With the impending publication of the drafting of an economic substance law in the UAE, it is important to anticipate the consequences of the introduction of such a law on the UAE and offshore structures in the UAE. The UAE currently has no such substance requirements but has been strongly encouraged by the European Union to implement them. The impact on offshore structures will be substantial.

Current lack of substance requirements

The UAE is a federation of seven emirates. There is currently no direct tax legislation on a federal level in the UAE. However, some Emirates (e.g. Abu Dhabi, Dubai, Sharjah,...) have introduced income tax regimes for oil and gas companies and foreign banks. These decrees only apply to companies which are established in one of the aforementioned Emirates. The Income Tax Decrees do not contain any substance criteria.

Partly as a result of the current lack of substance requirements in the UAE, it has become increasingly important for international companies established or operating in the UAE to prove that the entity or structure has not been set up solely for tax purposes. 

Tax residency certificate

Corporations established in the UAE can apply for a ‘tax residency certificate’ ('TRC') with the Ministry of Finance of the UAE. A tax residence certificate (‘TRC’) is a certificate issued by the UAE government to eligible government entities, companies and individuals to benefit from Double Tax Treaties signed by the UAE.

The following documents are generally required in order to apply for the tax residency certificate:

• Valid Trade License.
• Certified Articles or Memorandum of association.
• Copy of identity card for the Company Owners or partners or directors.
• Copy of passport for the Company Owners or partners or directors.
• Copy of Residence Visa for the Company Owners, partners or directors.
• Certified Audited Report.
• Certified Bank Statement for at least 6 months during the required year.
• Certified Tenancy Contract or Title Deed.

Please note that although the requirements do not expressly mention that the certificate can only be granted to local companies, the Ministry of Finance does not issue tax residence certificates to offshore companies (not to be confused with free zone companies). 

Although the TRC may be helpful to obtain benefits under double tax treaties, in itself it cannot be considered as proof of economic substance in the UAE.

Developments on substance requirements in the UAE

Background

On 1 December 1997, the EU adopted a resolution on a code of conduct for business taxation with the objective to curb harmful tax competition. Shortly thereafter, the Code of Conduct Group on Business Taxation (COCG) was set up to assess tax measures and regimes that may fall within the scope of the code of conduct for business taxation.

On 5 December 2017, the COCG published the (first) EU list of non-cooperative jurisdictions for tax purposes, in cooperation with the Economic and Financial Affairs Council (ECOFIN).

The EU applies three listing criteria, which are aligned with international standards and reflect the good governance standards that Member States comply with themselves:

1. Transparency: Jurisdictions should comply with the international standards on exchange of information, automatic (1.1) and on request (1.2). In addition, jurisdictions should sign the OECD's multilateral convention or signed bilateral agreements with all EU Member States to facilitate such exchange (1.3).
2. Fair Tax Competition: Jurisdictions should not have harmful tax regimes (2.1) nor facilitate offshore structures which attract profits without real economic activity (2.2).
3. BEPS Implementation: Jurisdictions should commit to implement the OECD's Base Erosion and Profit Shifting (BEPS) minimum standards, starting with Country-by-Country Reporting.

The UAE was initially placed on the EU Black list. However, following commitments to take appropriate measures against the above criteria, the EU transferred the UAE to the EU Grey list. 

However, due to non-compliance with criterion 2.2, the UAE was subsequently put back on the Black list at the start of this year. Criterion 2.2 requires that a jurisdiction should not facilitate offshore structures or arrangements aimed at attracting profits which do not reflect real economic activity in the jurisdiction. 

Therefore, in order to fulfill its commitments to the EU, it is reasonable to expect that the substance requirements are likely to be introduced in the UAE in the foreseeable future. 

In accordance with the scoping paper on criterion 2.2 published by the COCG on 22 June 2018 and the associated work of the OECD's Forum on Harmful Tax Practices (FHTP), the below describes how businesses may be impacted and what substance requirements could potentially be introduced in the UAE in the future.

Expected substance Law requirements

The scoping paper suggest to implement the substantial activities requirement in three key steps: 

(1) identify the relevant activities in their jurisdiction; 

(2) impose substance requirements; 

(3) ensure there are enforcement provisions in place. 

According to the Scoping Paper, the economic substance test would be met if:

a) Taking into account the features of each specific industry or sector, the concerned jurisdiction introduces requirements concerning an adequate level of (qualified) employees, adequate level of annual expenditure to be incurred, physical offices and premises, investments or relevant types of activities to be undertaken.

b) The concerned jurisdiction ensures that the activities are actually directed and managed in the jurisdiction. Any UAE substance requirements are likely to further specify when this condition would be met e.g., depending on frequency of board of director meetings, directors physically present, minutes recording strategic decisions and the knowledge and expertise of the directors.

c) The core income generating activities are performed in the jurisdiction. These substance requirements should mirror the requirements used in the FHTP in the context of specified preferential regimes. As per the scoping paper, the core income generating activities for banking could be: raising funds; managing risk including credit, currency and interest risk; taking hedging positions; providing loans, credit or other financial services to customers; managing regulatory capital; and preparing regulatory reports and returns.

Comparison with the other low tax jurisdictions which introduced the substance requirements

Following the EU blacklist of non-cooperative jurisdictions, many other low and nil tax jurisdictions have introduced economic substance requirements. Jurisdictions where substance compliance is required from 2019 include Bermuda, the British Virgin Islands (BVI), the Cayman Islands, Guernsey, and Jersey.

The Economic substance Law of BVI and Cayman Island are inspired by the core requirements in the scoping paper of the COCG and the FHTP requirements. The UAE is expected to follow the same path.

Conclusion

Currently, there are no substance requirements in the UAE. Corporations established in the UAE may apply for a ‘tax residency certificate’ with the Ministry of Finance of the UAE, when they qualify. Obtaining such a 'TRC' does not necessarily entail that a company has economic substance in the UAE.

Considering the efforts made by the UAE with respect to compliance with the fair tax competition criteria of EU, we anticipate that the UAE will issue economic substance requirements in the very foreseeable future, similar to the ones published recently by other low tax jurisdictions. 

The specific substance requirements in the UAE will likely depend on the type of activities conducted by the relevant business (e.g., banking, shipping and headquarter services would each require different substance requirements).

Businesses in the UAE should already assess their operations against the substance requirements in the light of the COCG and FHTP guidelines.