I Moved My Consulting to a UAE Free Zone — Honest 12-Month Review

I've seen a lot of hype about UAE company setup so here's an actual account of my experience after 12 months.

Background: UK-based consultant, was paying ~45% effective tax. Moved to Dubai, set up an IFZA free zone company.

What worked: The setup itself was genuinely fast. Licence took 6 days. Visa took 3 weeks including the medical. Emirates ID came 2 weeks after that. IFZA's customer service was decent.

Tax situation: My effective rate dropped to ~8% (9% CT only applies above AED 375K, I'm just over that threshold). The 0% personal income tax is real and permanent.

What nobody tells you: Banking is actually hard. I tried ADCB first — rejected after 6 weeks with no explanation. Got in with Wio Bank digitally in 3 days, then opened a Mashreq Neo account.

The "AED 5,750 licence" posts are misleading. My actual year 1 cost: licence AED 13,200 (IFZA standard), flexi-desk AED 7,500, visa AED 5,900, medical + Emirates ID AED 850, PRO AED 2,500. Total: ~AED 30,000.

Substance matters now. If you're using a UAE company to claim 0% tax while actually living elsewhere, the CT rules around qualifying free zone income have real teeth.

Would I do it again: Yes. The tax saving is real and the lifestyle works for me. But go in with realistic expectations on banking and cost.