Moving to UAE because of crazy taxes in my country (France) - Misc questions

[SasuT]

Hello! This is my first message here.
I already learnt so much on this forum, so first of all thanks for the content.

Here is my situation :
I have a company (SASU) in France since I was 19 years old (I'm 23 now). I NEVER paid taxes yet because :
- I was in a "free zone" (ZFU) = no IS (corporate taxes) during 5 years.
- I NEVER paid myself, all the money I made is STILL in the company bank account since the beginning = no dividend, no salary, no tax because no money out from the company.

Anyway, I know that all the money I made in France (around 400K) will be taxed because I'll have to get it out at some point! So this money - ok, I can't escape the taxes, no problem, I will pay.

But I'm thinking of the future. France, it's minimum 45-50%.. (even more) of taxes if you give yourself a salary. So I definetely DON'T want to continue my business here. I do online consulting (B2B) and I run another business, also online (B2C).

I found Dubai, a lot of French are here so I documented myself and decided to create my company here, in a free zone. Of course, I'm with an agency that handles the company creation, visa etc..



Anyway, my questions :

- The money I made in France, I can do nothing to "escape" the taxes, right ? I think I'll just pay myself a dividend and will pay the 30% flat tax of the 400K. Someone told me to look into a system where I bill my SASU company (France) from my UAE company. Seems tricky.

- Any payments processors to recommend once I'm installed in the UAE ? (excluding Stripe)

- Bank account (personal/professional) - Needs a minimum deposit ? If so, how much approximately ?

- Once I have my company, bank account.. everything in UAE. Ready to operate. What obligations do I have to respect in term of papers/declarations ? Annual audit? Tax declaration ? (with the new 9% corporate tax) --- It's still unclear for me

- Very important : Will I be considered UAE fiscal resident if I live more than 6 months in Dubai during the period from 01/01/2024 to 31/12/2024 ?
Let me rephrase this : Will I be considered non-French resident ? Because in fact, I'll still have my SASU in France. I'm afraid France consideres me as a French fiscal resident because of it.
Apart from this, I have no real estate, no vehicles, I'm not married... nothing of that in France.
All I have is my company (SASU), personal/business bank account, an office (rent), and an accountant.

EDIT : I forgot to clarify. But my SASU will make NO MONEY at all. All the money I'll make will be with my UAE company.
Why keep my SASU? Good question, in fact. I'm not sure myself, but I probably want to keep my SASU opened (minimum for 2024) just in case. But I'll probably don't use it at all.

So.. Do I risk something? My main company will be in UAE, I'll live in UAE (+6 months/year), I'll receive salary from my UAE company.. (first time of my life receiving a salary btw!)
It's not enough to not be considered as French fiscal resident anymore ?


Thank you so much in advance. I love reading this forum I learn so much from it.
Have a nice day

 

[jafo]

Have you ever been to the UAE?

You should at least visit and see what you will be working with there.

PS. Oh, and France will get REALLY upset if you move to the UAE directly, notwithstanding the assurances of lawyers and accountants...even if you give them everything.

 

[meze99]

Perhaps you'd better move to Andorra first? French taxman should be less suspicious. In any case you need to find an expert in France who handled similar cases (theory not equals practise). You shouldn't trust some random guy on a forum/youtube.

 

[SasuT]

Have you ever been to the UAE?

You should at least visit and see what you will be working with there.

PS. Oh, and France will get REALLY upset if you move to the UAE directly, notwithstanding the assurances of lawyers and accountants...even if you give them everything.

Yep, I've been there 3 times to visit (3 months in total).

Mmh, really? That's not rassuring. I'll probably have a fiscal control soon then lol.

Perhaps you'd better move to Andorra first? French taxman should be less suspicious. In any case you need to find an expert in France who handled similar cases (theory not equals practise). You shouldn't trust some random guy on a forum/youtube.

