Comprehensive Guide to UAE Free-Zone Business Compliance Under Ministerial Decision No. 229 of 2025

• Ministerial Decision No. 229 of 2025 provides guidelines for free-zone businesses in the UAE.
• It clarifies qualifying and excluded activities for the 0% corporate tax regime.
• Introduces a 51% guardrail to differentiate trading from distribution.
• Establishes a de-minimis safe harbour for revenue.
• Sets rules for qualifying IP with a 30% R&D uplift.
• Emphasizes the need for revenue-mix modeling, contract reviews, and audit alignment.
• Highlights the importance of compliance to maintain tax advantages.
• Urges businesses to test current models against new rules quickly.
• Defines core qualifying activities like manufacturing, commodity trading, and asset management.
• Provides an action plan and scenarios to illustrate application.

Source: nrdoshi.ae

Note that this post was (partially) written with the help of AI. It is always useful to review the original source material, and where needed to obtain (local) advice from a specialist.

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