UAE tax residency now?

[Alenka]

Hello everyone, I'm curious if I'm still able to obtain a personal UAE tax residency for 2021. I will make a company there.

I read that need to visit UAE at a time per 180 days. But now is the 7th month, so I can visit UAE only one time this year.

Am I still able to obtain it for this year?

 

[troubled soul]

https://www.tax.gov.ae/en/TRC
You can ask them directly.
What is your requirement ?
They will help you.

Regarding this TRC , Rules are very confusing.

In 2020 it works (few days per 6 month ), but in future nobody know. It is better to spend at least 182 days in Dubai. To avoid any future headache. (It is personal opinion)

 

[Alenka]

https://www.tax.gov.ae/en/TRC
You can ask them directly.
What is your requirement ?
They will help you.

Regarding this TRC , Rules are very confusing.

In 2020 it works (few days per 6 month ), but in future nobody know. It is better to spend at least 182 days in Dubai. To avoid any future headache. (It is personal opinion)

Thank you! Yea, a few days per 6 months. But it's already 7/12 months. I asked them, will see.

 

[Fred]

Hello everyone, I'm curious if I'm still able to obtain a personal UAE tax residency for 2021. I will make a company there.

I read that need to visit UAE at a time per 180 days. But now is the 7th month, so I can visit UAE only one time this year.

Am I still able to obtain it for this year?

Hi Alenka,

it depends of your current situation and even if you have right now any tax residence.

You can still get the Tax Residence for this year in the UAE if you build enough substance.

However from what I read inbetween the lines you are more referring to a Tax Residence Certificate and because of this I ask about your personal situation. If you are travelling around and doesn't have any Tax Residence at all then there won't be any need for this year of any Tax Residence Certificate at all. If you plan to relocate from lets say a high tax EU country then you have eventually already full tax liability there for this year depending when the tax year starts in your current home country. In this case the Tax Residence Certificate in the UAE won't help anything at all.

 

[Alenka]

Hi Alenka,

it depends of your current situation and even if you have right now any tax residence.

You can still get the Tax Residence for this year in the UAE if you build enough substance.

However from what I read inbetween the lines you are more referring to a Tax Residence Certificate and because of this I ask about your personal situation. If you are travelling around and doesn't have any Tax Residence at all then there won't be any need for this year of any Tax Residence Certificate at all. If you plan to relocate from lets say a high tax EU country then you have eventually already full tax liability there for this year depending when the tax year starts in your current home country. In this case the Tax Residence Certificate in the UAE won't help anything at all.

Hi!

I had lived for 120 days in Belarus(my home country, resident of Belarus), 21 days in Russia, and 46 days in Georgia. I still didn't obtain tax residency anywhere this year. But I must obtain any tax residency because otherwise I will be counted as Belarus tax resident.

if an individual is not a tax resident of any state, including the Republic of Belarus, then he is recognized as a tax resident of the Republic of Belarus, if in the calendar year for which tax residence is determined, he has citizenship of the Republic of Belarus or a residence permit in the Republic of Belarus

2 days will be enough for substance and tax residency?

 

[Fred]

Hi!

I had lived for 120 days in Belarus(my home country, resident of Belarus), 21 days in Russia, and 46 days in Georgia. I still didn't obtain tax residency anywhere this year. But I must obtain any tax residency because otherwise I will be counted as Belarus tax resident.

if an individual is not a tax resident of any state, including the Republic of Belarus, then he is recognized as a tax resident of the Republic of Belarus, if in the calendar year for which tax residence is determined, he has citizenship of the Republic of Belarus or a residence permit in the Republic of Belarus

Fine. That's not a hard case. Make sure you spend more then 120 days in the UAE so for this year you have more ties in the UAE then to Belarus when it comes to the days of stays.

However do you still have substance in Belarus with Apartment, Bills and Bank Accounts in your name? Then you need to reduce or in best case cancel this substance asap. So that it's much harder for Belarus to go after you. You should go as far as nothing is left in ties to Belarus beside of your Citizenship.

2 days will be enough for substance and tax residency?

No - that's only enough to keep the closed working system of Dubai Company with Residence Visa and local UAE Business & Personal Account active. That's usual enough to have your Business & Finance centre in the UAE and keep travelling and staying abroad to not create any substance or tax liability in your home country. However if Belarus force you to establish a Tax Residence somewhere lese we need to know the exact conditions they have and how hard it's enforced. If you don't have anything to hide you can consult at least with EU country tax authorities of your home country directly and ask what they want to see to let you from the line.

 

[Konstanz]

Hi!