Got it.
In fact, I never heard any stories where people who moved from France to UAE directly (and they are a lot) faced problems with taxmen.
But we're never too sure, better see with an expert about this, you're right.

----------------

Thanks for the answers, if you have anything to add feel free (also about my other questions).
Thanks in advance

 

[Konstanz]

I suggest firtly move to some EU country and after the year to UAE or as other person said to Andorra

 

[Cloudbanck]

I suggest firtly move to some EU country and after the year to UAE or as other person said to Andorra

Legally (beside DTAs, and Monaco) it does not seem to make a difference which country a French resident and citizen moves to. But in practice wouldnt be surprised if a french person moving to the UAE was checked more thoroughly than someone moving to say Spain.

And if you are moving within the EU first, how about southern Italy. With the inpatriate regime business owners and employees get a 90% tax reduction on their income if they meet some (not so difficult) criteria.

Or how about a place like Guinea Conakry, Burkina Faso, or Benin. It's like you put your tax residency there, and you are gone, unless you are super high profile, France will have no way of receiving information about you from local authorities.

 

[SasuT]

Interesting. I’ll make some research about it.
So if I’m right, they’ll probably consider me as a french fiscal resident even if I have nothing in France except my company ?

If someone can answer my other questions (that I posted in my initial message) that would be awesome
And again thank you for answers, you guys are awesome

 

[karishi]

- Very important : Will I be considered UAE fiscal resident if I live more than 6 months in Dubai during the period from 01/01/2024 to 31/12/2024 ?
Let me rephrase this : Will I be considered non-French resident ? Because in fact, I'll still have my SASU in France. I'm afraid France consideres me as a French fiscal resident

So every country have a different legislation on what happens to people moving to blacklisted ( for people ) countries, but generally for a certain amount of years, maybe 3, it depends, you have to prove the fiscal agency that you were resident in duabi and not the opposite IF THEY INVESTIGATE YOU. So that would mean that to be super safe, you would need to spend 183+1 day in UAE, although, in my opinion, since you have never paid taxes and have nothing in France, they basically can do nothing to you. So I would say that in your case it's more important to exit france properly and start worrying when you come back. This means basically staying in france the less you can, if you have an ejari in Dubai and spend more time in Dubai than france, you should be safe, since you did the wise move to be a ghost until now. But given that it's the 5th of June, well, you would need to stay in dubai for the next 6 months! Just to be on the safe side. So as usual this is a gray zone and it's all about risk/reward and what life you want to do.
If you move to dubai, open a company there, syphoon money out of the french company slowly, never ever go back to france except for 3 months a year, have a TRC in Dubai ( so Ejeari + 90 days ) you should be on the safe side, and I really don't think that france could do much, as you have nothing in france. And like if you saved 400k in 4 years you are below the threshold of suspect, usually.
In Dubai no taxes if you have a freezone company, even with corporate tax. Choose people that help you wisely, in Dubai is european f**k european Always double check whatever they tell you. Even if they f**k you, it's all experience. Banks are bad but the minimum is 1500$
Stay out of france for 10 year, have fun, make lots of money, you should not have many troubles.

 

[SasuT]

So every country have a different legislation on what happens to people moving to blacklisted ( for people ) countries, but generally for a certain amount of years, maybe 3, it depends, you have to prove the fiscal agency that you were resident in duabi and not the opposite IF THEY INVESTIGATE YOU. So that would mean that to be super safe, you would need to spend 183+1 day in UAE, although, in my opinion, since you have never paid taxes and have nothing in France, they basically can do nothing to you. So I would say that in your case it's more important to exit france properly and start worrying when you come back. This means basically staying in france the less you can, if you have an ejari in Dubai and spend more time in Dubai than france, you should be safe, since you did the wise move to be a ghost until now. But given that it's the 5th of June, well, you would need to stay in dubai for the next 6 months! Just to be on the safe side. So as usual this is a gray zone and it's all about risk/reward and what life you want to do.
If you move to dubai, open a company there, syphoon money out of the french company slowly, never ever go back to france except for 3 months a year, have a TRC in Dubai ( so Ejeari + 90 days ) you should be on the safe side, and I really don't think that france could do much, as you have nothing in france. And like if you saved 400k in 4 years you are below the threshold of suspect, usually.
In Dubai no taxes if you have a freezone company, even with corporate tax. Choose people that help you wisely, in Dubai is european f**k european Always double check whatever they tell you. Even if they f**k you, it's all experience. Banks are bad but the minimum is 1500$
Stay out of france for 10 year, have fun, make lots of money, you should not have many troubles.

