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UAE Company Liquidation

Close Your UAE Company Properly, Not Quietly

Liquidator appointment, creditor notice, clearances and tax deregistration — handled end to end, so the entity is actually closed and the filing obligations stop.

For owners closing a mainland, free zone or offshore entity — including licences that lapsed some time ago.

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Find Out What Your Closure Involves
Six questions. They decide the route, the clearances and the outstanding filings — so we can quote properly instead of guessing.
Phone

We use your details to contact you about this enquiry and to scope the closure.

Closure Routes

Which route applies to your company

The entity decides the work. A sole establishment needs no liquidator and no creditor notice; a mainland LLC needs both.

Mainland LLC

45 days in Dubai

The full statutory liquidation: a notarised shareholders' resolution, a registered liquidator, a published creditor notice, then a final account.

  • Federal law sets a floor of at least 30 days for creditors to submit claims; Dubai requires 45 days, announced once in two Arabic dailies
  • Dubai's published fees are AED 520 for the dissolution and liquidator certificate, AED 1,020 to cancel the licence and AED 2,520 for the dissolution
  • Abu Dhabi publishes an end-to-end processing time of 30 working days; Dubai publishes none
  • Labour cards are cancelled at MoHRE before the file can close

Cancelled by DET Dubai, ADDED or the emirate's licensing authority

Sole Establishment or Civil Company

No creditor notice

Not a company under the Commercial Companies Law, so the liquidation chapter does not apply — a materially lighter closure.

  • No liquidator, no general assembly resolution and no newspaper creditor notice
  • Dubai asks only for cancellation of labour cards through MoHRE
  • A civil company also needs a duly notarised partnership termination contract
  • A single-owner LLC is a different thing entirely and does require the full liquidation

Cancelled by DET Dubai or the emirate's licensing authority

Free Zone Company

Varies by zone

Each zone publishes its own procedure. The liquidator is mandatory in most, and whether a newspaper notice is needed differs sharply.

  • DMCC requires a liquidator for companies but not branches, and publishes on its own channel for 14 days rather than in a newspaper — AED 4,015
  • RAKEZ requires the liquidator to be auditors and charges AED 3,000 for publication; its regulations state a 45-day objection window while its service card states 14
  • Shams needs no newspaper notice on the shareholders' voluntary route, but 3 consecutive days on the creditors' route
  • Visas, establishment card, facility handover and utility clearances come first in every zone

Cancelled by The free zone registrar

Offshore Company

No newspaper notice

No visas, no premises and no labour file, which removes most of the clearance work and most of the cost.

  • RAK ICC publishes on its own register for at least 30 days — AED 1,500 for the liquidation plus AED 850 for the certificate of dissolution
  • The notice of the liquidator's appointment must be filed within 14 days, or the appointment is void
  • JAFZA Offshore states 21 working days, AED 5,000 termination plus AED 1,500 advertisement, and requires the original certificate and M&AA back
  • A RAK ICC company struck off stays struck off for 3 years before it is dissolved, and can be restored in that window

Cancelled by RAK ICC or the JAFZA Offshore registrar

Branch of a Foreign Company

1 month

Deleted from the Ministry's Foreign Companies Register, on an attested parent-company decision rather than a liquidation.

  • No liquidator and no general assembly minutes at the licensing authority's stage
  • The Ministry requires a creditor announcement published once in two local dailies, at least one in Arabic, with one month to object
  • The cancellation decision issues after that month, and the bank guarantee is released on publication
  • Proof of terminating the national agent's contract is required

Cancelled by Ministry of Economy and Tourism, with the licensing authority

Procedures, notice periods and fees are set by the licensing authority, the free zone registrar, the Federal Tax Authority and MoHRE, and they change. The figures above are each authority's published position at the time of writing, and we confirm the current requirement for your entity before anything is filed. Nothing here is legal or tax advice.

Deadlines

The clocks that run without you

Closing a business is not one deadline but several, set by different authorities and counted from the day you stop trading — not from the day you get around to the paperwork.

20 business days

VAT deregistration

From the day the business stops making taxable supplies. The final return and payment are due within 28 days of the effective date, and any business assets still held are treated as supplied immediately beforehand.