I had lived for 120 days in Belarus(my home country, resident of Belarus), 21 days in Russia, and 46 days in Georgia. I still didn't obtain tax residency anywhere this year. But I must obtain any tax residency because otherwise I will be counted as Belarus tax resident.

if an individual is not a tax resident of any state, including the Republic of Belarus, then he is recognized as a tax resident of the Republic of Belarus, if in the calendar year for which tax residence is determined, he has citizenship of the Republic of Belarus or a residence permit in the Republic of Belarus

2 days will be enough for substance and tax residency?

2 days will not work 100%. Belarus has double tax treaty with UAE. Belarus tax agency will ask you to provide TAX RESIDENCE CERTIFICATE. If you cannot provide it, nothing will work. Because they will say you are not tax residence elsewhere.

On paper you have to spend 180+ days in UAE. In other case, you can stay less, lets say 3-4 months also have some other serious substance, wife , kids in Emirates. Real estate in Emirates etc..

 

[Alenka]

2 days will not work 100%. Belarus has double tax treaty with UAE. Belarus tax agency will ask you to provide TAX RESIDENCE CERTIFICATE. If you cannot provide it, nothing will work. Because they will say you are not tax residence elsewhere.

On paper you have to spend 180+ days in UAE. In other case, you can stay less, lets say 3-4 months also have some other serious substance, wife , kids in Emirates. Real estate in Emirates etc..

So UAE doesn't give tax residence certificate for 2 days spent? I've seen that some people on the forum do that. Or in case I'm resident of Belarus it won't work? Anyway, thank you so much for your answer. I sold all my substance in Belarus.

 

[uplana]

So UAE doesn't give tax residence certificate for 2 days spent?

if that works, it's awesome. Will be waiting for someone to confirm.

 

[Konstanz]

So UAE doesn't give tax residence certificate for 2 days spent? I've seen that some people on the forum do that. Or in case I'm resident of Belarus it won't work? Anyway, thank you so much for your answer. I sold all my substance in Belarus.

2 times a year will let you renew your Residence CARD. Residence card basically is Residence Permit / Visa. Certificate of Tax residence, which will ask Belarus tax agency is totally different document. You will have to ask for it Dubai tax agency, and rules are quite strict to get it (180+ days to stay or serious substance in country + stay 4~ months)
There is a MYTH online that 2 times a year gives you Dubai tax residence. It's false. You will need much more than that

 

[Fred]

So UAE doesn't give tax residence certificate for 2 days spent?

Yes - if that would be the case the UAE tax residence certificate would be as useful as toilet paper as no tax authority would recognize it.

However for most nationalities it's enough to be just 2 days a year in the UAE and travel else around in several countries without spending much time in the home country.

In your case it's different as you claim you are Belarus Tax Resident even spending no days there till you have somewhere else Tax Residency claimed.

To be honest I can't imagine it's really like that.

 

[Konstanz]

Yes - if that would be the case the UAE tax residence certificate would be as useful as toilet paper as no tax authority would recognize it.

However for most nationalities it's enough to be just 2 days a year in the UAE and travel else around in several countries without spending much time in the home country.

In your case it's different as you claim you are Belarus Tax Resident even spending no days there till you have somewhere else Tax Residency claimed.

To be honest I can't imagine it's really like that.

If an individual is not a tax resident of any state, one should be treated as a tax resident in Belarus if one has Belarusian citizenship or a residence permit in Belarus.
Source

 

[Fred]

If an individual is not a tax resident of any state, one should be treated as a tax resident in Belarus if one has Belarusian citizenship or a residence permit in Belarus.
Source

Thanks for doing the Google part for me.

Well then there is no shortcut for Belarus citizen at all as everywhere a Residence Certificate can be obtained with 180 days only.

Cyprus is from the table non-EU citizen - even the Brits struggling right now with the Cyprus simply non-dom due to Brexit. So maybe with the common non-dom through Cyprus Company Formation but with this they most likely don't give in the first year after 60 days but after 180 days so again the same outcome and you can go directly with UAE to save up on any taxes and bureaucracy.

 

[Konstanz]

Thanks for doing the Google part for me.

Well then there is no shortcut for Belarus citizen at all as everywhere a Residence Certificate can be obtained with 180 days only.

Cyprus is from the table non-EU citizen - even the Brits struggling right now with the Cyprus simply non-dom due to Brexit. So maybe with the common non-dom through Cyprus Company Formation but with this they most likely don't give in the first year after 60 days but after 180 days so again the same outcome and you can go directly with UAE to save up on any taxes and bureaucracy.

Not entirely true.
There are many countries you can get Residence Certificate without being 180+ days if you have substance or EVEN JUST registered in the country. However, with Belarus passport is tricky if you don't have lots of money
Or you can buy citizenship in other country and renaunce Belarus citizenship. It much depends how much money you have and ready to spend on your new residence

 

[Fred]

Not entirely true.
There are many countries you can get Residence Certificate without being 180+ days if you have substance or EVEN JUST registered in the country.

