UAE trust tax and reporting

Residency and what it changes

Tax depends on where people live, not on where the trust sits. A settlor in Dubai, a trustee in DIFC and children in London or Mumbai can each be tax resident in a different country.

The trustee records each person’s tax residence and uses those records for reporting.

The 2018 Trust Law governs a trust that chooses DIFC law (source: Trust Law), but the choice of law does not settle anyone’s tax; that follows the rules where people and assets are.

Assets abroad, such as a flat in London, may be taxed where they sit; an adviser there explains that part.

CRS and FATCA reporting

The UAE takes part in FATCA and the Common Reporting Standard (source: UAE Ministry of Finance, Automatic exchange of information).

Both are systems for exchanging financial account information between countries. FATCA concerns United States persons. CRS covers many other countries.

Whether a particular trust counts as a reporting entity depends on how it is classified and on the accounts it holds. That is confirmed at set-up.

What the trustee reports and when

The trustee collects tax residence self-certifications from the settlor, the protector, the beneficiaries and other controlling persons.

Where the rules require it, the trustee or the bank that holds the account reports to the UAE authority, which exchanges the information with each person’s country of residence.

Filing dates and forms follow the UAE rules. We keep a calendar and tell you what we need before each date.

With your consent, we pass a copy of what was reported about you to your tax adviser.

Reporting is part of the yearly work. The cost guide shows how the yearly work is charged.

Your own tax position

Your tax position at home is for your adviser. A trust can change who owns the assets for tax purposes, and the result depends on your country.

The UAE has a federal corporate tax regime that applies to financial years beginning on or after 1 June 2023 (source: UAE Ministry of Finance, Corporate Tax in the UAE).

Whether a holding company or a foundation in your structure falls under that regime is a question for a UAE tax specialist.

Take these questions to your tax adviser:

• Which country treats the trust, or the foundation, as taxable, and on what?
• Do distributions to beneficiaries create tax where they live?
• Do any reporting forms apply to you personally?
• Does a holding company inside the structure fall under the corporate tax regime?

We send your adviser the same drafts we send you, so questions are asked before anything is signed.

What to keep on file

Keep these papers where the trustee and your tax adviser can find them:

• your tax residence certificate, or a note of each country where you are resident;
• the deed or charter, the letter of wishes and any amendment;
• the holding company’s registration certificate, accounts and share register, if the structure has one;
• a list of the assets transferred, with dates and values, and a record of each distribution.

The registration row in the key facts concerns foundations, not trusts: for a DIFC foundation, the Registrar’s Register is open to inspection (source: Foundations Law, Art. 35). That register is separate from the reporting the trustee does for a trust.

If an authority writes to you about the structure, send the letter to the trustee and your adviser before replying.

Sources and review dates

The facts here come from the Ministry of Finance pages and the DIFC statutes, accessed 2026-11-05.

We review the facts on this page when the law or the official guidance changes.

To go further, read the law and features page.

The step-by-step guide shows where the tax forms are collected, and the overview of the UAE puts everything in context.

The common questions page answers the practical ones.