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Closing a company
is a formal process

Not renewing your licence is not closing it. An abandoned licence keeps accruing fines, keeps the immigration file open, and keeps the FTA clock running.

45 daysCreditors notice period

20 daysVAT deregistration window

3 monthsCT deregistration window

2-4 monthsTypical mainland closure

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What an abandoned licence costs you

A client who decides to let the licence lapse is choosing the most expensive option available. Here is what carries on after you stop trading.

✓ Late-renewal fines accumulate indefinitely — There is no point at which the licence quietly dies. The fines keep adding up until someone settles them.

✓ The immigration establishment file stays open — Live visas remain attached to it. The file cannot be closed while those visas exist.

✓ Employees remain your responsibility — Unpaid wages become MOHRE claims against the company and its managers.

✓ The FTA clock keeps running — Corporate Tax returns still fall due. Deregistration penalties accrue on top of the tax.

✓ You can be blocked from forming new companies — Partners and managers can be barred, and creditors can obtain travel bans.

✓ The debt follows the individuals — It does not stop at the entity. It attaches to the people behind it.

Step one

Which closure route applies

The route depends on the entity type and on whether the company can pay its debts. We confirm this before anything is filed.

Situation	Route
Solvent, assets exceed liabilities	Voluntary liquidation
Free zone entity, solvent	Zone deregistration
Sole establishment or civil company	Simplified cancellation, usually no liquidator
Branch of a foreign or UAE company	Parent resolution, no liquidator in most cases
Cannot pay debts as they fall due	Bankruptcy Law, referred to a lawyer
Never traded, no visas, no bank account	Still needs formal cancellation, but fastest

Order of operations

The sequence cannot be reordered

Each step releases the next. Doing one out of turn stalls the file, and two common mistakes strand the shareholder or leave the company unable to pay.

✓ Shareholder resolution and liquidator appointment — Resolve to dissolve and appoint a liquidator by name. The minutes must be notarised. A non-resident shareholder can sign remotely by Dubai Courts e-notary POA at AED 100 per signature.

✓ The liquidator must be a registered auditor — They provide a letter accepting appointment, a copy of their licence, their auditor registration certificate and a notarised signature specimen.

✓ Initial cancellation application — Filed with the licensing authority, DET via Invest in Dubai or the emirate's DED. A liquidation certificate issues, and nothing else can proceed until it does.

✓ Newspaper announcement — Published in two local Arabic newspapers, one day only. This starts the 45-day creditor claim period. Keep the originals, as they must be submitted.

✓ Hand the UBO registers to the liquidator — Within 30 days of appointment. Failing to do so is AED 5,000, then AED 10,000 under Cabinet Decree 132/2023. The liquidator must then keep those records for five years after dissolution.

✓ Final report, then licence cancellation — After the 45 days, with the original newspapers, a declaration that no claims were received and every clearance certificate. The liquidator submits the cancellation. Keep the cancellation certificate permanently.

During the 45 days

Every clearance you must obtain

Visas are cancelled before the licence. That order is not optional. The bank account and the investor visa go last.

Clearance	What it involves
Employee visas	All of them cancelled. End-of-service settled and the WPS position cleared.
MOHRE	Work permits cancelled, no open labour complaints, quota closed.
Establishment card	Cancelled, and only possible once all visas are cancelled.
Partner and investor visas	Usually last, so the shareholder keeps status while the process runs.
FTA	VAT and Corporate Tax deregistration.
Customs client code	Cancelled for trading companies.
Utilities and telecom	DEWA, SEWA or FEWA, plus the telecom account.
Landlord and Ejari	Ejari cancellation is its own transaction.
Bank account	Closed after all payments clear. Obtain a closure letter.
Other regulators	DHA, RTA, SIRA, KHDA, DLD or RERA, MOET, where applicable.

The deadlines that bite

FTA deregistration and its penalties

Closing with the licensing authority does not end tax registration. The FTA rejects deregistration while returns or payments are outstanding, and the monthly penalty runs while you fix it.

Registration	Deadline	Penalty
VAT deregistration	Application within 20 business days of ceasing taxable supplies or falling below the threshold	AED 1,000 on late submission, monthly thereafter, capped at AED 10,000
Corporate Tax deregistration	Application within 3 months of cessation, dissolution or liquidation	AED 1,000 on late submission and monthly on the same date, capped at AED 10,000, under Cabinet Decision 75/2023
Before deregistration completes	All outstanding returns filed, including the final VAT and CT returns. The final VAT return and payment are due no later than 28 days from the effective date of deregistration	All tax paid and all penalties settled

Fee guide

Our fee for this

Service	Fee (AED)
Liquidation report	1,830

The liquidation report fee above is from our published schedule. No fixed cancellation fee is published. DET's position is that the authority determines the fees, and liquidator and newspaper costs are commercial, so we obtain the assessment before quoting a number.

Government charges are separate and are paid to the authority, not to us.

FAQ

Common Questions.

No. Not renewing is not closing. Late-renewal fines accumulate indefinitely, the immigration establishment file stays open with live visas attached, and the FTA clock keeps running on Corporate Tax returns and deregistration penalties. Partners and managers can also be blocked from forming new companies.

A mainland voluntary liquidation requires a liquidator appointed by name in a notarised shareholder resolution. The liquidator must be a registered auditor. They supply a letter accepting the appointment, a copy of their licence, their auditor registration certificate and a notarised signature specimen. In free zones, a liquidator is required by some zones and waived by others, often where the entity never traded and has no visas.

After the initial cancellation application and the liquidation certificate, the dissolution is published in two local Arabic newspapers for one day only. That publication starts a 45-day period for creditors to bring claims. The 45 days are the floor on the timeline, and the original newspapers must be kept and submitted with the final report.

Near the end, after all payments have cleared, and you should obtain a closure letter. Closing it too early leaves the company unable to pay a final tax liability or a creditor claim. The same logic applies to the investor visa, which is cancelled late so the shareholder is not stranded mid-process.

Yes. Closing with the licensing authority does not end tax registration. VAT deregistration must be applied for within 20 business days of ceasing taxable supplies, and Corporate Tax deregistration within 3 months of cessation, dissolution or liquidation. Each carries AED 1,000 on late submission and monthly thereafter, capped at AED 10,000. Start FTA deregistration early, not last.

The fines must be settled first, and some authorities cap or waive on a settlement request, so it is worth asking. Where employees cannot be contacted, absconding reports may be needed before their visas can be cancelled. If a creditor has already filed a case, check for a travel ban before booking any flight.

Talk to a consultant

Ready to close the company?

Tell us where the company stands and we will come back with the sequence and what it will take.

Tell us your situation and a consultant replies with what actually applies to you, what it costs and what we need from you to start.

Closing a company is a formal process