My company isn't a UAE resident — exactly when does it fall under UAE corporate tax?

A non-resident falls under UAE corporate tax through one of three separate doors. The first is permanent establishment — either a fixed place of business such as an office, branch, workshop, or construction site lasting more than six months, or a dependent agent who habitually concludes contracts on the foreign company's behalf or plays the principal role in concluding them; purely preparatory or auxiliary activities, like market research, are excluded. The second is UAE-sourced income: a non-resident becomes taxable simply by deriving income sourced in the UAE, even without any physical presence there; the withholding tax rate on this kind of income currently stands at 0%, and registration generally isn't required if that's the only income involved.

The third and newer door is nexus through UAE immovable property — direct ownership or exploitation of real estate in the UAE, or interests in UAE-domiciled investment funds or partnerships connected to real estate — where liability attaches specifically to the property-linked income, not the company's entire activity. Which of the three doors applies changes the registration and filing obligations substantially. RASEEKH analyzes non-resident clients' UAE activity to pin down the right door from the start.