fees, and any office or flexi-desk tied to it renews alongside. It is the layer most often mistaken for a one-off, and the one that catches a year-one budget first.
Universal layerCorporate tax filing
An annual corporate tax return with the Federal Tax Authority is due even where no tax is owed, including under Small Business Relief. The return is the obligation, not the rate, and a missed registration carries a fixed penalty whether or not you owe a dirham.
Universal layerVAT, where it applies
Once taxable turnover crosses AED 375,000 over a rolling twelve months, periodic VAT returns and compliant invoicing become a continuing obligation. Below that line it does not apply. This layer turns on with the business, not on day one.
Turnover-led · your turnover decidesBookkeeping and UBO upkeep
Books kept to an FTA-acceptable standard through the year make every filing above accurate. Keeping your Ultimate Beneficial Owner records current as ownership changes is a continuing duty for most companies. Both scale quietly with the company.
Scales with the businessUnderestimating recurs, just like the cost does.
Budgeting only for year one has a repeating price. Individually these obligations are manageable; together, met unplanned, they turn a routine year into a clean-up, and the underestimate repeats every year until the budgeting is fixed. The expensive path is never compliance itself. It is being caught off guard by it.
These are thresholds and penalties, not our prices. They are fixed facts of UAE compliance, the same for every company. What differs is which layers apply to you and what they total, set by your corporate tax and VAT position and your bookkeeping needs. We build that number privately, against your real plan, and put it in writing.
We price the cost of keeping the company, not just starting it, before you commit.
That means mapping which layers apply, putting renewal, filing, and any VAT and UBO deadlines on a calendar in advance, and registering you for corporate tax on time so the penalty never arises. We do not promise the lowest annual figure. We promise you see the whole recurring cost before you start, not piece by piece.