Miss it: AED 1,000, then monthly, capped at AED 10,000

3 months

Corporate Tax deregistration

From the date the entity ceases to exist, ceases business, or is dissolved or liquidated. A final return covering the period up to cessation has to be filed.

Miss it: AED 1,000, then monthly, capped at AED 10,000

14 days

Employee end-of-service dues

From the end of the contract. Permanent closure is a lawful ground for termination and does not reduce gratuity: 21 days' basic wage per year for the first five years, 30 days per year after that, capped at two years' wage.

Miss it: MoHRE will not cancel a work permit until dues are settled

The Federal Tax Authority will not deregister a business until every return is filed and every penalty paid, and a company under liquidation keeps its legal personality until the final account is approved — so return obligations keep running while the file sits open. Cancelling a licence does not cancel a tax registration; they are separate processes with separate deadlines.

What We Handle

The whole closure, not just the resolution

You approve the route and sign the documents. We deal with the authorities, the clearances and the final filings.

Route & Scope

  • Entity and licence status reviewed against the applicable closure route
  • The current requirement confirmed with the licensing authority or zone registrar
  • Outstanding filings, penalties and renewals identified before anything is filed
  • A written view on the sequence, the clearances and what is missing

Resolution & Liquidator

  • Shareholders' resolution drafted and notarisation arranged
  • A registered liquidator appointed, with the acceptance letter and registration documents
  • Creditor notice published as the authority requires, and the objection period tracked
  • Inventory, interim accounts and the final liquidation report prepared

Clearances & Employees

  • Work permits cancelled at MoHRE once dues are settled
  • Dependants' then employees' residence visas cancelled, and the establishment card closed
  • Facility handover, utilities, telecom and customs clearances collected
  • End-of-service entitlements calculated and documented

Tax & Final Filings

  • Final VAT return filed and deregistration applied for within the deadline
  • Final Corporate Tax return filed up to the date of cessation
  • Corporate Tax deregistration applied for within three months of cessation
  • Licence cancellation certificate obtained and the registration deleted

Government and registrar fees, the liquidator's fee and newspaper costs are paid to those parties and are separate from ours. Where an authority publishes a figure we have used it; IFZA publishes none, so an IFZA closure is quoted once we confirm the current schedule with the zone. We quote our own fee after the scope review, when the route and the outstanding filings are clear.

How It Works

From scope review to deregistration

Three stages, with the route and the outstanding filings settled before any fee is spent on a filing.

01
Scope

Confirm the Route

We establish what the entity actually is, where the licence stands, and what is still open with the FTA and MoHRE — then confirm the current procedure with the authority that will cancel it.

02
Clearances

Clear the File

Visas and the establishment card, the labour file, the facility, utilities and customs. Nothing can be cancelled while people are still sponsored or dues are outstanding, so this is where most closures stall.

03
Closure

Liquidate & Deregister

Liquidator appointed, creditor notice published and the objection period run, final report submitted, licence cancelled — then VAT and Corporate Tax deregistration, so the filing obligations actually stop.

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Common Questions

Frequently Asked Questions

Clear answers about closure routes, notice periods, tax deregistration and what actually happens if a licence is left to lapse.

It costs more than closing properly. A company that is dissolved keeps its legal personality until the liquidation is finished, so its obligations continue. The tax deadlines run from the day you stop trading, not from the day the licence lapses, and the Federal Tax Authority will not deregister a business while any return or penalty is outstanding.

Penalties then accrue on the licence under each authority's own schedule — RAKEZ charges AED 50 per day for failing to de-register in time, and JAFZA charges AED 1,000 per month while a licence sits expired. Registrars can also refer a company that has ceased business to the court for liquidation, and in DMCC and RAKEZ the liability of every officer and shareholder expressly survives a strike-off.

You will also read that failing to liquidate gets shareholders blacklisted or banned from travelling. No UAE authority publishes any such rule. What is real is the ordinary chain: leaving creditors unpaid invites a creditor to obtain a judgment, and enforcement follows the judgment — not the missing liquidation.

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