UAE E-Commerce Licence

Free zone or mainland, for online selling

• Free zone — international sales and intra-zone, with full foreign ownership and packaged office options
• Mainland — permits selling directly to UAE customers, which is the point for most e-commerce
• A free zone company can reach UAE customers through a mainland distributor, at a margin cost
• Delivering goods to mainland customers from a free zone warehouse raises customs and duty questions
• For a business whose customers are in the UAE, mainland is usually the correct answer

What the licence does not cover

The licence permits the activity. It does not by itself deal with the products you sell, and product-specific approvals apply on top.

Food, cosmetics, health supplements, medical devices and electronics each carry their own registration and labelling requirements. Selling a regulated product under a general e-commerce licence without the product approval is a separate contravention.

Tax registration

• Value added tax registration once taxable supplies cross the mandatory threshold
• Voluntary registration available at a lower threshold, useful where input VAT is significant
• Corporate tax registration, since the UAE now levies federal corporate tax
• Free zone companies may qualify for a zero corporate tax rate on qualifying income, subject to substance conditions
• E-commerce specific VAT rules apply to the place of supply, particularly for digital services

Payment gateways and banking

A payment gateway requires the licence, a corporate bank account and, usually, a live website meeting the provider’s requirements on terms, refund policy and contact information.

Banking is the constraint. Account opening for a newly licensed company frequently takes longer than the licence itself, and payment gateway approval depends on it, so the sequence should be planned rather than assumed.

How we handle it

1. 1 Choosing the jurisdiction We establish where your customers are, since that decides between free zone and mainland more than cost does.
2. 2 Activity selection The e-commerce activity is selected along with any product-specific activity your catalogue requires.
3. 3 Licence application The trade name is reserved and the licence application filed with the authority.
4. 4 Product approvals Where you sell regulated products, the separate registrations are pursued.
5. 5 Banking and gateway Bank account opening is supported and the payment gateway application prepared once the account exists.
6. 6 Tax registration Corporate tax registration is completed and VAT registration handled at the appropriate threshold.

Frequently asked questions