How to get a UAE tax residency certificate

A UAE tax residency certificate is issued by the Federal Tax Authority (FTA) through EmaraTax to individuals and companies that are tax resident in the UAE. An individual can qualify with 183 days in the UAE in a 12-month period, or 90 days with UAE or GCC nationality or a residence permit and a home, job or business here. The fee is AED 50 plus AED 500 to AED 1,750.

Key takeaways

• The Federal Tax Authority issues tax residency certificates on EmaraTax, for a tax treaty or for other purposes.
• An individual is tax resident with 183 days in the UAE in 12 consecutive months, with 90 days plus UAE or GCC nationality or a residence permit and a home, job or business here, or if both their usual residence and centre of interests are here.
• A company is tax resident if it is incorporated in the UAE, free zones included, or effectively managed and controlled here.
• Fees are AED 50 to submit plus AED 500, AED 1,000 or AED 1,750 for review, and AED 250 for each printed copy.
• A certificate covers one tax period or a chosen 12-month period, never a future one, and the FTA's estimated time for a complete application is 10 business days.

On this page 10 sections

What a tax residency certificate is

A tax residency certificate is the FTA’s official confirmation that a person or company was tax resident in the UAE for a stated period of up to 12 months. There are two kinds: one for a double taxation agreement (DTA) with a named country, used to claim the treaty’s benefits there, and one for other purposes, such as a bank asking for evidence of tax residence. On request, the FTA also stamps another country’s residence form. The Commercial Activity Certificate it issues to VAT-registered businesses is a different document.

Being tax resident does not by itself make anyone liable to corporate tax: that depends on being a taxable person under the Corporate Tax Law, explained in who pays UAE corporate tax and the other corporate tax guides. An employee can be tax resident and still be outside corporate tax because they carry on no business here.

Tax residency tests for individuals

An individual is UAE tax resident if they pass any one of three tests in the relevant 12 consecutive months. The tests come from Cabinet Decision No. 85 of 2022 and Ministerial Decision No. 27 of 2023, and the FTA explains them in its guide TPGTR1.

Tax residency tests for individuals

183 days, or 90 days with conditions, or primary residence test

A natural person is a UAE Tax Resident if, in the relevant 12 consecutive months, they were physically present in the UAE for 183 days or more; or for 90 days or more while being a UAE or GCC national or holding a valid UAE residence permit and having a permanent place of residence or employment or a Business in the UAE; or if their usual or primary place of residence and centre of financial and personal interests is in the UAE.

The 183-day test

Physical presence alone is enough at 183 days. No visa, home or job is needed, and the FTA’s guide says it does not matter what the person did, if anything, while in the UAE.

The 90-day test

Between 90 and 182 days qualifies only when all three parts are met in the same 12-month period:

1. At least 90 days physically in the UAE.
2. UAE or GCC nationality, or a valid UAE residence permit, meaning a permit to live or work here, such as an employment visa or an investor or green visa. A visit or tourist visa does not count.
3. A permanent place of residence in the UAE, or employment or a business here.

A permanent place of residence is a furnished dwelling continuously available to the person. It can be rented or lent by a relative; hotel rooms booked trip by trip do not count. Employment means working under a contract for an employer formed in the UAE, in a continuing relationship that pays all or substantially all of the person’s income for work done here. The contract can be limited or unlimited, full-time or part-time, but a voluntary role does not count.

Primary residence and centre of interests

The third test has no day count. Both the usual or primary place of residence (the country where the person habitually lives and spends most time) and the centre of financial and personal interests must be in the UAE. The second looks at work, business, investments, family and social ties, and weighs their importance rather than their number: close family here counts for more than a club membership abroad.

How days are counted

Any part of a day counts as a full day, so arrival and departure days both count, and the days need not be consecutive. Days spent here only because an exceptional event beyond the person’s control stopped them leaving as planned, such as a border closure or a sudden serious illness, are disregarded; a longer stay by choice still counts. For individuals the tax period is the calendar year, though another 12-month period can be chosen.

Worked example

Four trips to the UAE in one calendar year

The traveller, the dates and the trips are illustrations. Each count includes the arrival and the departure day.

Trip	Arrival	Departure	Days counted
1	10 January 2025	14 March 2025	64
2	2 May 2025	30 June 2025	60
3	15 September 2025	8 October 2025	24
4	20 November 2025	27 December 2025	38

1. Trip 1: 22 days in January + 28 in February + 14 in March = 64.
2. Total: 64 + 60 + 24 + 38 = 186 days, which is 183 or more.
3. Leaving out the 8 travel days would give 186 minus 8 = 178, short of 183.

Tax resident for 2025 under the 183-day test: 186 days counted.

Tax residency for companies

A company is UAE tax resident if it is incorporated, formed or recognised in the UAE, or if another UAE tax law treats it as resident.

Tax residency test for companies

Incorporated in the UAE or effectively managed and controlled here

A juridical person is a UAE Tax Resident if it is incorporated or otherwise formed or recognised in the UAE, including in a Free Zone, or is otherwise a tax resident under another UAE tax law, such as a foreign company effectively managed and controlled in the UAE under the Corporate Tax Law.

A company set up in a free zone counts as incorporated in the UAE (see free zone corporate tax). A foreign company effectively managed and controlled here is a resident person under the Corporate Tax Law, so it is tax resident and taxed here on its worldwide income.