Thanks for the answer, that’s a bit more reassuring!

open a company there, syphoon money out of the french company slowly,

About this, how exactly should I transfer the money, in your opinion? Dividend from my french company to my UAE personal bank account?

 

[JustAnotherNomad]

- The money I made in France, I can do nothing to "escape" the taxes, right ? I think I'll just pay myself a dividend and will pay the 30% flat tax of the 400K. Someone told me to look into a system where I bill my SASU company (France) from my UAE company. Seems tricky.

Look into cross-border mergers. Maybe you can set up a company in another EU country like Romania, Bulgaria or Malta, and then you merge that company with your French company. There's a chance you can save a lot of taxes that way, but I'm not sure. You could also move to that country for a year or two, before moving to the UAE.
But you'll need very good advisors who are licensed to advise on French law. Don't go with some random guy from the internet, or at least double check everything they tell you with a French tax lawyer.

 

[karishi]

About this, how exactly should I transfer the money, in your opinion? Dividend from my french company to my UAE personal bank account?

Every country has a hard limit which doesn't trigger any signal to the tax authority, in Italy is 10k euro for a wire. If you have a contract to do a website from your old company to the new one, that would be a first way to move some money to the new company. As long as there is a contract is ok.... Once you are resident outside, with provable residence outside, just distribute dividends very slowly. I mean, we are not talking about 40 millions euro.
Of course be aware that there is risk involved, just make sure that the WORST you ever risk is a fine. A fine is annoying, but it's only a fine. If you have done 400k between 19 and 23, you will make more, so a fine is not a big issue. Making fake documents is a criminal offence and gets you to jail. Always be aware of what you risk and if you are ok in risking it, at 23 everybody tends to be on the optimistic side, my advice is, always do something you are comfortable with and NEVER EVER do something which might get you in jail. So no darks or stuff like that.
At the end of the day, even if you paid french taxes on all the 400k, you would have 200k to spend in Dubai, and probably a lot more to make in the future, so act wisely

 

[BarleyMalt]

Interesting. I’ll make some research about it.
So if I’m right, they’ll probably consider me as a french fiscal resident even if I have nothing in France except my company ?

If someone can answer my other questions (that I posted in my initial message) that would be awesome
And again thank you for answers, you guys are awesome

You should sever all ties, meaning that you need to close your company, or have it bought back and then its IP moved to the buyer company. You're young, but if you have a wife, she should come with you, same for kids.

If you have 0 clients in France, you could move to UAE this way. However if your main market is France, then the taxman may draw you back, so the best way is to move to a place with lower taxation, but inside the EU. Cyprus is not bad, but you could also move somewhere else, like Portugal.

Because you'll get a fat dividend, you could just live off it anyway, and not have to pay any taxes. Then you can move to Dubai - beware of the new 9% corporate income tax.

tl;dr hire a lawyer and stay quiet on social networks.

 

[SasuT]

Because you'll get a fat dividend, you could just live off it anyway, and not have to pay any taxes.

I’m not sure if I understood this correctly how do I not pay taxes on the dividend ?

