Dubai vs Hong Kong: where your company should live if you don't
Hong Kong if your trade runs through Asia and you want the quickest, cheapest start: US$828, registered in about an hour, but audited every year.
A UAE free zone if you want a residence visa, clients in the Gulf, India or Africa, or a 0% that doesn't hinge on proving where profit was earned.
Dubai vs Hong Kong company, side by side
"Dubai" here means a UAE free zone company, the type a founder abroad can own outright and license without a trip. We add RAK ICC, the UAE's offshore company, because it is often the cheaper UAE answer when you don't need a licence to trade.
- Year one with us
- from AED 6,069
- Company tax
- 0% to AED 375,000, 9% above
- Ready
- Zone's timing; SHAMS about an hour
- Audit
- Only for 0% free zone status, or as the zone asks
- Residence visa
- Available through the company
- On Stripe
- Yes, with its trade licence
- Year one with us
- AED 7,709, same every year
- Company tax
- 0% to AED 375,000, 9% above
- Ready
- 2 working days from filing
- Audit
- None, unless above AED 50 million or claiming free zone 0%
- Residence visa
- No
- On Stripe
- No trade licence, so no
- Year one with us
- US$828
- Company tax
- 8.25% to HK$2 million, 16.5% above, on Hong Kong profit only
- Ready
- About 1 hour online
- Audit
- Every year, unless dormant
- Residence visa
- No, separate application
- On Stripe
- Yes
Heirson prices on each company page, November 2026. Tax rates from the UAE government portal and Hong Kong's Inland Revenue Department.
Hong Kong is cheaper to start and slower to run. The UAE costs more up front and asks less of you each year.
Your profit, taxed in the UAE and in Hong Kong
Put in a year's figures. The UAE side follows the corporate tax law and Small Business Relief; the Hong Kong side follows the two-tier rates and the territorial rule. Figures in US dollars at AED 3.6725 and about HK$7.8 to the dollar.
A guide to the rules, not tax advice. Your home country may tax the company or you on top; that is the subject of chapter 8.
Below AED 3 million of revenue, the UAE offers a 0% you elect. Hong Kong's 0% is a claim the tax office can test.
Two kinds of 0%: the UAE threshold and the Hong Kong offshore claim
UAE: a rate, a relief and a regime
- The rate. Every UAE company, free zone and RAK ICC included, pays 0% on the first AED 375,000 of taxable income and 9% on the rest.
- Small Business Relief. With revenue of AED 3 million or less, a company can elect to be treated as having no taxable income, for tax periods ending by 31 December 2029 (Ministerial Decision 131 of 2026). It still registers and files.
- Qualifying Free Zone Person. 0% on qualifying income at any size, but only with real substance in the zone, audited accounts, transfer pricing files and non-qualifying revenue under the lower of AED 5 million or 5%. Sales to individuals and most services fall outside it (FTA free zone bulletin).
Hong Kong: taxed where the profit arises
- The rate. 8.25% on the first HK$2 million of assessable profit and 16.5% above, with only one company in a connected group getting the lower tier.
- The territorial rule. Only Hong Kong-sourced profit is taxed. The IRD looks at what the company did to earn it and where. Contracts concluded from Hong Kong, even by email, count as Hong Kong (IRD guide on source).
- The offshore claim. You make it in the profits tax return, with documents, and the assessor can ask for full operating details (DIPN 21). It is a position you defend, not a box you tick.
A founder abroad selling services from home has a fact pattern that suits both: little or no Hong Kong activity, and revenue under the UAE relief limit. The difference is effort. In the UAE you elect the relief in the return. In Hong Kong you keep the evidence of where contracts were negotiated and signed, every year, and an audit sits behind the return. More detail: UAE tax and Hong Kong tax.
The UAE's small company 0% is written into the rules until 2029. Hong Kong's offshore 0% depends on your records.
How fast each one is ready
Speed of registration is the smaller part. In Hong Kong the next step is the bank account. In the UAE it is corporate tax registration, due within 3 months of incorporation for every company, with an AED 10,000 penalty for missing it; we file it inside your price.
Both can exist within days. The UAE adds a tax registration deadline in month three.
Dubai vs Hong Kong company costs, year one and after
| Year one | Each year after | Not included | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Hong Kong company | US$828, with HK$3,895 of government fees | US$289 plus HK$2,455 (business registration HK$2,350, annual return HK$105) | The yearly audit by a Hong Kong auditor |
| SHAMS free zone, media | from AED 6,069 (about US$1,653) | AED 299 plus SHAMS's renewal, which it does not publish | Visa, if you want one |
| Meydan free zone, non-resident licence | AED 12,809 (about US$3,488) | AED 299 plus Meydan's renewal, which it does not publish | Visa, if you want one |
| RAK ICC | AED 7,709 (about US$2,099) | AED 7,709 | Nothing for a standard company; tax return included |
Two numbers decide most of it. Hong Kong's yearly government fees come to about US$315, but the audit has to be bought every year from a registered auditor. In the UAE, the free zone's renewal is the big line, and two of the zones we offer do not publish it; we quote it before you choose. RAK ICC is the only one with a flat, published price for every year. Breakdowns: Hong Kong annual fees and UAE annual fees.
