What Does It Really Cost to Keep a Dormant IFZA Company Running?

The question owners ask, almost word for word, is: send me the complete cost table so I have the full picture upfront. It is the right question, and it is asked because the usual answer is a headline fee with a long tail of charges that appear later.

So here is the honest structure of what it costs, split the way it actually behaves: recurring every year, one-off when you switch or set up, and conditional — the items that only appear if something happens.

What does it cost to keep a dormant IFZA company running each year?

Two categories, and confusing them is the source of most surprise invoices. Professional fees are what your service provider charges. Government and free zone charges are set by IFZA and immigration, and no provider can quote them away or discount them.

Does a dormant company still have to file anything?

Yes. Dormancy is a commercial description, not a legal status — there is no dormant-company exemption that switches off the obligations.

• The licence must be renewed annually, or the company is not lawfully licensed.
• The establishment card must be maintained while any visa sits under the licence.
• An annual corporate tax return is due once registered — reporting no revenue is still a return.
• Financial statements must exist, even if they show almost nothing.
• Statutory records, the annual written resolution and UBO register updates continue.

The corporate tax return is the one most often skipped, on the reasoning that a company with no income owes no tax. The tax is indeed nil. The return is not optional, and the penalties for not filing it apply regardless of how little happened. We cover this in detail in our guide to filing when your tax is zero.

Timing follows a simple rule: the first tax period runs from incorporation to the first financial year end, and the return is due within nine months of that period closing. A company incorporated in May 2026 with a 31 December year end has a first tax period of May to December 2026, and a first return due 30 September 2027.

Can you run an IFZA company entirely from abroad?

Largely, yes — which is why so many dormant free zone companies are owned by people who live elsewhere. Renewals, accounting, tax filing and corporate compliance are handled electronically and can be run by your Professional Partner on your behalf.

Plan a short trip around visa dates and the rest of the year takes care of itself. What does not work is being unreachable during the renewal window: renewals are time-boxed, and a missed window becomes a fine rather than an inconvenience.

What is a Professional Partner, and how do you change yours?

IFZA licences are administered through registered Professional Partners rather than directly between the free zone and the owner. Your partner is the channel for renewals, amendments and most correspondence — so if the relationship is not working, changing it is a legitimate and routine step.

1. Request a no-objection certificate from your existing agent. This is the gating item and the only part outside anyone else's control.
2. Send an email instruction to IFZA appointing the incoming Professional Partner.
3. IFZA processes the change — typically within a few working days once the NOC is in hand.
4. Confirm the transfer of records so the incoming partner holds the licence history, establishment card details and visa file.

What happens to promotional benefits when you switch partner?

This is the question that deserves far more caution than it usually gets. Free zones periodically run promotions — bundled or discounted visa renewals, waived fees, package inclusions — and owners reasonably assume these attach to the licence permanently.

They attach to the terms under which the licence was issued. Whether a specific promotional entitlement survives a change of Professional Partner depends on those terms, and it is not something any consultant should confirm from general experience.

What one-off costs come with switching?

That third row is worth pressing on before you commit. Some agents charge for the NOC, some do not, and it is the one figure your incoming provider cannot quote for you. Ask your current agent in writing what they will charge to release it — ideally before you announce that you are leaving.

What conditional costs should you budget for?

These do not arise every year, but they are the items that turn a predictable AED 1,500 of professional fees into something larger. An honest quotation names them upfront rather than discovering them later.

What does a full year actually look like?

A single-shareholder IFZA FZCO, one manager visa, management consultancy activity, no revenue, a handful of bank transactions. Professional fees only — IFZA and immigration charges sit on top at actual cost.

So the professional side of a dormant company is predictable and modest — roughly AED 1,250 to AED 1,750 plus VAT depending on whether a visa falls due. The variable that dominates the real total is IFZA's own licence and visa charges, which is precisely why they should be quoted separately and at cost rather than folded into a headline number.

Is it worth keeping a dormant company at all?

Worth calculating rather than assuming. Add the annual licence renewal, establishment card, insurance, visa amortised across its term, and professional fees. Compare that against a one-off liquidation report and corporate tax deregistration.

If there is a realistic plan to trade within the next year or two, keeping the licence alive is usually cheaper than closing and re-incorporating — and it preserves the corporate tax registration and history. If there is not, the sums often favour closure.

The complication is that closing the company ends the residence visa attached to it, and for many owners that visa is the reason the company exists. That is a personal decision rather than a financial one, and it is worth making deliberately rather than by default each renewal.

Frequently asked questions