United Arab Emirates vs United States
Side-by-side comparison of the United Arab Emirates and the United States for founders weighing a low-tax international financial centre against the largest single market.
Side-by-side
| Taxation | United Arab Emirates | United States |
|---|---|---|
| Corporate tax | 9% | 21% |
| VAT | 5% | 0% |
| Dividend tax | 0% | 30% |
| Formation | United Arab Emirates | United States |
|---|---|---|
| Difficulty (1–5) | 3 | 2 |
| Cost | 15000 AED | 500 USD |
| Time | 14 days | 2 days |
| Banking & Payments | United Arab Emirates | United States |
|---|---|---|
| Banking difficulty (1–5) | 4 | 5 |
| Stripe | Yes | Yes |
| PayPal | Yes | Yes |
| Wise | Yes | Yes |
| Operations | United Arab Emirates | United States |
|---|---|---|
| Accounting difficulty (1–5) | 3 | 4 |
| Payroll difficulty (1–5) | 2 | 4 |
| Compliance difficulty (1–5) | 3 | 4 |
| Market access | United Arab Emirates | United States |
|---|---|---|
| EU member | No | No |
| EEA member | No | No |
| Currency | AED | USD |
When United Arab Emirates wins
- You want a 9% headline corporate tax rate applied only above the AED 375,000 profit threshold (0% below)
- You want zero withholding tax on dividends paid to non-residents under the UAE's regime
- Your customer base spans the GCC, EMEA, and South Asia and you want a regional financial-centre base
When United States wins
- You're raising US-institutional venture capital and need a Delaware C-corporation
- Your primary customer base, sales motion, and exit market are US-centric
- You want access to the deepest startup, M&A, and IPO market in the world
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Sources
- Federal Tax Authority of the United Arab Emirates — UAE Federal Tax Authority — Corporate Tax (accessed )
- Ministry of Finance of the United Arab Emirates — UAE Ministry of Finance — Corporate Tax (accessed )
- U.S. Internal Revenue Service — Internal Revenue Service — Publication 542 (Corporations) (accessed )
- OECD — OECD — economic and tax statistics (accessed )
- PricewaterhouseCoopers — PwC Worldwide Tax Summaries (accessed )
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