Every country has a hard limit which doesn't trigger any signal to the tax authority, in Italy is 10k euro for a wire. If you have a contract to do a website from your old company to the new one, that would be a first way to move some money to the new company. As long as there is a contract is ok.... Once you are resident outside, with provable residence outside, just distribute dividends very slowly. I mean, we are not talking about 40 millions euro.
Of course be aware that there is risk involved, just make sure that the WORST you ever risk is a fine. A fine is annoying, but it's only a fine. If you have done 400k between 19 and 23, you will make more, so a fine is not a big issue. Making fake documents is a criminal offence and gets you to jail. Always be aware of what you risk and if you are ok in risking it, at 23 everybody tends to be on the optimistic side, my advice is, always do something you are comfortable with and NEVER EVER do something which might get you in jail. So no darks or stuff like that.
At the end of the day, even if you paid french taxes on all the 400k, you would have 200k to spend in Dubai, and probably a lot more to make in the future, so act wisely

Thanks
I was thinking about this yes (about billing my companies between them), but to be honest I want to reduce risks at maximum and I think I’ll not even do it.

I might pay the 30% flat tax for the dividend and that’s it. I only hope I’ll have no problem with french taxmen that will consider me as french resident somehow but I’ll do my best to reduce the risks. I’ll close my french company as soon as I paid the dividend, I think.

For now I never heard a story of someone that moved to France to UAE directly who had a problem with french taxmen, but I understand that it means nothing. Still should be aware and reduce the risks.
I will take the risk to move directly France -> UAE. I’ll let you know if I faced a problem in the next years xd

If you have anything to add feel free y’all. I really enjoy reading you and learn.

Have a nice day.

 

[BarleyMalt]

I’m not sure if I understood this correctly how do I not pay taxes on the dividend ?


Thanks
I was thinking about this yes (about billing my companies between them), but to be honest I want to reduce risks at maximum and I think I’ll not even do it.

I might pay the 30% flat tax for the dividend and that’s it. I only hope I’ll have no problem with french taxmen that will consider me as french resident somehow but I’ll do my best to reduce the risks. I’ll close my french company as soon as I paid the dividend, I think.

For now I never heard a story of someone that moved to France to UAE directly who had a problem with french taxmen, but I understand that it means nothing. Still should be aware and reduce the risks.
I will take the risk to move directly France -> UAE. I’ll let you know if I faced a problem in the next years xd

If you have anything to add feel free y’all. I really enjoy reading you and learn.

Have a nice day.

Once you have paid cattle tax in France, you can live for a year with 0 income, as you'll already have the money.

 

[Mercury]

If your goal is just paying less tax, you can do so even staying in France: move to Wallis et Futuna (French overseas collectivity) for at least 6 months to get proper residence then cash out your company profits tax-free.

Cherry on cake: no income/corporate/capital gains tax, free healthcare, beach & sun, chill life and low cost of living.

 

[zzzzzz]

If your goal is just paying less tax, you can do so even staying in France: move to Wallis et Futuna (French overseas collectivity) for at least 6 months to get proper residence then cash out your company profits tax-free.

Cherry on cake: no income/corporate/capital gains tax, free healthcare, beach & sun, chill life and low cost of living.

I heard residents like the music of Fine Young Cannibals.

 

[bonox]

I heard residents like the music of Fine Young Cannibals.

??? Are you Stupid ?

 

[Konstanz]

If your goal is just paying less tax, you can do so even staying in France: move to Wallis et Futuna (French overseas collectivity) for at least 6 months to get proper residence then cash out your company profits tax-free.

Cherry on cake: no income/corporate/capital gains tax, free healthcare, beach & sun, chill life and low cost of living.

Or you can do Saint Barthelemy. But I think they would still tax him if his income is from continental France clients

 

[Marzio]

you can do Saint Barthelemy

He will still have to pay taxes in France for 5 years after moving there

 

[Konstanz]

He will still have to pay taxes in France for 5 years after moving there

Unless he buy company which is already 5 years old. But I think Saint Barthelemy is much nicer place than Wallis and Futuna in Pacific.