UAE Corporate Tax law requires transactions between related parties and connected persons to be conducted on an arm’s-length basis — priced as if the parties were unrelated — and businesses above certain thresholds must disclose these transactions and, in some cases, prepare formal documentation. Our Transfer Pricing Services UAE help you identify related-party transactions, apply the correct pricing methodology, and meet your disclosure and documentation obligations.
What's Included
We identify your related-party and connected-person transactions, assess whether they meet the arm’s-length standard using recognised transfer pricing methods, prepare the disclosure form required with your Corporate Tax return, and advise on pricing adjustments where a transaction does not currently reflect arm’s-length terms.
For businesses meeting the documentation thresholds, we also prepare Transfer Pricing Documentation — our dedicated service covering the Master File and Local File requirements in detail.
Why Transfer Pricing Needs Specific Attention
Related-party transactions are a natural area of FTA scrutiny, since pricing between connected entities can be used, intentionally or not, to shift profit between entities with different tax positions. Getting the arm’s-length analysis wrong — or failing to disclose transactions that should be reported — creates real exposure even where no deliberate manipulation was intended.
This applies across a wider range of transactions than businesses often expect — intercompany loans, management fees, shared services, and property or asset transfers between related entities all fall within scope, not just cross-border sales of goods.
Who Needs This Service
Any UAE business with transactions involving related parties or connected persons — group companies, shareholders, or other connected entities — particularly those with cross-border related-party dealings or transactions large enough to meet disclosure thresholds.
What We'll Need From You
Details of your group or ownership structure, a summary of transactions between related parties, and relevant contracts or agreements governing those transactions.
Our Process
We map your related-party relationships and transactions, assess pricing against the arm’s-length standard, prepare the required disclosure, and advise on documentation needs based on your specific thresholds.
Common Related-Party Transactions We Review
Intercompany loans and their interest terms, management and administrative service fees, shared cost allocations across group entities, and transfers of goods, IP or property between related parties are among the transaction types we most commonly review for arm’s-length compliance.
We also help you decide, where multiple arm’s-length methods could reasonably apply to the same transaction, which one best reflects your actual business circumstances — a judgment call that benefits from genuine familiarity with how your business operates, not just a mechanical application of a formula.
Get Expert Help for Your Business
Talk to an FTA-approved tax consultant today. Free consultation, no obligation — we’ll tell you exactly what your business needs.
Getting Started
Share your group structure and a summary of related-party transactions, and we will assess your disclosure and documentation obligations and scope the right level of support.
Transfer Pricing Alongside Your Corporate Tax Return
Where a disclosure is required, we prepare it as part of the same engagement as your Corporate Tax return, so your related-party position and your overall taxable income calculation are consistent with each other rather than prepared in isolation.
Transfer Pricing for Growing UAE Groups
As UAE businesses expand into multiple related entities — a holding company, an operating subsidiary, a second free zone entity — related-party transactions between them increase accordingly. We help growing groups put transfer pricing practices in place proactively, rather than retrofitting compliance once the group has already become complex.
We also help newly formed groups set related-party pricing and documentation practices correctly from their very first intercompany transaction, which is considerably easier than correcting an established pattern of undocumented dealings several years into a group’s existence.
Why Businesses Choose Us for Transfer Pricing
Transfer pricing is detail-heavy work that is easy to approach superficially — asserting arm’s-length treatment without genuine economic analysis behind it. We investigate every related-party arrangement until we understand its actual commercial substance, which is what lets us confidently support your position if it is ever questioned.
We also help you see transfer pricing as an ongoing discipline rather than a one-time compliance exercise, reviewing arrangements periodically as your group structure and transaction volumes evolve.
Transfer Pricing Disclosure Timing
The related-party disclosure form is generally submitted alongside your Corporate Tax return, so we build the transfer pricing review into the same timeline as your annual filing rather than treating it as a separate, later-arriving obligation that risks being missed.
We also maintain a checklist specific to your group structure, so the same related-party relationships are reviewed consistently each year rather than relying on memory to recall which arrangements existed and needed disclosure in a prior period.
Frequently Asked Questions
Transactions with entities under common ownership or control, or with connected persons such as owners, directors and their relatives, fall within scope of the arm’s-length requirement.
It requires related-party transactions to be priced as if they were between independent parties dealing at arm’s length, using recognised transfer pricing methods to test this.
No — formal Master File and Local File documentation is generally required only above specific revenue or group thresholds, though disclosure obligations can apply more broadly.
Intercompany loans, management and service fees, shared cost arrangements, and transfers of goods, services or assets between related parties are all commonly in scope.
The FTA can adjust the taxable income associated with the transaction, which may result in additional tax, penalties and interest.