Compare renewals plus the audit, not the first-year headline.
Audit, accounts and the yearly filings
Hong Kong, each year
- Annual returnwithin 42 days of each incorporation anniversary, HK$105 on time, from HK$870 late
- Business registrationrenewed yearly, HK$2,350
- Auditevery company with income, unless dormant
- Profits tax returnthe first one about 18 months after incorporation, with audited accounts
UAE, each year
- Licence renewalwith the free zone; RAK ICC renews its registration
- Corporate tax returnwithin 9 months of the year end, nil and relief years too
- AccountsIFZA, for one, wants financial statements at renewal; simplified ones at AED 3 million or less with 9 or fewer staff
- Auditrequired to claim 0% free zone status, or above AED 50 million revenue
For a small company on Small Business Relief, the UAE year is a renewal and a return. The Hong Kong year is a return, an audit and the evidence for any offshore claim. That gap matters more to a solo founder than the tax rate.
Hong Kong audits every trading company. In the UAE, an audit comes with the 0% free zone regime, not with being small.
Bank accounts and Stripe
Hong Kong
The Hong Kong Association of Banks' guidance, published on the HKMA's site, says banks shouldn't refuse an account only because the directors live abroad. Traditional banks may still ask to meet you; payment providers usually onboard online. Our Hong Kong bank account guide has the detail.
UAE
A free zone company can bank in the UAE, but some banks ask for a residence visa or a visit in person, and we tell you which before you start. An international account is the other route. RAK ICC companies may keep a UAE account for routine operations. See the UAE company bank account guide.
Both Hong Kong and the UAE are on Stripe's list. A free zone company qualifies through its trade licence; a RAK ICC company does not have one. The full rules, including the passport-only rule for owners abroad, are on our Stripe supported countries page.
Hong Kong is easier to bank from abroad; the UAE is easier once you live there.
Substance, and where the company is really run
A company managed from your kitchen table is, in the eyes of many tax offices, managed from your country. That is the question both hubs leave to you.
- UAE. Economic substance reporting ended for periods after 2022. Substance now matters for the 0% free zone regime, which needs adequate people and activity in the zone.
- Hong Kong. No general substance test for a trading company. The foreign-sourced income rules ask for substance only when a company in a multinational group receives passive income such as dividends or interest from abroad.
- Your home country. Many countries tax a foreign company managed from there, or tax you on its undistributed profit. Ask an accountant at home before you choose, whichever hub it is.
Proof of residence differs too. A UAE free zone company can apply for a tax residency certificate after 12 months; the FTA says offshore companies such as RAK ICC are not eligible (our UAE tax residency certificate page explains). Hong Kong's IRD issues a certificate of resident status to claim a treaty, one per treaty per year, and says it does not guarantee the benefit.
The hub sets the company's tax. Where you sit sets whether your own country claims it too.
Visas, treaties and how each name reads to banks and clients
Living there
A free zone company can sponsor its owner's residence visa: RAKEZ's all-inclusive package, for one, includes a visa. The steps happen in the UAE: entry permit, medical test and Emirates ID biometrics (UAE residence visa rules). The UAE levies no income tax on individuals. A Hong Kong company gives no right to live in Hong Kong; that is a separate application to the Immigration Department, and salaries tax applies to work done there.
Treaties
How the name reads
Hong Kong reads as Asian trade, backed by common law courts. The UAE reads as the Gulf, with routes to India and Africa, and as a place people move to. Both are onshore companies with a tax return behind them. A RAK ICC company is the exception: it is an offshore company, and banks look more closely at offshore companies.
Pick one and we'll point you to the company.
Moving: the UAE. Trading with Asia: Hong Kong. Holding without trading: RAK ICC.
Dubai vs Hong Kong questions
Is Dubai or Hong Kong better for a company if I live abroad?
Is a Hong Kong company tax free if I live abroad?
Is a Dubai free zone company really 0% tax?
Which is cheaper to run, Hong Kong or the UAE?
Does a Hong Kong or UAE company need an audit?
Can I get a residence visa with either company?
Can I use Stripe with a Dubai or Hong Kong company?
Changelog
- 13 November 2026: first published, with UAE and Hong Kong rules and fees in force on that date.
Hong Kong or the UAE, formed without a trip.
Government fees at cost, tax registration and the yearly filings handled, bank account set up with you, paid in crypto once you have signed.