Moving to Dubai from Belgium
Belgian tax residence, the family home rule, the Cayman tax and the Belgium-UAE tax treaty for entrepreneurs relocating to Dubai.
Belgium has a tax treaty with the UAE, and Belgian entrepreneurs increasingly use Dubai as a base for international work. The main question when leaving is simple to state and easy to get wrong: where is your home, and where is your wealth managed from?
At a glance
- Tax treaty: Belgium and the UAE have a double tax agreement.
- Residence: Belgium looks at your domicile and the place where your assets are managed. If you are registered in Belgium, you are presumed resident.
- Family: if your spouse or family stay in Belgium, you will generally be treated as still resident there.
- Look-through tax: Belgium's rules on legal arrangements, known as the Cayman tax, can tax income of certain foreign structures in the hands of Belgian residents.
Leaving Belgium
Deregister from your commune, move your household and the management of your assets, and keep evidence of your new life in Dubai. Under the treaty, the tie-breaker looks at your permanent home and the centre of your vital interests.
Companies and structures
If you own a Belgian company or foreign structures, review where the company is managed after you leave and whether any structures would be caught by the look-through rules for the years you remain Belgian resident.
How Imperial Group helps
- A review of your residence position before you move, so you know when your home-country tax exposure actually ends
- The right UAE structure for your business: free zone, mainland or a holding company, with real substance
- Company setup, visas, Emirates ID and bank account opening support
- UAE tax residency certificate, corporate tax and VAT registrations from day one
- Ongoing accounting, tax filings and a single point of contact for everything in the UAE
Sources
This page gives general information as at the date shown and is not advice for your specific situation. Rules in other countries are summarised for orientation; your home-country position should be confirmed before you act.
Talk it through with us
Tell us where you are and what you are planning. You will hear back from the team who will do the work, not a sales desk.