Jebel Ali contains one of the world\u2019s biggest shipping ports and is located just outside of Dubai and about
\nan hour\u2019s drive from the capital city, Abu Dhabi. Jebel Ali Free Zone Authority (JAFZA), in conjunction with
\nthe Dubai Government, introduced the offshore company in 2003. JAFZA offshore is regulated by the Jebel
\nAli Free Zone Offshore Companies Regulations 2003 and is the most well-known of the UAE\u2019s free zones
\nand the most popular UAE offshore jurisdiction.<\/p>\n
\u2022 100% Foreign Ownership is Allowed
\nUnlike the legislation governing companies incorporated in mainland Dubai, the JAFZA offshore company
\nregulations allow and require no local shareholding in a company.
\n\u2022 Local Real Estate Ownership
\nJAFZA offshore is the only offshore company that can directly own local Dubai real estate. Most properties
\nin Dubai can be owned by a JAFZA offshore but the approval of the free zone and the developer must be
\nsought first. Sovereign can assist with this.
\n\u2022 Local Banking
\nThe company can hold a bank account in the UAE for the purpose of conducting routine operational
\ntransactions and can also maintain professional relations with legal consultants, accountants and
\nmanagement companies or other similar persons carrying out business within UAE.
\n\u2022 Inspection
\nThe Registrar has the power to appoint inspectors to investigate the affairs of an offshore company. The
\ncompany owner may be liable to pay any charges related to such an inspection.
\n\u2022 Can Own Shares in Local Companies
\nDespite a general prohibition on offshore companies to conduct business with persons resident
\nin UAE, the authorities frequently allow offshore companies to hold shares in both offshore and
\nonshore UAE companies .<\/p>\n
Characteristics of an offshore company registered in the JAFZ are as follows:<\/p>\n
A minimum of one shareholder is required. Corporate shareholders are permitted though the company
\ndocumentation must be notarised and attested before it can be used for this purpose. Shareholders
\ndecide the capital structure of the company. No minimum capital requirements have been stipulated.
\nBearer shares are not permitted. A shareholders meeting should be conducted periodically (at least once
\nannually). The Register of Members shall be open for inspection by any member of the offshore company
\nand any other person.<\/p>\n
A minimum of two directors is required and corporate directors are not permitted. Details of directors are
\nnot available for public inspection.<\/p>\n
Every company must have a secretary. The client would normally act in this capacity.<\/p>\n
Every company must keep accounting records, which must be kept for 10 years from the date on which they
\nwere prepared. Accounts must be approved by the directors and signed by one of them. Every company
\nmust appoint an Auditor (from an approved list) to examine and report on the accounts in accordance with
\nthe regulations.<\/p>\n
Registration of the company in the Free Zone will take 3-4 weeks.<\/p>\n
Names must end with Limited. The following words, and their associated activities, cannot be used:
\nAssurance, Bank, Building Society, Chamber of Commerce, Chartered, Co-operative, Fund, Imperial,
\nInsurance, Municipal, Mutual Fund, Royal and Trust.<\/p>\n
As a matter of local company law the company MUST maintain a registered office address within the Free
\nZone and appoint an approved registered agent (Sovereign are approved for this purpose). A registered
\nagent\u2019s office in Dubai or in the Free Zone can also be used as the registered office. The shareholders of the
\nJAFZA company will have to travel to the free zone for signing of the M&As. Alternatively, they can issue a
\npower of attorney to us to act on their behalf.<\/p>\n
\nSchedule of Fees<\/h3>\n<\/td>\nFirst\u00a0Year:<\/td>\n | <\/td>\n | <\/td>\n<\/tr>\n | Incorporation fee (including Free Zone fees)<\/td>\n | US$<\/td>\n | 4,200<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n | Second\u00a0and\u00a0Subsequent\u00a0Years:<\/td>\n | <\/td>\n | <\/td>\n<\/tr>\n | Provision of domiciliary services to include registered office, local resident agent<\/td>\n | US$<\/td>\n | 1,250<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n | Professional service fee for obtaining renewal of registration<\/td>\n | US$<\/td>\n | 300<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n | Free Zone Fees<\/td>\n | US$<\/td>\n | 700<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n | Complicance Fee<\/td>\n | US$<\/td>\n | 150<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n | TOTAL FIRST YEAR\u2019S FEES<\/strong><\/td>\n | US$<\/strong><\/td>\n | 5,600<\/strong><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n | SECOND AND SUBSEQUENT YEARS\u2019 FEES<\/strong><\/td>\n | US$<\/strong><\/td>\n | 2,400<\/strong><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n | International initiatives such as US FATCA, UK FATCA, Common Reporting Standards (CRS) and many others OPTIONAL SERVICES<\/h4>\n |
