Moving to Dubai

[Bluenose]

Dubai has now announced this. Looks like time for me to pack my bags!

Investors, innovators, artists to get UAE citizenship: Sheikh Mohammed - News | Khaleej Times

I am not the UAE's number one fan but this is a shrewd move by them and timed nicely to coincide with IR35 and Covid related WFH.

Not sure whether your SC/DV clearance gets scrubbed when you pledge an oath of allegiance to the UAE so i am assume this only works for non-SC/DV workers.

[TheGreenBastard]

Dubai has now announced this. Looks like time for me to pack my bags!

Investors, innovators, artists to get UAE citizenship: Sheikh Mohammed - News | Khaleej Times

Have you looked into Greece? They're doing something similar and I know where I'd rather be.

[BigDataPro]

I am not the UAE's number one fan but this is a shrewd move by them and timed nicely to coincide with IR35 and Covid related WFH.

Not sure whether your SC/DV clearance gets scrubbed when you pledge an oath of allegiance to the UAE so i am assume this only works for non-SC/DV workers.

Indeed it's a very shrewd move. But this will drive down the rate/salary being enjoyed right now by the British passport holders. Usually Brits gets paid nearly 30-40% more than the other nationalities.

This will certainly drive up the property market as more people from Asian countries would want to utilise this opportunity.

[BigDataPro]

Have you looked into Greece? They're doing something similar and I know where I'd rather be.

Yes. Correct. If I understand correctly, Greece golden visa requires at least €250K which will eventually lead to citizenship in 7 years time. But this one doesn't seem to have such limiting factors. I could be wrong though.

[Lance]

I am not the UAE's number one fan but this is a shrewd move by them and timed nicely to coincide with IR35 and Covid related WFH.

Not sure whether your SC/DV clearance gets scrubbed when you pledge an oath of allegiance to the UAE so i am assume this only works for non-SC/DV workers.

not necessarily scrubbed. It depends. As with all things SC.

Some SC roles require you to be a British national only.
Some are OK with you being bi.
All will require you inform the vetting people of your change in circumstance.

[ladymuck]

God, Could somebody tell him that there are plenty of roles outside SC and DV!!!

Maybe if we stop calling on deities and find a more reliable means of communication?

[Jolie]

I'm interested in hearing if you've made the move to Dubai. A lot of people in this thread didn't seem to understand what you were saying.

I'm in a similar position. I have my clients here in the UK and have minimal risk of losing my clients as hardly anyone can do what I do. I work from home and don't need to be in any fixed location. Like you, I also have no ties keeping me in the UK. I'm interested in moving to Dubai to be tax-free spending 3-5 years saving all my income.

As a sole individual that will be invoicing my clients here in the UK, what are my opinions to move to Dubai and benefit from zero tax? Honestly, I couldn't care about how a woman in Dubai is treated or what freedoms some people don't have. It's tax-free. I can rent a nice apartment for £2000 a month, hit the gym, do my own thing on my own, save £1m+ for retirement and retirer young.

Firstly, sorry for the late reply, I have been out of the loop completely all through the pandemic.

I did not make it to Dubai. March 2020. I had my work permit and a temporary rented apartment sorted out, flights booked and 2 weeks before I was due to fly, the government of Dubai shut the border due to Covid.

Do I still intend to make the move, absolutely. But my situation has changed, my main US client has withdrawn from the UK because of Covid, all UK staff including contractors were let go. I have my other business that has a US base, and although I lost a large amount of my income, I can still make it work.

The fears about Dubai are another subject for another time, but the benefits far outweigh the risks.

I would go for it. The only advice I would give is to rent for a short period so that you can decide if you like it or not, then buy a cheap apartment, which you can do as a foreign citizen. The issues around renting are not worth the hassle, and could land you in trouble. Buying a place removes that issue, and then you only have the maintenance charge (if you are in a high rise) and utilities (Dewa) which covers your water, sewage and elecric in one payment. If you do choose a high rise, choose one that has the air conditioning as part of the maintenance cost, then you won't be worrying about high electric bills.

Edit: You can get a decent long stay apartment in a hotel for £2000 a month, with all bills, maintenance charges, cleaners etc included, it's also something you can pay with your UK credit/debit card, which removes the rent risk. Check this out first before deciding to rent.

As for tax, depending on what sector you are in, you need to contact a free zone and obtain a work permit. I used https://gofreelance.ae which covers media, tech, design and education. Once you have the work permit then you are permitted to travel on a temporary visa, once you arrive you then pay for the work permit and apply for the residency visa. Then you can open a bank account and declare to the UK government that you are now a Dubai resident, at that time depending on what time of year you do this, you will have to submit a split tax return for the first and second year. After that it's tax free all the way, AS LONG AS you are complying with the rules on UK residency, which by the sound of it you will be.

You can return to the UK within the 5 year period, and retain all of your income tax free. However, if you have any capital gains from abroad, which includes property, shares and any other product that attracts it in the UK, then you will have to pay. If you stay past 5 years, then you get to keep it.

If you come back and read this, please let us know if you do decide to make the move.

[Jolie]

If you work in Dubai and give up your house in the UK, you can simply transfer it at any time. You will be resident in Dubai.

It's perfectly legal.

Kind of. You don't have to give up your home, just have no other ties, not be in the UK for more than the required days, and not live in the house for the required number of days.

[Jolie]

Only provided you spend 5 full years in Dubai.

Only capital gains, not income.

[Jolie]

It wouldn't surprise me if the additional costs of living in Dubai tax free exceeded the amount of tax you would pay in the UK.

It's a very similar cost to living in London, as I mentioned in an earlier post. However, even if it was, you would have to live a very extravagant life on a low income to burn through the benefits of no taxation.

Unless you are taking the whole family, have children, childcare and education costs, then forget it, it's not worth it. But if you're single, no children, no ties, no dependencies, than it's not a problem. The costs are healthcare, education, renewal of visa and your rent/property, that's it.

As has been pointed out before also, those who are employed by a UAE company are more at risk of falling into debt than someone running a business with foreign income, and who own their own property in Dubai.

There's currently only one issue with that, if you die while holding a UAE property, the property no longer belongs to you and reverts to the state. So I intend to buy a cheap apartment that I am prepared to lose in that situation.

Other than that, the savings in tax far outweigh the living costs.