Ministerial Decision No. 83 of 2023

The conditions under which a natural person’s presence in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) will not lead to a Permanent Establishment for a Non-Resident Person under Federal Decree-Law No. 47 of 2022 on the Taxation of Corporations and Businesses are outlined in Ministerial Decision No. 83 of 2023. The Federal Law No. 1 of 1972 on the Competencies of Ministries and Powers of the Ministers, and its amendments; Federal Decree-Law No. 13 of 2016 on the Establishment of the Federal Tax Authority, and its amendments; Federal Decree-Law No. 28 of 2022 on Tax Procedures; and Federal Decree-Law No. 47 of 2022 on the Taxation of Corporations and Businesses served as the basis for this decision, according to the Minister of State for Financial Affairs.

According to paragraph (a) of Clause 7 of Article 14 of the Corporate Tax Law, a natural person’s presence in the United Arab Emirates shall be deemed exceptional and temporary under Article 2 of this decision, provided that the subsequent conditions are fulfilled:

• The natural person’s presence in the UAE is the result of extraordinary events, either public or private in character.

• It is impossible for the natural person or the non-resident person to have properly anticipated the exceptional circumstances,

•The natural person gave no indication that they intended to stay in the United Arab Emirates once the extraordinary circumstances ended.

• Prior to the occurrence of the extraordinary circumstances, the non-resident person did not have a permanent establishment in the United Arab Emirates.

• The non-resident person did not think that the natural person was establishing a permanent establishment or making money in the United Arab Emirates in accordance with the tax laws that apply in other countries.

In addition, Article 2 defines exceptional circumstances as uncontrollable events or situations that happened while the natural person was already in the United Arab Emirates and that they could not have reasonably been expected to anticipate or prevented. Examples of such circumstances include travel restrictions, public health alerts, legal penalties, acts of terrorism or war, natural disasters, force majeure, or other similar situations that the Authority has designated.

The Ministerial Decision will take effect, as specified in Article 3, fifteen days after it is published. Thus, this document went into force on April 25, 2022, after it was published on April 10, 2023.