Most onshore countries have provisions within their tax legislation whereby any company, no matter where
\nit is incorporated which is managed or controlled from within their jurisdiction will be tax resident there and
\ntaxable on its worldwide income at local rates. For example, any offshore company which had UK based
\ndirectors would be tax resident in the UK and subject to UK tax on its worldwide income. Failure by the
\ndirectors to declare the liability of the offshore company to UK tax would be an offence with potentially very
\nserious consequences. Most other onshore countries have similar provisions within their tax legislation so it
\nwill rarely be advisable for onshore resident clients to act as the directors of an offshore company. To establish
\nan offshore tax residency for the company we can provide professional third party directors and in most cases
\nit is essential to take this service if tax savings are to be made. Our fees for the provision of management
\nservices would be from US$2,500 per annum. If you require this service please tick the appropriate box in the
\napplication form.<\/p>\n
We can open bank accounts for the company in most places in the world and our fees for attending to the
\naccount opening procedures would be from US$1,500 plus the costs of preparing any additional notarized
\ndocumentation which a particular bank may require.
\nRemailing, Fax, Tel. and Office Facilities<\/p>\n
As part of the domiciliary services package we provide a registered office address in the jurisdiction of
\nthe incorporation of your company in order to meet the local statutory requirement and included in our
\nmanagement services, we permit the use of that address or your main admin office for mailing purposes.<\/p>\n
However, many clients ask that we provide remailing and other office services out of one of our other Group
\noffices located in Hong Kong, London or elsewhere. When we receive mail we will re-package it into a plain
\nenvelope and can arrange for it to be posted, according to your instructions, directly from the place of receipt
\nor via one of our onshore offices to ensure that correspondence is not received at your home address bearing
\nan offshore postmark and the name of your company. In this way confidentiality which would be lost if mail
\nwas received directly can be maintained. Faxes, e-mails and telephone calls can be dealt with according to
\nagreement to further ensure confidentiality. Our fee for the provision of this service is US$500 per annum plus
\nhandling charges (US$3 per item plus disbursements). If you require this service please the appropriate box in the
\napplication form.<\/p>\n
For those companies which are particularly active or wish to have a higher profile we can arrange the
\nimmediate allocation of a dedicated telephone line answered with the name of your company. Additional
\ncosts apply to this service and details are available upon request.<\/p>\n
Using a trust to own the shares of an offshore company can result in very substantial tax and non-tax related
\nadvantages which will accrue both on death and during the lifetime of the trust settlor. These advantages
\nmay be summarised as follows:-<\/p>\n
(1) SAVING ON INHERITANCE TAX: On death, the inheritance tax which would normally be assessed on the
\nvalue of the shares would generally be eradicated.
\n(2) ASSET PROTECTION: Assets placed into trust are generally beyond the reach of creditors who might arise
\nas a result of financial difficulties, divorce proceedings, litigation etc.
\n(3) AVOIDANCE OF PROBATE: A trust provides a means whereby assets can be smoothly passed on to the next
\ngeneration without the disruption, delays, substantial costs, loss of confidentiality associated with the
\nprobate procedure which necessarily follows when assets are bequeathed by will.
\n(4) CONTINUITY: Trusts provide a means whereby assets can continue to be administered in accordance with
\nthe wishes of the settlor after his death so the weak can be protected from others and the spendthrift can
\nbe protected from himself.
\n(5) LIFETIME TAX SAVINGS: During lifetime, substantial income and capital gains tax advantages may result
\nfrom setting up the trust.<\/p>\n
Trust services can be provided by our licensed trust corporations in Gibraltar, Guernsey, the Isle of Man,
\nSingapore and the Turks & Caicos Islands through our various Group offices. Fees for drafting the trust deed
\nand for the provision of trustee services will be quoted on a case by case basis.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
JEBEL ALI (\u201cJAFZA\u201d) Jebel Ali contains one of the world\u2019s biggest shipping ports and is located just outside of Dubai and about an hour\u2019s drive from [\u2026]<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":9,"featured_media":0,"parent":3329,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_exactmetrics_skip_tracking":false,"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-3565","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"yoast_head":"\n