Between IFZA and Meydan, choose the zone that approves your exact activity wording and whose licence your bank will accept. Neither zone settles the 0% tax question, because the FTA's five conditions decide it. We check your wording against both activity lists and match the workspace to the bank's requirements. The bank approves the account.
What separates IFZA and Meydan?
IFZA and Meydan look interchangeable, with the same bracket, overlapping activity lists and similar visa counts, and which is cheaper changes from quarter to quarter. Two questions last longer: whether the zone approves the exact activity you trade under, and whether your bank opens the account once you are licensed there. If either answer is wrong, you end up replacing the licence.
IFZA vs Meydan, side by side
The differences that shape your first six months: who each suits, how it banks and where one fits better.
On price: both zones sit in the same entry-level bracket. Which is lower depends on the quarter, your activity, your visa count and whether you need a real office. Claim your IFZA company from AED 11,500, until 30 November. Full detail sits on IFZA company setup and Meydan Free Zone company setup.
The tiebreakers, in order
When two zones look the same, these decide it. We run each against your case before naming a zone, and the first usually settles it.
Activity approval
This is the factor most often missed and the one most likely to decide. Both cover broad categories, but regulated services and specific trading or professional wording fall differently between the two lists. An unapproved activity means a rejected application and a lost fee. We check your exact wording against both.
Usually settles the choiceWhich bank says yes
IFZA's longer history means more banks recognise it, which can cut weeks off onboarding. Your activity and ownership profile matter more. We send your file first to the bank that, in our experience, best fits your profile and zone. Our IFZA cases after setup include closing an IFZA company, an IFZA visa package change and one client's decision to change IFZA service provider.
The bank decides, not usThe office a bank will accept
Some UAE banks do not treat a flexi-desk as a physical address and want a dedicated office before they onboard. The cheapest package can cost you the account you wanted, so we match the workspace to your target bank's requirements first.
The 0% tax question
An entity in either zone can be a Qualifying Free Zone Person and pay 0% on qualifying income. The five conditions decide it, including adequate UAE substance and audited accounts, whichever zone you choose. We tell you whether your model can hold that position before you rely on it.
Assessed by the FTA, not the zoneWhere the difference is a coin flip, we say so. If neither zone fits, compare the wider types of companies in the UAE.
