What we cover
Our guides explain the rules for running a business in the UAE and how the UAE economy works, grouped into eight topics:
- Company setup: mainland or free zone, legal forms, trade licences, the setup steps, renewals and closing a company.
- Corporate tax: rates and the tax-free band, registration, small business relief, free zone income, returns and penalties.
- VAT and excise: VAT rates, zero-rated and exempt supplies, registration, invoices, returns, refunds, e-invoicing and excise goods.
- Employment and payroll: labour law for employers and staff: contracts, hours and overtime, leave, WPS, gratuity, ILOE and Emiratisation.
- Business banking and finance: corporate accounts, the documents banks ask for, fees and balances, digital banks and SME finance options.
- Trade and customs: importing and exporting, customs duty and exemptions, GCC rules, CEPA agreements and certificates of origin.
- Investing and residency: golden and green visas, buying property as a foreigner, investing on ADX and DFM, bonds and sukuk.
- UAE economy: how the economy is measured: GDP, oil and non-oil activity, inflation, interest rates, the dirham peg and the budget.
Alongside the guides we build calculators for the rules that involve a number, each showing its working, and a glossary of the terms the authorities use. The library lists every guide in one place.
Who it is for
- Founders and people planning a business who want to understand the choices before they speak to a licensing authority or a provider.
- Owners and managers of small and medium businesses who need to know when to register for a tax, when a return is due and what the penalties are.
- Finance, payroll and HR staff who work out tax, gratuity, overtime and leave pay and want to check a figure against the rule.
- Employees who want to know what the Labour Law gives them, from leave to end-of-service pay.
- Investors and readers following the economy who want the official figures, with their dates and sources, rather than a forecast.
We write in plain English and explain each term the first time it appears, so no tax or legal training is needed to follow a guide.
What we do not do
- We are not a business setup agency, a bank, a law firm or a tax agent, and we do not sell their services.
- We have no lead forms, partner referrals, affiliate links, advertising or paid placements. Our page on how we make money explains how any future income would be disclosed.
- We do not give advice on your situation. Our guides are general information; read the disclaimer.
- We do not publish news, market prices or forecasts of our own.
How we work
Every UAE rate, threshold, deadline and penalty we quote comes from an official source: UAE federal law, the Ministry of Finance, the Federal Tax Authority, the Ministry of Economy, the Ministry of Human Resources and Emiratisation, the Central Bank of the UAE, the Federal Authority for Identity, Citizenship, Customs and Port Security, the Federal Competitiveness and Statistics Centre, emirate customs and economic departments, free zone authorities and the UAE Government portal. We keep these figures in one facts register, each with its source and the date we checked it, so a rule shows the same number on every page.
Pages are researched and drafted with AI tools, then checked in a separate step against those sources before they are published. Every guide shows the dates it was published, last updated and last reviewed. Our editorial policy sets out the standards, and our methodology explains how we choose sources and build the calculators.
Independence and our name
Independent publication. Not affiliated with The Economic Times or Bennett, Coleman & Co. Ltd.
The web address economictimes.ae was used by an unrelated website until 2025. That site and its pages are gone, and nothing from it is reused here: UAE Business Explained is a new publication with its own content.
Who runs the site
Every guide is researched, written and checked by UAE Business Explained Editorial Team.
Get in touch
Questions, feedback and ideas for topics are welcome on our contact page. If you think something on the site is wrong, our corrections page explains how to tell us and what happens next.