Mention them so that the OP has some support in his situation and can combine this countries with a setup of Dubai Company with Residence Visa and local UAE Bank Accounts.

 

[Konstanz]

Mention them so that the OP has some support in his situation and can combine this countries with a setup of Dubai Company with Residence Visa and local UAE Bank Accounts.

Most countries in Shengen don't track days in practice.
There are some programs in Latvia, Estonia , Lithuania , Poland for newcomers from Belarus, but you will have to pay tax.
There is Switzerland and other expensive options like Andorra. But this would be difficult with Belarus passport.
Georgia ? Montenegro? Serbia? I don't think they track days if you have property.

Actually requirement of physical presence and ability to track easy is the main problem with UAE. Not many UHNWI would like to sit "stuck" in UAE. UAE is more for low profile individuals who don't need tax residence certificate and just resident card is enough or ready to spend 180 days in UAE.
You will also need rent/buy apartment in UAE. Also you will HAVE TO HAVE personal bank account to be able to get tax residence certificate. With Belarus passport it can be tricky.
That's why they choose other options like Switzerland.


Anyway, if I would be Belarusian and have money I would buy St Kitts passport for example and just buy some property in St Kitts and then live winter in St Kitts and rest time Europe/Russia/Belarus etc. It will be soon impossible to do business with Belarussian passport because of EU sanctions..

 

[Gamblord]

My understanding is that the certificate doesn't matter and will not help you much at all to escape tax liabilities. What's more important is that you are not a tax resident of the high tax country and that you are a tax resident of UAE by virtue of having property, business, family, time spent there

 

[Alenka]

Mention them so that the OP has some support in his situation and can combine this countries with a setup of Dubai Company with Residence Visa and local UAE Bank Accounts.

Most countries in Shengen don't track days in practice.
There are some programs in Latvia, Estonia , Lithuania , Poland for newcomers from Belarus, but you will have to pay tax.
There is Switzerland and other expensive options like Andorra. But this would be difficult with Belarus passport.
Georgia ? Montenegro? Serbia? I don't think they track days if you have property.

Actually requirement of physical presence and ability to track easy is the main problem with UAE. Not many UHNWI would like to sit "stuck" in UAE. UAE is more for low profile individuals who don't need tax residence certificate and just resident card is enough or ready to spend 180 days in UAE.
You will also need rent/buy apartment in UAE. Also you will HAVE TO HAVE personal bank account to be able to get tax residence certificate. With Belarus passport it can be tricky.
That's why they choose other options like Switzerland.


Anyway, if I would be Belarusian and have money I would buy St Kitts passport for example and just buy some property in St Kitts and then live winter in St Kitts and rest time Europe/Russia/Belarus etc. It will be soon impossible to do business with Belarussian passport because of EU sanctions..

Thank you guys for your answers. As I understand now the best way for me is to obtain Georgian tax residency because I've already spent here 46 days and taxes aren't so much. At the same time, due to problems with reverse VAT tax that's not good jurisdiction as I need to send money to Russia and Belarus.
I see the solution is to make Irish LP with Free Zone Georgia company, make LP as a pass-through entity to Georgia Free Zone company. I'm interested if it works with no reverse VAT. Will ask on Tuesday tax expert. Maybe you see any other good solutions for that?

 

[Fred]

Thank you guys for your answers. As I understand now the best way for me is to obtain Georgian tax residency because I've already spent here 46 days and taxes aren't so much. At the same time, due to problems with reverse VAT tax that's not good jurisdiction as I need to send money to Russia and Belarus.
I see the solution is to make Irish LP with Free Zone Georgia company, make LP as a pass-through entity to Georgia Free Zone company. I'm interested if it works with no reverse VAT. Will ask on Tuesday tax expert. Maybe you see any other good solutions for that?

Georgia Free Zone companies are very difficult and only real IT companies get approved nowadays. Because of this we have a lot of clients shifting to Dubai Freezone.

There are clients they got approved for Free Zone as IT company in the past and now have issues with banking as the banks claim they are no real IT company and new companies get even not approved for the same reason that they claim to be IT company not because they are in IT but to avoid taxation.
So you need to consult with a Georgian Lawyer as well and most likely you can't incorporate tax free in a IT Free Zone as you want to become Resident in Georgia.

 

[backpacker]

Georgia ? Montenegro? Serbia? I don't think they track days if you have property.

Georgia definitely tracks the days of your stay in the country. Georgian Revenue Service (RS) has a direct link to border police. Every time an ordinary certificate of tax residency is requested the first thing RS does is to contact border control in order to check for the exact number of days which the requestor spent on the territory of Georgia.