UAE Tax Residency: Who Qualifies and How to Get a TRC

A UAE residence visa and UAE tax residency are different statuses, and a visa on its own does not entitle you to a Tax Residency Certificate (TRC). The gap shows up at the worst moment - when a bank or a foreign tax authority asks to confirm that a person or company actually pays tax in the UAE, and there is nothing to show.

Below: who qualifies as a UAE tax resident by law, how the 183-day and 90-day thresholds differ, how much a TRC costs and takes to issue, and why the 90-day threshold does not work for most foreigners on an ordinary residence visa.

Who qualifies as a UAE tax resident

The rules are set by Cabinet Decision No. 85 of 2022 (Articles 3 and 4), in effect since 1 March 2023. For individuals the law names three independent grounds, any one of which is sufficient.

First - the person spent 183 days or more in the UAE over the preceding 12 months. This ground does not require any particular visa type or nationality - only physical presence in the country.

Second - the person spent between 90 and 182 days in the UAE over 12 months, and is a UAE national, a GCC national, or a UAE residence-visa holder with a permanent home, employment or business in the country. This is the key limitation: the 90-day threshold is not a benefit open to every foreigner, it is a condition for those already established in the UAE through residence status and real activity. A tourist or a person on a visa without a permanent home and employment in the UAE does not get residency through the 90-day threshold, even having spent that many days in the country.

Third - the person's main home and the centre of their vital and financial interests are in the UAE, and this is sufficient regardless of the number of days present - though in practice this ground requires more documentation and a more subjective FTA assessment than a straight day count.

For companies the test is different: a legal entity is a UAE tax resident if it is incorporated (registered) in the UAE, or if its actual management and control are exercised from the UAE, even if it is registered elsewhere. The timing to apply for a TRC differs: a new company that has not yet filed a corporate tax return cannot apply earlier than 12 months after incorporation; other companies can apply for the desired tax period as early as 3 months after that period starts (FTA guide TPGTR1).

How days of presence are counted

This is where grounds and arithmetic get mixed up most often. Days within the 12-month period do not need to be consecutive - the FTA sums all days of presence within that window, in any order. At the same time, any part of a day spent in the UAE counts as a full day - meaning the day of arrival and the day of departure are both counted in full, not as halves.

This means a person who made several short trips to the UAE over a year can accumulate 90 or 183 days in total, even if no single visit was long. What matters is the sum of days over a rolling 12 months, not a calendar year and not one continuous period of residence.

Separately: exceptional circumstances - natural disasters, border closures, a sudden serious illness or injury - may be excluded by the FTA from the day count. If a person simply chose to extend their stay in the UAE (for example, for elective surgery), that is not an exceptional circumstance and those days count as usual. The decision rests with the authority: such days may be excluded from the count, not automatically excluded by law.

The TRC certificate: what it is and what it is for

A TRC confirms UAE tax resident status through an official FTA document - and only that. The certificate does not confirm that income has actually been taxed in the UAE, and it does not guarantee a benefit under a specific double tax treaty (DTT): applying the treaty benefit and recognising residency for treaty purposes is decided by the tax authority of the other country under its own rules, which may differ from the criteria of Cabinet Decision No. 85 of 2022. The certificate serves two different purposes, and the FTA treats them as separate application products.

First - claiming benefits under a DTT between the UAE and another country: the certificate is submitted as one of the grounds for the other country's tax authority to treat the person as a UAE tax resident.

Second - other purposes unrelated to a specific DTT: confirming status for a bank, a counterparty, or the company's own needs.

The certificate is not issued "for a year from the date of issue" - it is issued for the chosen tax period or for a 12-month period, past or current, never future and never longer than 12 months (FTA guide TPGTR1, "Tax Residency and Tax Residency Certificate"). A new application must be filed for each new period - there is no automatic renewal.

How much a TRC costs and how long it takes

The cost depends on who applies and whether the applicant is already registered with the FTA under their own tax registration number (TRN):

• application fee - AED 50, payable in all cases;
• electronic certificate for applicants already registered with the FTA with a TRN - AED 500;
• electronic certificate for individuals without FTA registration - AED 1,000;
• electronic certificate for legal entities without FTA registration - AED 1,750;
• paper copy of the certificate - AED 250 per copy, in addition to the electronic one.

Once the FTA approves the application, the issuance fee for the certificate itself (AED 500 / 1,000 / 1,750, depending on applicant status) must be paid within 30 business days - otherwise the application is cancelled, and the whole process has to start over: a new application filed, and the AED 50 fee paid again.

On timing: submitting the application through EmaraTax technically takes about 10 minutes if the documents are ready. The FTA then reviews a complete package within 10 business days. If a paper copy is needed, delivery adds another 5 business days after payment. Separately, if a specific country's international form needs to be stamped (not the general FTA certificate, but another jurisdiction's tax-authority form) - that is another 10 business days from receipt of the form.

Source: FTA page "Issuance of Tax Certificates" and FTA guide TPGTR1 "Tax Residency and Tax Residency Certificate". Checked against FTA on 14 October 2026.

Common mistakes

Treating a residence visa as equivalent to tax residency. A visa is the right to be and live in the UAE, while tax residency is a separate status confirmed either by days of presence or by centre of interests, and recorded in a separate TRC document. Fix: apply for a TRC only once one of the grounds in Cabinet Decision No. 85 is met.

Applying the 90-day threshold to any foreigner with a visa. The 90-day rule only works for UAE nationals, GCC nationals, and UAE residence-visa holders who already have a permanent home, employment or business in the country - everyone else needs either 183 days or a confirmed centre of vital and financial interests in the UAE (the third ground under Cabinet Decision No. 85 of 2022). Fix: check the applicant's category before calculating, otherwise count by the 183-day threshold or by centre of interests.

Counting days only for continuous periods of residence. The rule allows summing unrelated visits over 12 months. Fix: keep a record of all entries and exits over 12 months and count the total number of days, including partial ones.

Applying for a TRC for a new company before 12 months from incorporation. For a company that has not yet filed a corporate tax return, the FTA requires a minimum existence of 12 months before applying. For companies that have already filed a corporate tax return, the threshold is different - an application for the desired tax period can be filed 3 months after that period starts. Fix: for a new company, wait a full year from incorporation; for others, use the 3-month mark from the start of the chosen period.