The FTA’s service card says branches of foreign companies and offshore companies cannot get a certificate, as they are not considered established in the UAE. A corporate tax group cannot apply as a group; its members apply one by one. A treaty certificate also depends on the treaty’s own residence article.

Fees

Every applicant pays a submission fee plus one review fee, which depends on whether the applicant is an individual or a company and whether it holds a corporate tax registration number (TRN). The FTA quotes the fees under Cabinet Decision No. 65 of 2020, as amended.

Tax residency certificate fees

AED 50 + AED 500, 1,000 or 1,750

A Tax Residency Certificate application carries an AED 50 submission fee plus a review and issuance fee of AED 500 for a person with a Corporate Tax registration number, AED 1,000 for a natural person without one, or AED 1,750 for a juridical person without one; each printed copy costs AED 250, and the fees are not refundable if the application is rejected.

The FTA’s service card asks for all fees before submission and does not refund them if the application is rejected. Stamping is covered by the certificate fee, but an applicant who sends a paper form pays the courier costs of sending it and having it returned.

Worked example

Fees for two applications

The applicants are illustrations.

1. An individual without a corporate tax TRN who wants one printed copy: AED 50 + AED 1,000 + AED 250 = AED 1,300.
2. A company with a corporate tax TRN that needs only the electronic certificate: AED 50 + AED 500 = AED 550.

Total fees: AED 1,300 for the individual and AED 550 for the company.

Documents

The documents depend on who is applying and which test they rely on. For a certificate for purposes other than a treaty, the FTA lists:

For a treaty certificate, an individual always provides a passport, with an official entry and exit report, proof of UAE income or salary where relevant and any evidence the treaty calls for; where the treaty refers to UAE residence rules, the tests above must also be met. A company provides the documents above with a certified memorandum of association. Eligibility and documents can vary with the treaty’s residence article.

How to apply on EmaraTax, step by step

Applications are made online on the FTA’s EmaraTax portal. The FTA’s steps:

1. Log in to EmaraTax or create an account (an old tax certificate portal account can be linked).
2. Choose “Other services”, then “Tax Residency Certificate”.
3. Select the applicant’s corporate tax TRN, or “No Tax Registration Number”. A TRN lowers the review fee and fills in the details; see corporate tax registration.
4. Choose the type: for a DTA, selecting the other country first, or for other purposes.
5. Complete the fields, upload the documents and ask for printed copies or a stamped foreign form if needed.
6. Pay the fees in full and submit.
7. Once approved, download the certificate from the platform; it is also emailed.

Printed copies go by courier to UAE addresses only.

How long it takes and what period it covers

The FTA’s estimated time is 10 business days from receipt of a complete application, and a certificate covers one period of no more than 12 months.

FTA processing time

10 business days

The FTA gives an estimated time of 10 business days from receipt of the completed application to complete a Tax Residency Certificate application, and 5 business days from the fee payment for a requested hard copy; the digital certificate is downloaded from EmaraTax and sent to the registered email.

Stamping another country’s form takes 10 business days from receipt of the completed form and fees; a printed copy requested with it waits until the form reaches the FTA.

Time to answer an FTA query

30 business days to respond

The FTA generally responds to a Tax Residency Certificate application within 10 business days with an approval, a rejection or a request for further information; where it requests further information, the applicant has 30 business days to respond, with an option to request an extension through resubmission.

Validity

A certificate is valid only for the period it names, which the applicant chooses.

Period a certificate covers

One Tax Period or 12-month period

A Tax Residency Certificate covers a Tax Period, or another 12-month period chosen by the applicant; it cannot cover a future period that has not started or a period longer than 12 months.

Because a certificate applies only to the period selected, a later period needs a new application. A company’s tax period is its financial year. The FTA can withdraw a certificate if it learns that information was incorrect or that the facts changed so the holder is no longer tax resident.

When you can apply

An individual can apply as soon as they meet a residency test; a company has to wait longer.

When an application can be made

Companies: after 3 months into the period; new companies: after 12 months

For a 12-month period that has not finished, a juridical person can apply for a Tax Residency Certificate after three months into the period, a natural person as soon as the residency criteria are met, and Government Entities and Government Controlled Entities from one day into the period; a newly incorporated company must have been established for 12 months before it can apply.

An individual relying on the 183-day test in a calendar year that is still running can therefore apply once their 183rd day in the UAE that year has been reached, without waiting for 31 December.

New companies

The 12-month wait runs from incorporation or establishment. A company incorporated on 1 March 2026, an illustrative date, could not apply before March 2027.

Using the certificate under a tax treaty

To claim a treaty’s benefits, the applicant chooses the DTA type and the other country when applying, and the certificate names that agreement. The model form in Ministerial Decision No. 247 of 2023 shows its contents: the applicant’s name, identification numbers where they apply (passport, residence visa, Emirates ID, licence, corporate tax TRN), the agreement, the other country and the dates covered.

• Treaty residence follows the treaty. A DTA in force takes precedence over UAE domestic law, so passing the tests above does not by itself make someone resident under a particular treaty.
• Foreign forms. The FTA stamps the other country’s form within the certificate fee once the applicant has completed and signed it (and, for a company, stamped it); courier costs for a paper form are extra. It must cover the same 12-month period and country as the certificate.
• Registration. The other country may expect UAE corporate tax registration.
• Which countries. The Ministry of Finance lists the UAE’s double taxation agreements on its International Treaties Dashboard.
• Checking a certificate. A certificate can be verified on the FTA’s certificate verification page or by scanning its barcode.