Tools · UAE Tax Residency
Cabinet Decision 85 of 2022. The three tests for UAE tax residency for natural persons — 183-day presence, 90-day presence + ties, or centre-of-vital-interests. Plus the FTA Tax Residency Certificate route.
Cabinet Decision 85 of 2022 sets out the tests for UAE tax residency for natural persons. A person is UAE tax-resident if any one of three tests is met:
Tax residency is the gateway to: (a) the 0% UAE personal-income-tax position; (b) UAE Tax Residency Certificate (TRC) issued by the FTA, used for treaty-based relief abroad; (c) potential exit-tax avoidance in the home jurisdiction; (d) interaction with UAE Corporate Tax (for individuals with business income above AED 1m).
Holding a Golden Visa or Green Visa does not by itself confer UAE tax residency — these are separate tests under separate decisions. Read the Golden Visa practice page →
Day-counting evidence: passport stamps, Emirates ID entry/exit log, UAE PASS records, hotel records (for short visits), employment records (for long stays). The FTA may request a contemporaneous file. We routinely structure pre-migration plans where the home-jurisdiction exit-test is exquisitely sensitive to the UAE establishment date.
Pre-migration planning, TRC applications, day-counting protocol design, treaty position.
Speak to a partner →The three tests for UAE tax residency for natural persons are the 183-day presence test, the 90-day presence + ties test, and the centre-of-vital-interests test. The 183-day test is the simplest and most commonly relied-on test. A person is UAE tax-resident if any one of these three tests is met.
The 90-day + ties test requires a person to be physically present in the UAE for 90 days or more in a 12-month period and have a UAE national, GCC national, or holder of a valid UAE residence permit status, as well as have either a permanent place of residence or carry on employment or business in the UAE. This test is one of the three tests for UAE tax residency. A valid UAE residence permit includes Golden, Green, or employment permits.
The centre-of-vital-interests test determines if the UAE is the person's place of habitual residence and the centre of their financial and personal interests. This test is one of the three tests for UAE tax residency. It considers factors such as family, social, and financial ties to the UAE.
The UAE Tax Residency Day Counter tool calculates the physical presence days in the UAE over a rolling 12-month period. To use the tool, input the period end date and status, including ties such as UAE national or GCC national, valid UAE residence permit, and permanent place of residence or employment in the UAE. The tool helps determine UAE tax residency status based on the 183-day, 90-day + ties, or centre-of-vital-interests tests.
Documents that can be used as evidence for day-counting for UAE tax residency include passport stamps, Emirates ID entry/exit log, UAE PASS records, hotel records for short visits, and employment records for long stays. The FTA may request a contemporaneous file to support the day-counting evidence. These documents help establish physical presence in the UAE for tax residency purposes.