Qualifying Free Zone Person (QFZP) status is what allows a UAE free zone entity to access the 0% Corporate Tax rate on qualifying income, but it depends on meeting — and continuing to meet — a specific set of conditions around substance, income type and the de minimis threshold on non-qualifying income. Our QFZP service assesses your eligibility and monitors your position on an ongoing basis, since this status isn’t something to check once and forget.
What's Included
Initial QFZP eligibility assessment against the substance, qualifying income and de minimis requirements, ongoing monitoring throughout each tax period, and documentation supporting your position in case it’s ever reviewed by the FTA.
Where your current activities put QFZP status at risk — non-qualifying income approaching the de minimis threshold, for instance — we flag this proactively so you can make an informed decision before the threshold is breached.
We also provide a clear, plain-language summary of your QFZP position after each assessment, so you understand exactly where you stand and why, not just a technical conclusion.
Why Ongoing QFZP Monitoring Matters
QFZP status can be lost for an entire tax period if non-qualifying income exceeds the de minimis threshold even briefly, which makes a one-time assessment at registration insufficient — the position needs watching continuously as your business activities evolve throughout the year.
Catching a potential issue early also gives you time to make an informed business decision — adjusting your income mix, for instance — before the threshold is actually breached, rather than after.
Who Needs This Service
Free zone companies seeking to access the 0% Corporate Tax rate, and existing QFZPs wanting confidence their status is being properly maintained as their business grows and diversifies.
What We'll Need From You
Your trade licence, financial statements, and a breakdown of your income sources so we can classify qualifying versus non-qualifying income accurately.
Getting Started
Share your income sources and business activities, and we will provide an initial QFZP eligibility assessment before recommending an ongoing monitoring arrangement.
QFZP Status and Group Structures
Where a free zone company sits within a wider group, transactions with related entities need careful classification as qualifying or non-qualifying income, since intercompany dealings are a common source of QFZP assessment complexity. We help navigate this for group-structured clients.
Documenting Your QFZP Position
Keeping clear, contemporaneous documentation of how your income has been classified and why supports your position if it’s ever reviewed by the FTA. We build this documentation as part of our ongoing QFZP monitoring, rather than reconstructing it after the fact.
QFZP Status Across Multiple Free Zones
Groups operating entities across several different UAE free zones need QFZP status assessed separately for each entity, since qualifying conditions are applied at the entity level, not the group level. We manage this assessment consistently across a multi-free-zone group.
QFZP Status and Business Model Changes
A change to your business model — adding a new service line, shifting your customer base from other free zone entities to mainland customers — can materially affect your QFZP position. We assess the implications before you make the change, not after.
QFZP Assessment for New Free Zone Companies
For newly licensed free zone companies, we build QFZP assessment into your onboarding from day one, rather than waiting until your first Corporate Tax filing to consider whether the 0% rate might apply to your business.
QFZP Status During a Free Zone Company's Growth Phase
A free zone company scaling quickly often sees its income mix shift as it adds new customer types or service lines, and QFZP status needs reassessing at each stage of that growth rather than assumed to remain static from initial registration.
QFZP Status Reviews for Long-Established Free Zone Companies
Even a free zone company that’s held QFZP status for several years benefits from periodic review, since regulatory guidance and interpretation continue to develop as the Corporate Tax regime matures. We keep long-standing clients’ positions current rather than static.
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Frequently Asked Questions
Broadly, income from transactions with other free zone persons and specific qualifying activities defined under Corporate Tax law, subject to detailed conditions we assess against your specific income streams.
A limit on non-qualifying income — the lower of a fixed amount or a percentage of total revenue — that, if exceeded, can result in losing QFZP status for the entire tax period.
Adequate UAE-based employees, expenditure and physical presence relative to your core income-generating activities, assessed against specific criteria we can confirm for your business.
Yes — QFZP status is assessed per tax period, so a change in your income mix or substance position can result in losing it in a subsequent year even if you qualified previously.
You’re taxed at the standard Corporate Tax rate on taxable income above AED 375,000, the same as a mainland company, with no special free zone treatment.