UAE to India: questions UAE companies ask

Where the UAE company is owned or controlled by NRIs, OCI holders or resident Indians, the FEMA analysis changes and the right route may differ from an ordinary foreign investment.

UAE parents provide a trade licence or certificate of incorporation, the memorandum and articles and a resolution; free zone companies add a certificate of good standing.

Confirm whether an apostille or the attestation chain applies for each document, and translate Arabic papers. Redoing attestation is the most common delay.

Indian citizens working in Dubai often look like obvious directors, but they qualify only if they actually spend 182 days in India in the year.

UAE-side costs include attestation and translation; the dirham's dollar peg leaves only the rupee rate to manage.

UAE documents take two to four weeks including attestation.

Banks look through UAE parents to beneficial owners; NRI-owned entities and resident-Indian owners trigger separate rules.

Valuations for UAE corporate tax purposes are separate from the FEMA certificate.

The India–UAE treaty caps dividends at 10%, interest at 5% for banks and 12.5% otherwise, and royalties at 10%. It has no technical fees article, so such fees are tested as business profits.

The UAE has no withholding tax and exempts qualifying dividends from its 9% corporate tax, so the Indian rate is often the total cost of repatriation.

The UAE now has transfer pricing rules under corporate tax, and Indian officers test the margins left in UAE trading hubs.

Service and building site thresholds in the UAE treaty should be confirmed against the text for each project.

UAE corporate tax registration and returns, the participation exemption and free zone conditions, and audited accounts where required.

UAE parents often close on 31 December; the Indian year needs a bridge.

UAE end-of-service gratuity concepts do not apply; Indian contracts follow the labour codes.

There is no UAE income tax to credit, so Indian salary tax is the full cost. Many movers are Indian citizens returning home, whose residence status changes.

Cancel the UAE residence visa and plan bank accounts when staff move to India.

The UAE federal law and the DIFC and ADGM regimes each have their own transfer rules.

The UAE is a reciprocating territory for certain courts; DIAC, DIFC and ADGM arbitration are common.

The CEPA has applied since 1 May 2022 and an investment treaty since 31 August 2024. GIFT City suits UAE financial groups serving international clients.

UAE groups more often use India for back-office and technology support for Gulf operations.

The treaty is commonly read as leaving share gains to the UAE, but substance and anti-abuse rules decide whether that holds.